Nate Eppler News

An all-star cast takes to the stage in the latest work from the playwriting team of J. Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler: Cinderella 8.0: Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous, opening June 22 at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. The musical comedy is presented on the mainstage at Chaffin's Barn Tuesday through Saturday mornings, with the house opening at 10 a.m., with the show at 11 a.m. through August 7.

This confluence of events and elements has resulted in the perfect summer diversion at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Nashville's venerable theatrical venue, with their production of Ray Cooney's Funny Money. Directed with a certain twisted grace by the multi-faceted Nate Eppler and performed by a top-notch band of actors, Funny Money is - put simply - delightfully daft and expertly played.

An all-star cast takes to the stage in the latest work from the playwriting team of J. Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler: Cinderella 8.0: Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous, opening June 22 at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. The musical comedy is presented on the mainstage at Chaffin's Barn Tuesday through Saturday mornings, with the house opening at 10 a.m., with the show at 11 a.m. through August 7.

The cast for Funny Money includes: Mike Baum (last seen in Rumors), Chris Bosen (last seen in Frankly My Dear), Adam Burnett, David Compton (last seen in Christmas Belles and Alone Together), Jenny Noel (last seen in There Goes the Bride), Dietz Osborne (last seen in Frankly My Dear), Johnny Peppers (last seen in Seeing Stars in Dixie) and Jennifer Richmond (last seen in Frankly My Dear).

The cast for Funny Money includes: Mike Baum (last seen in Rumors), Chris Bosen (last seen in Frankly My Dear), Adam Burnett, David Compton (last seen in Christmas Belles and Alone Together), Jenny Noel (last seen in There Goes the Bride), Dietz Osborne (last seen in Frankly My Dear), Johnny Peppers (last seen in Seeing Stars in Dixie) and Jennifer Richmond (last seen in Frankly My Dear).

Tennessee Repertory Theatre has announced its schedule for the Martha R. Ingram New Works Festival. The festival will be held April 28 - May 8 at Nashville Children's Theatre and will feature staged readings of new plays from seven local playwrights as well as Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Auburn.

Many members of the Middle Tennessee theatre community were displaced by floodwaters, with many experiencing loss of homes and belongings. Volunteer opportunities across the city are being coordinated by Hands-On Nashville (www.HON.org), while social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are being used by individuals to marshal support and help for friends who are victims of the devastation.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre has announced its schedule for the Martha R. Ingram New Works Festival. The festival will be held April 28 - May 8 at Nashville Children's Theatre and will feature staged readings of new plays from seven local playwrights as well as Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Auburn.

As talented as Nate Eppler is as an actor (and he's got the reviews to prove that he is, indeed, just that), it may be his writing talents that will ensure his place in theatre history (and he has a growing file of reviews to prove that, as well). Of course, only time will tell on that score, but for now Nate Eppler is keeping busy, adding to the opus of work to be delivered from his imaginative brain.

Tennessee Repertory Theatre has announced its schedule for the Martha R. Ingram New Works Festival. The festival will be held April 28 - May 8 at Nashville Children's Theatre and will feature staged readings of new plays from seven local playwrights as well as Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Auburn.

Nashville's playwriting duo of Nate Eppler and J. Dietz Osborne, who scored with Filthy Rich at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre last fall, have yet another world premiere production bowing this week. The pair's Southern Fried Funeral takes the stage at Franklin's Bethlehem United Methodist Church's Performing Arts Center on Friday night, continuing through March 20.

Clearly, Osborne and Eppler are writing about the people, places and things they have known from birth (in fact, on opening night, Osborne's family members from Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee were on hand to witness the world premiere of the play, thus his pedigree is assured) and they display an impressive knowledge of what constitutes proper funeral etiquette and the peculiarly Southern way of life and death in all its 'Jesus Called...And Dewey Answered' glory.

Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, the big comedy hit of last season on Broadway in a revival starring Angela Lansbury as the wacky medium Madame Arcati, comes to the stage of Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in a new production directed by J. Dietz Osborne and starring Martha Manning in the role that won Lansbury her latest Tony Award. Opening Thursday, February 11, Blithe Spirit runs at Chaffin's Barn, the city's premiere dinner theatre that was voted one of Nashville's Top 10 Tourist Destinations, through March 13.

Nashville's playwriting duo of Nate Eppler and J. Dietz Osborne, who scored with Filthy Rich at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre last fall, have yet another world premiere production bowing this week. The pair's Southern Fried Funeral takes the stage at Franklin's Bethlehem United Methodist Church's Performing Arts Center on Friday night, continuing through March 20.

If J. Dietz Osborne has seemed a bit distracted lately, it's easy to understand why. Within the past couple of months, he has directed Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, been putting the finishing touches on Southern Fried Funeral (which will have its world premiere production by Franklin's Bethlehem Players starting Friday, March 12) with his writing partner Nate Eppler, and he's been cast as movie director Victor Fleming in Frankly, My Dear (opening March 18 at Chaffin's Barn).

It's a completely winning production from top to bottom: Osborne's direction is sure-handed and confident, his players' readings of their roles pitch-perfect and the technical elements and design aesthetic for the piece are delightfully on-target. It's essential, of course, in a comedy of British origins for the pacing to be quick, effortless and skilled or else the whole blessed thing becomes a bloody mess. Osborne obviously approaches the play with affection and skill, assembling a strong cast of players to bring Coward's near-iconic characters to life.

Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, the big comedy hit of last season on Broadway in a revival starring Angela Lansbury as the wacky medium Madame Arcati, comes to the stage of Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in a new production directed by J. Dietz Osborne and starring Martha Manning in the role that won Lansbury her latest Tony Award. Opening Thursday, February 11, Blithe Spirit runs at Chaffin's Barn, the city's premiere dinner theatre that was voted one of Nashville's Top 10 Tourist Destinations, through March 13.

Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, the big comedy hit of last season on Broadway in a revival starring Angela Lansbury as the wacky medium Madame Arcati, comes to the stage of Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in a new production directed by J. Dietz Osborne and starring Martha Manning in the role that won Lansbury her latest Tony Award. Opening Thursday, February 11, Blithe Spirit runs at Chaffin's Barn, the city's premiere dinner theatre that was voted one of Nashville's Top 10 Tourist Destinations, through March 13.

Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, the big comedy hit of last season on Broadway in a revival starring Angela Lansbury as the wacky medium Madame Arcati, comes to the stage of Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in a new production directed by J. Dietz Osborne and starring Martha Manning in the role that won Lansbury her latest Tony Award. Opening Thursday, February 11, Blithe Spirit runs at Chaffin's Barn, the city's premiere dinner theatre that was voted one of Nashville's Top 10 Tourist Destinations, through March 13.

Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, the big comedy hit of last season on Broadway in a revival starring Angela Lansbury as the wacky medium Madame Arcati, comes to the stage of Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in a new production directed by J. Dietz Osborne and starring Martha Manning in the role that won Lansbury her latest Tony Award. Opening Thursday, February 11, Blithe Spirit runs at Chaffin's Barn, the city's premiere dinner theatre that was voted one of Nashville's Top 10 Tourist Destinations, through March 13.