Now, we're the last to try to stir up trouble or to further flame the fires of jealousy or envy, but we thought we'd share with you some photographs of some of those lovely ladies who could delight their audiences just by standing there-but whom inspire and encourage us all with their superb onstage talents. So, here's our recommendation, take a look at these photographs, then find out on which stages you can find these women this summer, then make a reservation and go to the theater…
What better way to kick off Sunday-and to celebrate Father's Day!-than with the latest installment of Music City Confidential! Here's where you'll find all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating live theater industry. Amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit anywhere else, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…
At 36, Paola Prestini has already forged a singular and celebrated path in new music. Both through her production company, VisionIntoArt, and as a composer, she has garnered praise from fellow artists, presenters and critics. Osvaldo Golijov has described Prestini's music as "wrenching and tender and luminous and pure and exuberant: always vivid and always generous." Terry Riley has called it "music [that] speaks from the heart and inspires," and The New York Times has called it "radiant" and "amorously evocative."
Paola Prestini's multimedia opera Oceanic Verses is described as :the most ambitious undertaking of her career to date, and the one that best reveals her sensibility. With her collaborators-including the film artist Ali Hossaini, the librettist Donna Di Novelli and the directorKevin Newbury-Prestini has expanded the work from a 35-minute oratorio to an evening-length opera commissioned by VisionIntoArt and produced by her frequent cohort, Beth Morrison Projects in association with Washington Chorus and Trinity Wall Street.'
In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actor Lane Wright, one of Nashville's most easily recognizable actors, who most recently starred in The Rainmaker and right now is onstage at Nashville's Z. Alexander Looby Theatre in The Disappearance of Janey Jones, presented by Tennessee Women's Theater Project (which is directed by Maryanna Clarke, herself a Barn alum).
In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actor Mark Delabarre, who made his debut at The Barn in the 1997 production of Sugar Babies-the Broadway musical comedy hit that actually got its start at the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. And like Nancy Allen and Dietz Osborne (the first two Barn alums to take part in our continuing series), Delabarre's memories of working at the theater are vivid, funny and heartfelt.
Now owned by the second-generation Chaffins-John and Janie, who were recognized among Nashville's Top Entrepreneurs of 2012 by Business Leader Magazine-The Barn has touched the lives of many, both onstage and off-, and today we launch our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actress Nancy Allen, who first set foot on that magical levitating stage in a production of The Robber Bridegroom, directed by Rene Dunshee Copeland.
Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.
Beautifully conceived by an ambitious, driven director and artfully brought to life by a stellar cast of actors, Pacific Overtures-the musical by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman-seems, at first, an unlikely choice for the sophomore season of Nashville's Blackbird Theater. Yet when you consider the company's prior offerings (which include Twilight of the Gods, an original play by Wes Driver and Greg Greene, the company's co-founders; Tom Stoppard's intellectually compelling Arcadia; and G.K. Chesterton's rarely produced Magic), it fits perfectly into the Blackbird canon. And, like those earlier productions, Pacific Overtures is another artistic triumph, the realization of a long-held dream by director Greene to bring his favorite work for musical theater to the stage.
Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.
Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.
Metropolis Ensemble has announced the inaugural concert of its new Resident Artists Series - concerts, musical events, and social gatherings that feature the Ensemble's leading artists as solo instrumentalists in creative collaborations with composers from diverse genres and styles.
Metropolis Ensemble has announced the inaugural concert of its new Resident Artists Series - concerts, musical events, and social gatherings that feature the Ensemble's leading artists as solo instrumentalists in creative collaborations with composers from diverse genres and styles.
The second annual Broadway & Beyond, a variety show featuring some of the biggest names from television, stand-up comedy and the American theater stage, was held September 26th at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.
The second annual Broadway & Beyond, a variety show featuring some of the biggest names from television, stand-up comedy and the American theater stage, was held September 26th at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.
weSPARK Cancer Support Center and Charlene Sperber will present the second annual Broadway & Beyond, a variety show featuring some of the biggest names from television, stand-up comedy and the American theater stage, September 26th at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.
weSPARK Cancer Support Center and Charlene Sperber will present the second annual Broadway & Beyond, a variety show featuring some of the biggest names from television, stand-up comedy and the American theater stage, September 26th at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.
With almost 150 performers taking to the stage of Belmont University's Troutt Theatre on Sunday night, September 4, members of the theater community throughout Tennessee joined together to fete the six members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees.
A perfect dozen of Nashville's favorite - and best-singing - actresses will claim the role of the iconic Fanny Brice in Keeping Scores Concert's upcoming Funny Girl in Concert, the inaugural production of the continuing concert series to be staged at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre. The twelve women portraying Fanny Brice at different times in her life - and in the musical's various scenes -include (in alphabetical order): Nancy Allen, Erica Haines Cantrell, Joann Coleman, Lindsay Terrizzi Hess, Catherine Mai Holder, Bonnie Keen, Cori Laemmel, Alex Maddox, Corrie Miller, Sondra Morton, Laura Thomas-Sonn and Heather Trabucco. Funny Girl in Concert will be presented for three performances at Boiler Room Theatre on April 29-30 and May 1. Joining Nashville's Funny Girls onstage for the concerts are Bakari King as Nicky Arnstein, Annette de la Torre as Mrs. Brice and Bryan Wlas as Eddie Ryan.
Of course, one way around that theatrical conundrum is to take the route that director Scott Logsdon and Keeping Scores Concerts at Franklin's Boiler Room Theatre have embarked upon for three performances this weekend: Cast 12 different actresses as Fanny Brice, each one well-qualified to take on a particular song, allowing her to interpret, both musically and dramatically, the character of Fanny. And for support of the 12 actresses taking up the Fanny challenge, you'll need an amazingly gifted ensemble. The result? A wonderfully entertaining night at the theater, replete with outstanding performances from some of your favorite Nashville actors - and the chance to hear a beautiful, memorable score brought to life as it was meant to be heard by the team of composer Jule Styne, lyricist Bob Merrill and librettist Isobel Lennart.
