Spencer Dean News

Maine State Music Theatre presents SHREK THE MUSICAL, JR., appearing on the MSMT stage August 17, 2015 at 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, and a special showing at 7:30 PM. 

Who doesn't love Meredith Willson's classic musical, Music Man, with its thrilling score, its witty humor, its irresistible combination of bravura and unabashed romanticism?. Generations have grown up on movie versions and memories of the big Broadway productions. So when a company undertakes a revival of such a classic, they risk the inevitable comparisons. Undaunted, Maine State Music Theatre has mounted a grand, original, and compelling look at this cornerstone of American musical theatre. The new production, directed by Marc Robin, starring Curt Dale Clark and Lauren Blackman, which opened at Brunswick's Pickard Theatre on July 16, skillfully fuses the familiar and the fresh into an evening of absolute delight.

Maine State Music Theatre (MSMT) is proud to be one of the first regional theatres to present the feel-amazing musical comedy smash SISTER ACT, running June 24 - July 11, 2015.

In the first act of the Menken/Slater/Steinkellner musical comedy, Sister Act, the heroine, Sister Mary Clarence (aka Deloris Van Cartier) tells Mother Superior that song should come from the soul to raise the rafters. Maine State Music Theatre's second season offering does just that with a dazzling production and a cast whose talent is, indeed, cause for celebration!

'Fame/I'm gonna live forever/I'm gonna learn how to fly. . . .'So sings the company of young aspiring actors in the Steve Margoshes/Jacques Levy 1984 musical, FAME, and, indeed, one finds the description appropriate for the talented cast which Maine State Music Theatre has assembled for its annual intern production, presented at Brunswick's Pickard Theatre on Monday, June 15th. Each year some two dozen young artists, who also perform in the main stage shows and work behind the scenes come together to present their own show, and in this year's FAME they outdo themselves! The 1988 musical based on the earlier movie is an excellent choice for the company, offering age-appropriate characters with which the actors can identify and challenging them to turn out colorful, individual performances while creating an esprit de corps. Moreover, it is a theatre story, filled with laughter, pathos, and heart.

Maine State Music Theatre presents FAME for one night only on June 15, 2015 at 7:30pm.

One of Nashville's favorite young actors is quickly growing up. As a teenager, he was onstage for countless area theater companies, but now he's known as James Spencer Dean and he's pursuing his bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater at The Boston Conservatory. Who'd have thought that Spencer Dean, who delighted audiences in numerous Act Too productions and was a 2012 First Night Most Promising Actor, would now be known as "James Spencer Dean" and wowing audiences in the northeast just as did back home?

Theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors to pay tribute to a group of eight remarkable people who have made indelible marks on the theater scene throughout their storied careers. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored the eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Dressed to the nines-despite forecasts of thunderstorms and a tornado watch that hung over the region-theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

We've been doing our part to prepare ye the way, watching the action onstage, taking some furtive peeks backstage, listening to all the offstage gossip and venturing beyond the confines of the theater to gain the informed knowledge to see more shows in the Volunteer State than you ever thought possible. So, good people of the theaterati, read on and get all the information you need to know in this, our latest installment of Music City Confidential. This is #6…

Eight individuals, whose names attest to the depth and breadth of live theatrical performance in Nashville, have been named as members of the 2012 Class of First Night Honorees and will be feted with a special tribute concert on Sunday, September 2, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre.

Welcome to the fifth installment of Music City Confidential, my column to collect the flotsam and jetsam, informationally speaking, of theatre in Tennessee. Sorry for the long delay since the last installment, but I've been theatering my butt off all over the Volunteer State in search of intriguing gossip and riveting news stories just for you, my gentle readers.

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…

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya...Today's actor/subject/model is the handsome and talented Spencer Dean, photographed by Lauren Dean.

When the last performers had sung the final song and the late honoree had been feted, the crowds at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre for the presentation of First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors' 2011 Gala Concert, headed downtown to Cummins Station for the After-Party at The Listening Room Cafe.

Danny Proctor, Helen Shute-Pettaway, Layne Sasser, Pam Atha, Dan Brewer and Gary Hoff were introduced Monday night as the six members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees during the First Night Preview Party, hosted by founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis at The Listening Room Cafe in downtown Nashville.

There comes a moment, very early on in Kate Adams-Johnson's A Chorus Line (which opened last night at The Keeton Theatre) in which, one by one, each of the actors is caught in the spotlight, with some portentous musical underscoring that heightens the emotional impact of the moment. But what's really telling about that sequence of illumination is how evocatively it telegraphs the stories of each of the actors in the cast. You can tell, almost imperceptibly, what it is that separates the pretenders from the contenders...

In the cast, there's a blend familiar faces from local theater productions and a whole slew of newcomers. During the run-up to the show's June 9 opening night, we've introduced you to members of Kate's cast - and next up is an experienced, if rather young, actor fresh off his run in Circle Players' recent 13 The Musical, the peripatetic (and media savvy) Spencer Dean...

Nashville's Circle Players, now in its 61st season and the oldest community theatre in Middle Tennessee, has scored one of its biggest hits ever with the current production of Jason Robert Brown's 13. Who'd have ever thought that the musical tale of a 13-year-old Jewish boy from NYC who is transplanted to Indiana could be so enormously entertaining or - perhaps more importantly and more significantly - acted and sung so amazingly well? Seriously, who knew?