Nan Gurley News

With its 2010-2011 season ready to kick off next month with a production of Hello, Dolly!, Studio Tenn promises to fully engage the Nashville theater community as their primary source of talent, and likewise commit to having Broadway, film and/or national tour-credited talent involved in every production.

A cast of more than 125 performers took to the stage of the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University to fete the eight members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees in a production that featured the best of the best of Nashville theater and included a surprise appearance by Joseph Mahowald, winner of a 1989 First Night Award, now playing the role of Franklin Hart Jr. in the national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical, which opened in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, September 21.

As Nashville's summer theater season continues to heat up, anticipation continues to grow for September's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, the revival of the Music City theater gala that will benefit Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and sponsored by Macy's and BroadwayWorld.com. Set for Sunday, September 19, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre, First Night 2010 will honor eight individuals for their sustained and continued commitment to theater in Nashville.

As Nashville's summer theater season continues to heat up, anticipation continues to grow for September's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, the revival of the Music City theater gala that will benefit Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and sponsored by Macy's and BroadwayWorld.com. Set for Sunday, September 19, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre, First Night 2010 will honor eight individuals for their sustained and continued commitment to theater in Nashville.

Provocative and compelling, John Patrick Shanley's script for Doubt remains stagebound - albeit a Pulitzer Prize-winning, stagebound masterpiece - until a confident director and cast take on the challenge of mounting a production, in which to breathe life into the characters created so vividly by the playwright on the written page. For the next two weekends, Nashville audiences are given the opportunity to see Doubt in a remarkably acted and superbly staged production at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.

Starring Nashville actress Nan Gurley as Sister Aloysius, with Steven Pounders as Father Flynn, Doubt will be directed by Mike Fernandez, Lipscomb's chair of theater. Shanley's June 3 appearance is part of an invitation-only preview of Doubt, which runs June 4-12. Shanley will present a talk-back session after the June 3 performance and will hold a book-signing after that at 9:30 p.m.

What with all the star power of the assembled cast - featuring such theatre luminaries as Heather Headley, Alli Mauzey, Jodi Benson and Anthony Fedorov - it should come as something of a surprise that showHOPE's concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was very nearly stolen out from under them by some homegrown Nashville talent. No matter how you look at it, Cinderella was a completely magical and enchanting success, but had it not been for Nashville's very own Nan Gurley, Bonnie Keen and Carolyn German as Cinderella's nefarious stepfamily, the show wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it actually was.

Heather Headley, Alli Mauzey, Jodi Benson and Anthony Federov will headline a special concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, set for Friday, May 14, at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center. They will be joined by a cast of Nashville theatre luminaries - and featuring BeBe Winans and Nashville native Jake Speck, currently on Broadway in Jersey Boys - Cinderella is the spring celebration of the locally based showHOPE organization, which hopes to bring both attention and awareness to its efforts across the globe.

Starring Nashville actress Nan Gurley as Sister Aloysius, with Steven Pounders as Father Flynn, Doubt will be directed by Mike Fernandez, Lipscomb's chair of theater. Shanley's June 3 appearance is part of an invitation-only preview of Doubt, which runs June 4-12. Shanley will present a talk-back session after the June 3 performance and will hold a book-signing after that at 9:30 p.m.

Perhaps best known to the general public for her performance as Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid (the animated blockbuster that is credited with reaffirming the Disney brand as the ultimate in film animation), Benson has delighted legions of fans over the years with her ageless vocal abilities, even while delighting Broadway audiences who know her as far more than the voice of Ariel. In fact, she was nominated for a Tony Award for her critically acclaimed performance as Polly in Ken Ludwig's Crazy for You, the updated version of Girl Crazy, the 1930s musical that features a score of iconic songs by George and Ira Gershwin.

For Matt Logan, staging a special concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is the culmination of a long-held dream of his to bring just such a production to his hometown of Nashville, perhaps best known as Music City USA. Now, with Nashville rebuilding after devastating floods in early May, the benefit performance for Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman's showHOPE organization is perhaps even more timely -- and it has certainly taken on a deeper meaning and a more compelling resonance.

Heather Headley, Alli Mauzey, Jodi Benson and Anthony Federov will headline a special concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, set for Friday, May 14, at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center. They will be joined by a cast of Nashville theatre luminaries - and featuring BeBe Winans and Nashville native Jake Speck, currently on Broadway in Jersey Boys - Cinderella is the spring celebration of the locally based showHOPE organization, which hopes to bring both attention and awareness to its efforts across the globe.