Tim Larson News

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

The musical theater version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden opens this Friday night at Brentwood's Towne Centre Theatre in a new production directed by First Night Star Award winner Tim Larson. The Secret Garden features a book by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon.

Looking for a challenging role or to embark upon a new onstage adventure? Here is the latest audition information to come to the BroadwayWorld Nashville newsdesk.

The enchanting classic children's book, The Secret Garden, becomes a beautifully scored and staged live musical at Towne Centre Theatre in Brentwood, TN, with performances from August 11-26, 2017.

AstonRep Theatre Company has announced casting for the first production of its 2017-18 season: 1984, a chilling view of a world controlled by a totalitarian government, based on George Orwell's classic novel, adapted for the stage by Robert Owens, Wilton E. Hall Jr. and William A. Miles and directed by Artistic Director Robert Tobin*.

Looking for a challenging role or to embark upon a new onstage adventure? Here is the latest audition information to come to the BroadwayWorld Nashville newsdesk.

Looking for a challenging role or to embark upon a new onstage adventure? Here is the latest audition information to come to the BroadwayWorld Nashville newsdesk.

Bring It On The Musical launches Circle Players' cinema-inspired 68th Season - a lineup that includes four musicals and one play - and the company is offering season ticket packages for theater-goers eager to witness the oldest community theater in Middle Tennessee's latest slate of productions, all related to  major motion pictures.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! According to the non-clock thing hanging on the wall - what's it called? Oh, yeah, a calendar (yeah, like we'd ever allow a calendar to hang on any wall under our control - today is May 31, 2017! It's another day to allow yourself to live life dramatically and to gain ownership of your own schedule for the rest of the week so you can be certain to get to the theater. Yesterday, in our never-ending quest to enlist all of you to write our daily column for us, we posted TODAY'S QUERY on Facebook, asking our gentle readers to weigh in or whether or not 'dressing for the theater' is de rigueur or is it more of a 'come as you are' nature. Little did we know that such a question could engender such passionate responses and we daresay rather passionate defenses of the wear-whatever-the-hell-you-want school of thought.

Known for their imaginative and epic theatrical works of science fiction and fantasy, Chicago's Otherworld Theatre now presents a remount of the world premier of their adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's A Princess of Mars. A Confederate deserter, John Carter's world is turned upside-down when he finds himself mysteriously transported to the surface of Mars, where he is forced into a colossal conflicts between the planet's alien races. Poised on the edge of collapse, the planet's fate comes to rest on Carter's war-weary shoulders-and now he must choose sides. Filled with extra-terrestrial environments, epic battles, elaborate costuming and more, A Princess of Mars at Berger Park promises to whisk you away on an unforgettable theatrical adventure.

And, lord! What a cast Larson has assembled for his unique take on the musical - which again was catapulted into the cultural zeitgeist thanks to the critically acclaimed televised version from NBC last year of the show that features the music and lyrics of Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown - and what a collective of creative types he's once again pulled together to bring his vision to the TSU stage.

First Night's Top Ten of 2017 - critic Jeffrey Ellis' annual review of the best in Tennessee theater - were revealed tonight during a live Facebook broadcast at 7:30 p.m. (CST), with Actor's Bridge Ensemble and Studio Tenn/TPAC leading the nods in this year's listing of categories.

Circle Players eases into 2017 and will 'Ease On Down The Road' - beginning January 6 - with its production of The Wiz, the musical that infuses L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with a dazzling mix of rock, gospel and soul music to create a fun, family-friendly show that has become one of the most popular musicals of its time.

AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to present its 8th annual WRITER'S SERIES, a daylong festival of staged readings of developmental works by local and regional writers. This year's series showcases three productions on Saturday, November 12, 2016 from 12 pm - 5 pm at The Edge Theatre, 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago. Patrons are invited to attend individual readings - or stay for the entire event. Reservations ($5 suggested donation) can be made at www.astonrep.com or by calling (773) 828-9129.

Hear ye, hear ye…Music City Confidential is back! Which means, of course, that I've heard an awful lot of scuttlebutt since last week's column went live on the interwebs - or, more likely, that I am trying to avoid boring and mundane stuff like packing - I'll let you decide what my motivation truly is...

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Thus, we are happy to present one of our most popular features: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2015/16 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come