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Review: Matt Logan Directs 'Stunning, Powerful, Deeply Moving' THE HIDING PLACE in Nashville Premiere
by Jeffrey Ellis - Jul 10, 2022

Stunning. Powerful. Deeply moving. The words come rather easily in an attempt to adequately describe the awe-inspiring performances to be found in director Matt Logan’s beautifully crafted production of A.S. Peterson’s The Hiding Place. Now onstage in its Nashville premiere at the Soli Deo Center (which, to be frank, is equally notable and worthy of excessive praise) at Christ Presbyterian Academy through July 23, the play – which had its premiere in September 2019 at A.D. Players in Houston, Texas – proves to be both accessible, engaging and, we daresay, hopeful even as it tells a story from one of the darkest eras in human history.

BWW Review: Imaginations Soar in Pipeline-Collective's Staging of Keith Bunin's THE WORLD OVER
by Jeffrey Ellis - Jul 23, 2019

Once upon a time, there was a country that only existed for one brief day and there was a man named Adam, who was determined to return to his long-lost homeland who held the key to its ephemeral history. Adam's tale a?" filled with adventure and intrigue, with larger than life-sized characters and one epic quest after another a?" provides the basis for Keith Bunin's imaginative fantasy that deftly blends comedy and drama in The World Over, now onstage through July 27 in a fanciful production (the company's ninth) from Pipeline-Collective.

BWW Review: Nashville Children's Theatre's World Premiere of GHOST Bolts Out of the Blocks
by Jeffrey Ellis - Jan 29, 2019

During the very first scenes of Ghost - the world premiere of the play by Idris Goodwin, based upon the 2016 book of the same name by Jason Reynolds, now onstage at Nashville Children's Theatre through February 3 - the audience becomes caught up in the emotional turmoil experienced by young Castle Cranshaw and his mom, Terri. As their world is upended by events taking place onstage, the story of Ghost is set in motion, hurtling toward a moment in which lives are changed and the future opens up in ways both unexpected and completely authentic.

Street Theatre Company Stages THE COLORED MUSEUM, Now thru 6/30
by BWW News Desk - Jun 14, 2013

George C.Wolfe's THE COLORED MUSEUM is a satirical play that gives new meaning and perspective on being black in contemporary America. The play consists of eleven 'exhibits' that re-explore and undermine stereotypes of what it means to be black. The play tackles issues such as oppression, stereotypes, and self-identity with a satirical twist, and examines the strong desire and struggle for African Americans to release centuries of oppression.

Street Theatre Company to Stage THE COLORED MUSEUM, 6/14-30
by BWW News Desk - May 22, 2013

George C.Wolfe's THE COLORED MUSEUM is a satirical play that gives new meaning and perspective on being black in contemporary America. The play consists of eleven 'exhibits' that re-explore and undermine stereotypes of what it means to be black. The play tackles issues such as oppression, stereotypes, and self-identity with a satirical twist, and examines the strong desire and struggle for African Americans to release centuries of oppression.

BWW Reviews: NCT's THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM 1963 Takes A Trip to the Civil Rights Era
by Jeffrey Ellis - Jan 18, 2012

Although the events of the story are nearly 50 years old, they resonate deeply-particularly for us Southerners in whose memories they continue to reverberate-and they offer younger audiences a sepia-toned look back at the not-so-distant past that we still must strive to overcome. In short, The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 is a theatrical event that is not to be missed and which, again, spotlights NCT's extraordinary accomplishments and its gift for compelling storytelling.

THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM - 1963 Ushers In 2012 at Nashville Children's Theatre
by Jeffrey Ellis - Jan 3, 2012

The year is 1963, and the Watsons, an African-American family, are taking a road trip from their home in Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham, Alabama. Fourth grader Kenny's older brother Byron has been hanging with a tough crowd and getting into trouble, so his parents decide to take him to live for a time with his grandmother down south. Soon, the whole family is crowded into the Brown Bomber, heading back to Alabama-and straight into one of the most shocking moments in American history

BWW Reviews: HOLES offers an engrossing tale to open Nashville Children Theatre's 80th season
by Jeffrey Ellis - Sep 21, 2011

Now onstage at the nationally renowned and venerated company's Ann Stahlman Hill Theatre through October 16, Holes features an extraordinary cast of some of the region's finest actors bringing the beloved tale to life with such vigorous energy that audiences of any age (not just the ones 'age 8 and up' noted in the program) will become engaged in the story, its twists and turns and revelatory moments sparking their very imaginations (and, I suspect, to the library to once again experience the book).

Nashville Children's Theatre's new season opens with HOLES on 9/20
by Jeffrey Ellis - Sep 12, 2011

Nashville Children's Theatre (NCT) presents the stage adaptation of Louis Sachar's Holes, opening on Tuesday, September 20 and running through October 16. Based on the popular novel by Louis Sachar, who also wrote the script, Holes tells the tale of young Stanley Yelnats who is sentenced (despite his innocence) to the wasteland of Camp Green Lake. He and his fellow juvenile detainees are forced to dig holes in the hot desert sun day after day after day by the Warden. What is she looking for? And how is the mystery connected to Stanley's 'no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather' and a long-dead outlaw named Kissing Kate Barlow?

BWW Reviews: Nashville Children's Theatre's BUD, NOT BUDDY
by Jeffrey Ellis - Oct 18, 2010

Clearly, Bud, Not Buddy is a promising opening to NCT's 2010-11 season and it sets the bar high for what is to follow in the coming year. It is a superbly acted production, featuring a number of Nashville actors making notable NCT debuts, and it is augmented by the tremendous design capabilities of NCT's imaginative artisans.

Photo Coverage: Shades of Black Theatre Festival Mixer
by Jeffrey Ellis - Aug 25, 2009

More than 100 theatre professionals gathered Monday night, August 24, for the kick-off event for the fourth annual Shades of Black Theatre Festival. Nashville's Darkhorse Theatre, 4610 Charlotte Avenue, was the site for the Festival Mixer which opens the month-long event.

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