Photo Coverage: First Night Robe Presented to Irvin, Holder, Waldrep and Stokes
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Nov 25, 2012
Carol Irvin, who has been a mainstay at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse for more than 20 years, is the latest recipient of The First Night Robe,presented on Saturday, November 17, prior to curtain of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Earlier in the same week, Bralyn Stokes received the robe at Rhubarb Theater's Birds in Church, and Michael Holder and Josh Waldrep claimed it at Street Theatre Company's Miss Saigon in Concert.
BWW Reviews: CCP's JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT One of 2012's Best
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Nov 18, 2012
Tall, blond and handsome-and looking for all the world like some sort of biblical superhero-Colin Cahill may be the ideal Joseph, given the sumptuous and fast paced production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat at Cumberland County Playhouse. Cahill charms and entertains as Jacob's favorite son, surrounded by what seems like a cast of thousands, bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical to life with enough energy to power every household along the Cumberland Plateau.
Price, Smith Star in BIG RIVER Revival at Cumberland County Playhouse
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Oct 2, 2012
Austin Price and Horace Smith star as Cumberland County Playhouse brings one of the most popular-and most frequently requested-titles its almost 50-year history back to the with an exciting new production of Big River, directed by BWW Nashville Theatre Awards winner Britt Hancock. Big River runs through November 2 in Crossville.
BWW Reviews: Ginger Rogers Dances Onto the Stage Via BACKWARDS IN HIGH HEELS at CCP
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Jul 28, 2012
McGovern creatively opens and closes the musical with an image that evokes all the glitter and glamor of old Hollywood: the presentation of the Academy Awards in 1941, the year that Ginger Rogers beat out such adversaries as Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine and Martha Scott for the best actress Oscar for her performance of "knocked-up shopgirl" Kitty Foyle.
Bringing Ginger and Fred to Cumberland County Playhouse, JEREMY BENTON Dances Through Life
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Jul 15, 2012
Jeremy Benton has come a long way since he was dancing around in the backyard of his family's home in Springfield, Tennessee. In fact, way back when-before he even had his first dance class with Cherri Coleman at the Springfield School of Classical Dance-for all he knew he might have even created or invented what he later learned was referred to as "tap."
BWW Reviews: Nelson Delivers a Knock-out THE MUSIC MAN Led By Hancock and Pendzick
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Jul 12, 2012
But The Music Man? Come on, the classic Meredith Willson musical chestnut is as corny and all-American as you can possibly get (let's face it, Willson is the master of that particular genre of musical theater occupied by The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown-plus he wrote the Oscar-nominated score for William Wyler's The Little Foxes, which is one of my all-time favorite movies: "The grits didn't hold they heat"), it's pure hokum and there is absolutely nothing at all cynical about it. So why the heck does it make me respond with some emotional fervor?
STAGE TUBE: Highlights from the 2011 First Night Honors
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Jul 3, 2012
SAVE THE DATE: The 2012 First Night Honorees, Most Promising Actors and the First Night Star Award winners will be revealed on Monday, July 23, at the First Night Preview Party...details to follow.
MUSIC CITY CONFIDENTIAL #4: Onstage, Offstage, Backstage and Beyond With the Theaterati
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Jun 26, 2012
It's supposed to be 108 degrees in the Nashville area by week's end, which means stepping outside will likely leave you melted, quite literally and figuratively. But if you do have to venture out of doors, perhaps a trip to the theater is a good idea…it'll be dark and cool (with any luck, the AC will be working-and you know which theaters we're talking about) and you'll be entertained, perhaps even transported to another world. Or not. In the meantime, we present you with installment number four of Music City Confidential-our continuing effort to create a sense of community and build up some enthusiasm and excitement for the live theater industry here in our alarmingly sweaty region. So, press on, gentle readers and catch up on the latest adventures of the theaterati…
BWW Interviews: Just in Time for THE MUSIC MAN Opening, Pendzick, Murphy and Ruff Tackle THE FRIDAY FIVE
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Jun 22, 2012
Today's spotlight hones in on a supremely talented trio of individuals from Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville. The altogether amazingly talented Ron Murphy is the company's resident music director (who truly has his work cut out for him since musicals are the stock in trade at CCP), the beautiful and vibrant Lindy Pendzick (who we first saw onstage in Brigadoon and most recently as Maria in The Sound of Music-and she stars opposite her husband Greg Pendzick in the nostalgic comedy See Rock City) and the versatile and charming Michael Ruff (whose burgeoning resume includes starmaking turns in Duck Hunter Shoots Angel, Dreamgirls, Brigadoon and, most recently, as Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, opposite Carol Irvin and Daniel W. Black).
STAGE TUBE: ART ISN'T EASY Benefit Cabaret at Cumberland County Playhouse
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Apr 27, 2012
Weslie Webster and Ron Murphy will combine efforts once again to bring a special benefit cabaret for the Shanks Center for the Arts-Art Isn't Easy, set for Saturday, April 28-featuring some of Cumberland County Playhouse's finest performers for an evening of music, dance and more. Art Isn't Easy: A Celebration of the Joys and Challenges of the Creative Life (the cabaret's title is taken from a lyric in the score of Stephen Sondheim's 1983 musical Sunday in the Park With George) will feature such Playhouse favorites Daniel Black, Lauren Marshall Murphy, Leila Nelson, Lindy Pendzick, Greg Pendzick, Austin Price, Michael Ruff and more.
STAGE TUBE: Art Isn't Easy Cabaret at Cumberland County Playhouse 4/28
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Apr 28, 2012
Weslie Webster and Ron Murphy will combine efforts once again to bring a special benefit cabaret for the Shanks Center for the Arts-Art Isn't Easy, set for Saturday, April 28-featuring some of Cumberland County Playhouse's finest performers for an evening of music, dance and more. Art Isn't Easy: A Celebration of the Joys and Challenges of the Creative Life (the cabaret's title is taken from a lyric in the score of Stephen Sondheim's 1983 musical Sunday in the Park With George) will feature such Playhouse favorites Daniel Black, Lauren Marshall Murphy, Leila Nelson, Lindy Pendzick, Greg Pendzick, Austin Price, Michael Ruff and more.
BWW Reviews: Historical Context Lends Gravitas to Cumberland County Playhouse's SOUND OF MUSIC
by Jeffrey Ellis
- Mar 30, 2012
With several Tennessee theaters prepping new productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic The Sound of Music over the upcoming months, one would be well-advised to make the trip to Crossville to see director Weslie Webster's (and music director Ron Murphy's) take on the Von Trapp family musical. Webster, one of Cumberland County Playhouse's most accomplished leading ladies, takes the helm of The Sound of Music with clear-headed confidence and commitment, giving the time-honored musical the added gravitas-the dramatic heft-of historical context, which all too often is glossed over and regretfully forgotten in lesser revivals.
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