Whittaker News

Gary Naylor sees a sexy, sung show called Spinach.

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the theater once again, we welcome you to the debut installment of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating (okay, so we obviously don't have enough to occupy ourselves) live theater industry (we're trying that out-does it work? Let us know, theaterati!) Here amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit elsewhere, 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…

The Old Globe is all set for the 2012 Shakespeare Festival, performed in repertory in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Check out production photos from AS YOU LIKE IT below!

Check out these production images for the London premiere of the sung-play SPINACH at the King's Head Theatre, Islington, from Tuesday 12 June - Saturday 7 July. Spinach is not a musical. It is not an opera. It is a play where every word just happens to be sung.

In the coming weeks, we'll give you a sneak peek to what happens backstage as we presents photographs taken during intermission at some of the hottest shows to be mounted during these hot summer months (which always leads to mischief). Today, we continue our series with photos from Daron Bruce (our lensman at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's Fiddler on the Roof) and Matthew Hayes Hunter (who's clicking away backstage at Arts Center of Cannon County's Arsenic and Old Lace).

Something's afoot at various Nashville area and Tennessee theaters this summer with all sorts of fun and frivolity being served up for audiences. Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre offers its sparkling revival of Fiddler On The Roof, starring Derek Whittaker and Debbie Kraski, while at Dickson's Renaissance Center, the Renaissance Players presents its new production of Bye Bye Birdie, starring Carl Blunt, Michelle Valenti, Marilyn Fair and Brad Burns. Meanwhile, up in Clarksville-at The Roxy Regional Theatre-audiences are enjoying 101 Dalmatians Jr. The Musical, featuring favorite Ryan Bowie in the role of a lifetime: Cruella DeVille.

The Old Globe's 2012 Shakespeare Festival is underway, with its production of Shakespeare's Richard III, starring Jay Whittaker in the title role, running now through September 29, 2012, at the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Check out photos from the production, featuring Whittaker, Dana Green, Robin Moseley, Jeremy Fisher and more, below!

There comes a moment late in Act Two when Tevye, the beleaguered dairyman at the center of Fiddler on the Roof, remembers his daughters in childhood and laments the loss of his beloved "Chavaleh" to marriage to a gentile, which completely encapsulates the joy and the sadness that permeates this classic work of the musical theater. Derek Whittaker, playing the role of a lifetime as he leads the cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's new production of the Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick/Joseph Stein musical, is at his best in this scene, artfully blending his finely honed comic sensibilities with a genuine pathos that creates a heart-tugging moment that is genuinely effective.

On the road with his "C 4 URself" Tour, comedic superstar Carlos Mencia will perform at Treasure Island July 6 at 9 p.m. Guests must be 18 years or older to attend.

Nine-time First Night Award-winner Martha Wilkinson directs Derek Whittaker, Debbie Kraski and a cast of Nashville's stage favorites in the Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof, opening tonight, May 31, and running through July 8 at the theater in West Nashville.

In an internet age consumed by social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Match.com, the idea of two lonely hearts connecting as anonymous pen pals may seem quaint. The Penny Seats theatre company aims to correct that assumption with their summer production of the award-winning musical classic "She Loves Me," opening July 26 at Ann Arbor's West Park Band Shell.

Nine-time First Night Award-winner Martha Wilkinson directs Derek Whittaker, Debbie Kraski and a cast of Nashville's stage favorites in the Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof, opening Thursday, May 31, and running through July 8 at the theater in West Nashville.

RUBICON THEATRE continues the company's 14th season tonight, May 24 with August Wilson's powerful and poignant drama GEM OF THE OCEAN.

According to the weather forecasters, it's going to be a long, hot summer in Tennessee and if you're looking to cool off at the theatre, you could probably use some help in making the right selections, right? Here are our top five picks for the theater offerings that are sure to satisfy your hankering for good entertainment...ranging from the revival of a comedy hit from Street Theatre Company's 2009 season, new takes on two classic Broadway musicals, the 25th annual Shakespeare in the Park presentation of the internationally known Nashville Shakespeare Festival and the Broadway-bound debut of a new musical comedy based on a classic film comedy, directed by the legendary Jerry Lewis and featuring the music of Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics of Rupert Holmes...

RUBICON THEATRE continues the company's 14th season May 24 with August Wilson's powerful and poignant drama GEM OF THE OCEAN (first preview tonight, May 16).

The Old Globe is all set for the 2012 Shakespeare Festival, performed in repertory in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Check out the photographs of the cast getting ready to begin rehearsals below, including Jay Whittaker, Robert Foxworth, Dan Amboyer, Adrian Sparks and Dana Green.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the 2012 Shakespeare Festival, performed in repertory in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

RUBICON THEATRE continues the company's 14th season May 24 with August Wilson's powerful and poignant drama GEM OF THE OCEAN (first preview May 16).

Martha Wilkinson is a force of nature-onstage, offstage, no matter where she goes, the woman is a force of nature and, throughout her career, she's taken on some of musical theater's most coveted roles proving along the way that she can do virtually anything. Now, in Tennessee Repertory Theatre's staging of Little Shop of Horrors, Wilkinson adds yet another stellar performance to her resume, playing the campy musical's offbeat heroine with the ease, grace and unerring comic timing that is her stock in trade. In short, Wilkinson's performance as Audrey, the flower shop girl with a penchant for ending up with the wrong guy, is one of the best we've seen of the role and its one that yet again establishes her as Music City's queen of musical theater.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, April 15, 2012 - Sunday, April 15, 2012.