Theater in Tennessee has never been busier nor has it been more diverse than what you'll find onstage this weekend throughout the Volunteer State. From frothy and fun summer musicals that are sure to make you think - like All Shook Up at Chaffin's Barn and A Chorus Line at Cumberland County Playhouse - to new plays from Shawn Whitsell (his latest, Songs For Our Sons, premieres at Darkhorse Theatre on Friday night) and emerging playwright Che Pieper (his new script based on the book The Man With the Light in His Window debuts at The Theater Bug this weekend)…the magic of live theater is all around you…even in this heat and humidity! So pull your seersucker suits and sundresses out of the closet, get all gussied up and make your way to the relative cool of a darkened theater for some midsummer magic!
The First Night Honors' Class of 2015 will be revealed next Monday night, July 27, as Nashville Theater's Big Reveal: The First Night Preview Party gets under way at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre at 6 p.m., featuring entertainment by the casts of some of the summer's biggest musicals throughout Tennessee.
As part of ATT's 2015 summer series, American Thymele Theatre is presenting the New York Euripides Summer Festival from July 28th to August 1st. Five free, fully staged performances of Euripides' Hecuba are presented in select New York City stages.
Last night, host Joel McHale was joined on stage by some of the world's premier athletes and biggest stars at The 2015 ESPYS Presented by Capital One in Los Angeles.
It's Labor Day, and the people of a small Kansas town are busy preparing for their annual celebration. A handsome young drifter, Hal Carter, shows up unexpectedly, hoping an old fraternity brother can help him with a job. Hal's dynamic presence and brash personality creates excitement, uncertainty, and conflict that makes everyone in town to question their heretofore predictable and comfortable lives. When he meets local girl Madge, their fireworks rival those of the Labor Day celebration.
?Carolines on Broadway announces its line-up for the month of July 2015, highlighted by headliners Rob Stapleton; celebrating 4th of July Weekend with John Laster and Smokey Suarez, July 2 - 5; 'The Luis Jimenez Show Live,' hosted by Luis Jimenez from 93.1 FM, on July 3; Ron Funches, from NBC's 'Undateable,' July 9 - 12; D.L. Hughley, one of 'The Original Kings of Comedy' and host of Radio 103.9 FM's 'The D.L. Hughley Show,' July 16 - 19; Gary Owen, from his Showtime stand-up special 'I Agree with Myself' and the 'Think Like a Man' films, July 23 - 26; and Damon Wayans, Jr., from FOX's 'New Girl' and the film 'Let's Be Cops,' July 30 - August 1.
Comedy Central is heading to Comic-Con with a plethora of events. It kicks off with panels in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront on Thursday, July 9 starting with the upcoming animated series “Moonbeam City” (moderator Scott Aukerman, star and Producer Rob Lowe, series creator and Executive Producer Scott Gairdner, Executive Producer Tommy Blacha, Executive Producer Richie Schwartz) from 4:00-5:00 p.m. The evening continues with back-to-back panels from 6:00-7:30 p.m. featuring “Drunk History” (moderator Paul F. Tompkins; co-creator, host, Director Derek Waters; co-creator, Director Jeremy Konner; series recurring guest stars Taran Killam and Paget Brewster) followed by new series “Another Period” (stars and Executive Producers Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome, series co-stars Armen Weitzman, Michael Ian Black, Paget Brewster; and Executive Producer, Director Jeremy Konner).
William Inge's Pulitzer-Prize-winning Picnic depicting a small Kansas town in 1952, its strict code of morality and the inner longings of its people to break away, is perhaps his finest. Now in a stunning production at Antaeus directed ever so lovingly by Cameron Watson and boasting a superlative ensemble - actually three alternating casts: 'Deviled Eggs', 'Stuffed Peppers' and 'Pork Chops', Picnic still holds up some 60 years later, proving the omnipotence of human fragility. My visit was with the 'Deviled Eggs'cast.
The music, the clothes, the hairstyles, and the cars are distinctly 50s, but goals, motivations and emotions remain the same. For those unfamiliar with the play or the uber popular 1956 film Picnic starring William Holden and Kim Novak, let's recap the plot briefly.
This exhibition takes its title from the word that designates a group of owls. Species of animals travel in various groups: a dazzle of zebras, a murder of crows, a pod of whales, a tower of giraffes, or a parliament of owls. During the middle ages, owls were often symbols of ominous forces and dark magic, while todaythey are typically associated with wisdom. Although these two concepts may seem contradictory, they both relate to the artistic process, which requires a combination of cognitive and intuitive skills. Creativity may be defined as the act of conjuring imaginative ideas into reality in order to reveal underlying truths and patterns related to the human condition.
Today in 1976, the second Broadway revival of Pal Joey opened at the Circle in the SquareTheatre, where it ran for 73 performances. Pal Joey is a musical with a book by John O'Hara (from his novel of the same title) and music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on a character and situations O'Hara created in a series of short stories published in The New Yorker. The original 1940 Broadway production was directed by George Abbott and starred Gene Kelly. There have been several revivals since, including a 2008-09 Broadway run, and a 1957 film adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. The 1976 cast featured: Christopher Chadman (Joey), Harold Gary (Mike), Terri Treas (Kid), Janie Sell (Gladys), and Gail Benedict (Gail).
Powerful, moving and ripe for revival, Inge's drama is not simply a breezy summer romance. Set in small town Kansas, this is a sexy world, dangerous and cruel, where residents keep each other in their place while longing to break free. At once sensual, passionate and delightfully funny, Picnic probes the sometimes tenuous line between restraint and desire.
?Carolines on Broadway announces its line-up for the month of July 2015, highlighted by headliners Rob Stapleton; celebrating 4th of July Weekend with John Laster and Smokey Suarez, July 2 - 5; "The Luis Jimenez Show Live," hosted by Luis Jimenez from 93.1 FM, on July 3; Ron Funches, from NBC's "Undateable," July 9 - 12; D.L. Hughley, one of "The Original Kings of Comedy" and host of Radio 103.9 FM's "The D.L. Hughley Show," July 16 - 19; Gary Owen, from his Showtime stand-up special "I Agree with Myself" and the "Think Like a Man" films, July 23 - 26; and Damon Wayans, Jr., from FOX's "New Girl" and the film "Let's Be Cops," July 30 - August 1.
Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced two events that will be taking place in the greater Pasadena area this summer: an enhanced staged reading of Holmes, Sherlock and The Consulting Detective on Friday, June 26 at 7pm at The Huntington (San Marino) and a Summer Wicked Lit Installation including a full production of W.W. Jacobs' The Monkey's Paw and a staged reading of H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond: July 10-25 at Mountain View Mausoleum (Altadena).
The Frederick Film Festival (the F3) has announced all the festival's selected films for the 2015 festival taking place in Downtown Frederick, Maryland on June 26-28.
