Whittaker News

Left, check out the three actresses sharing the role of Judy Garland in the world premiere of THROUGH THE MILL!

In a city like Nashville, where art and creativity thrives, there really is nothing more heartwarming and welcome at this time of year than the onstage theatrical traditions we have come to love, like Nashville Repertory Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Story, the stage iteration of the classic film version of writer Jean Shepherd's nostalgic memoir of his boyhood holidays in Indiana. With all the iconic imagery of that “major award” lamp shown off in the living room window, A Christmas Story is vividly reimagined onstage, capturing the film's most memorable moments in clever ways that are at once new and familiar.

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.

The 16th edition of Malibu International Film Festival presented by Yelp proudly unveils the full lineup of films and special events that kicks off December 3 at Regal Cinemas Malibu with Chip Croft's powerful documentary Lost Compassion followed by the Opening Night Party at Cafe Habana.

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.

Nashville Repertory Theatre provides its contribution to the holiday season with a production of their traditional, family comedy A Christmas Story, running November 27 - December 20, 2015 in Johnson Theater at Tennessee Performing Arts Center. 

Reprising a Music City holiday tradition - while providing plenty of laughs for Black Friday - Nashville Repertory Theatre brightens the season with its A Christmas Story, opening November 27, at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Johnson Theater at Tennessee Performing Arts Center and running through December 20.

Actress Kathy Garver, who is best-known for her role of "Cissy" on the classic CBS sitcom "Family Affair," will share stories from her career in Hollywood, during "An Afternoon with Kathy Garver" at The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday, November 21st.

Returning after two sold out runs, The Cultch is pleased to once again present Ronnie Burkett's The Daisy Theatre from Tuesday, December 1st to Sunday, December 20 at the Historic Theatre. 

Left, see the first photo featuring the three actresses sharing the role of Judy Garland in the world premiere of THROUGH THE MILL!

It's Halloween weekend and every dramatic personage and theatrical type we've ever encountered is caught up in the annual rush to find just the right costume for their holiday revelries (we confess we've never had the knack for coming up with Halloween get-ups - not since we went in drag to a party at the First Baptist Church as the age of 12…tongues were wagging, we are certain, but we lived to tell about it, so it couldn't have been that bad). In the meantime, there are all sorts of onstage happenings this weekend to keep you otherwise engaged should the difficulty of selecting your costume prove to be too much.

Helen Sheals, Belinda Wollaston and Lucy Penrose have been cast to play Judy Garland in three different stages of her life in Through the Mill, a new play featuring a hit list of Garland greatest standards, by Ray Rackham.

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.

There's the definite feeling of autumn in the air that makes you want to gut a pumpkin or at least have a pumpkin spice latte, chances are you are definitely going to need a sweater in the early morning hours, and it's past the perfect time for you to pick out a Halloween costume. Luckily, theater companies are well into their new seasons and there's plenty of shows to entertain you while you take time off from berating yourself for wearing that same tricked-out Star Wars costume you wore the past fwo-and-one-half years.

While Emily Blunt is seemingly everywhere, promoting her much acclaimed new film Sicario, her brother, Sebastian, is quietly in rehearsals for the upcoming staging of 'GATSBY'. The Arts Theatre plays host to the musical adaptation of Fitzgerald's iconic Jazz-Age novel from October 26th and throughout November on Monday nights, presented by Ruby In The Dust.

There's a definite feeling of autumn in the air in Middle Tennessee - despite this week's warmer temperatures and plenty of sunshine - and as the calendar moves forward toward Halloween and the time of ghost stories and other sinister tales comes the opening of playwright David Alford's SPIRIT: The Authentic Bell Witch Experience, the final event of this year's Bell Witch Fall Festival in his hometown of Adams, Tennessee.

Puppeteer provocateur Ronnie Burkett, internationally acclaimed as North America's most daring puppeteer, will bring his latest marionette creation, The Daisy Theatre, to Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)'s Jerome Robbins Theater, 450 West 37th Street, for a two-week engagement tonight, September 30, through Saturday, October 10. The Daisy Theatre is part of BAC's 10th anniversary celebration in 2015.

The Lincoln Theatre Association and the King Arts Complex are partnering to celebrate the most recent release of New York Times best-selling author, journalist, and Columbus native Wil Haygood today, September 29.