Jeffrey Ellis - Page 108

For Jody Gelb, who plays Madame Morrible in the national touring company of Wicked now ensconced at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall for another record-setting run, every night in the theater is so much more than just another day on the job. For her, it's an inspiring adventure which further proves that Wicked is so much more than musical theater: it's a phenomenon.

Trish Crist, the award-winning playwright of What, follows up to that critically acclaimed play with Who, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company November 4-12 at Darkhorse Theater. 'The fast-moving collection of stories are all set in Nashville and the play is a smart sequel to What, which was named Best Original Play of 2009 by the Nashville Scene,' Crist explains.

So how does a New York-based actor/dancer/choreographer/producer/arts administrator - okay, let's just say it loud and clear right now: Justin Boccitto is a multi-hyphenate - find himself in Nashville, directing and choreographing a production of Hairspray at a Christian university with a theater program that's making a big splash locally, regionally and nationally?

Anne Brummel and Tiffany Haas, the two actresses playing Elphaba and Glinda in the national tour of Wicked - which will be calling Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall home October 19-November 6 - might be advised to keep an eye cast over their talented shoulders on lookout for Delaney Amatrudo and Katelyn Fiorini, two Nashville actresses and Wicked superfans, each of whom has her sights on claiming one of the two iconic roles sometime, somewhere in the future.

Southern Fried Funeral, the latest collaboration from playwrights Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler, opens at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre on October 22, running through November 26 at the venerable Nashville dinner theater.

George Manus has been a part of the theater community in Nashville and Middle Tennessee for so long that it's easy to forget he's not yet 40 years old. He cut his teeth as a young director at Dennis Ewing's late and lamented Actors Playhouse of Nashville, which led him to spearhead the opening of his own theater company, DreamWeaver Productions on Third Avenue South in downtown Nashville during the early to mid-1990s, and now he heads up Murfreesboro's Out Front On Main, a storefront operation that specializes in bringing edgier theater to that burgeoning college town.

Based on the series of Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Park, Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! brings the saucy first grader back to NCT with all of her holiday excitement. Junie B. and her classmates were last at NCT in 2007, when the theatre performed Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business to celebrate the theater's grand re-opening following its massive renovations.

Nashville audiences can relax about one particular holiday detail: Those five wonderful women of Mas Nashville are plotting their comeback. Erin Parker, Laura Matula, Melodie Madden Adams, Cori Laemmel and Megan Murphy Chambers return to the stage of the historic Belcourt Theatre on Wednesday, December 28, for A ChristMAS Holiday Hangover, the latest cabaret conquest from the multi-talented quintet of Nashville performers.

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held for each performance of Wicked, which runs October 19 through November 6, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall. Prior to each performance, those interested should arrive at TPAC two-and-a-half hours before show time to have their names placed in the lottery drawing.The sign up will take place in TPAC's Polk Theater lobby.

So it was with some trepidation - and more than a little wariness - that I approached a new production of A Few Good Men, now onstage through October 15, at Lakewood Theatre Company in Old Hickory. While the physical realities of Lakewood's venue preclude any such staging innovations as employed by Whatley, what you are treated to instead is a sharply focused and superbly acted production of Sorkin's seminal dramatic work. As one of the area's most successful community theater companies, Lakewood has consistently performed to capacity crowds, drawing actors from throughout the region.

Irvin and Crabtree, producing artistic director at CCP, lead a production company of 50 in the revivial, including Jason Ross, Weslie Webster, Daniel Black, Brenda Frye, Lauren Marshall, and Greg and Lindy Pendzick. Scenery is by Robert Cothran, head of design for a generation at Knoxville's Clarence Brown Company and UT Theaters. Crabtree and John Fionte co-direct, with music direction by Ron Murphy, Leila Nelson as choreographer, and Austin Price and Chaz Sanders as lead dancers.

Out Front on Main presents Tracy Letts' Bug, directed for the stage by George W. Manus, Jr., focuses on 'on an unhinged war veteran who holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room, while the line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.' It runs October 13-31, Thursdays-Sundays at 7:30 p.m. with an additional show on Halloween night followed by a costume ball.

You gotta give credit to Scott Rice: the man's got style! Approaching his 40th birthday with the same trepidations that anyone would, instead of just throwing a drunken revelry for all his Nashville friends, he has chosen instead to become an impresario in order to produce, direct and star in the Music City premiere of John Bucchino's It's Only Life.

Superbly performed by a cast of eight exceptional student actors in the Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance, under the direction of Bill Feehely (co-founder of Nashville's acclaimed Actors Bridge Ensemble), Dancing at Lughnasa opens the 2011-2012 season with theater of the highest order, delivering a sumptuously appointed physical production that soars because of the wonderfully nuanced portrayals of the actors.

Nashville actor Scott Rice's new production company, Falling Frog Creations, presents John Bucchino's It's Only Life in celebration of Rice's birthday, at Street Theatre Company, 1933 Elm Hill Pike, October 7-9. While this cabaret retrospective of the music of composer John Bucchino is the inaugural production of this new production company, it also coincides with the birthday celebration of its founder, Rice. Joining Rice onstage will be Megan Chambers, Tyson Laemmel and Olivia Skurka. Rollie Mains serves as musical director and accompanist.

Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, starring Ashley Camps, Tricia Matthews, Nick Koesters and Nathan Whitmer, will be produced later this fall at Virginia's Barter Theatre. The State Theatre of Virginia will produce the classic American play tonight through November 12 at Barter Stage II. The Glass Menagerie was chosen after Barter Theatre learned the script for Swamp Gas and Shallow Feelings (originally slated to open October 7) would not be completed in time for rehearsals.

After that huge success, BroadwayWorld.com announces two awards presentations for Tennessee theater this year, with awards to be presented for Nashville productions and for Tennessee productions outside Music City USA. You may make nominations throughout the month of October, with voting for the awards starting in November, and the announcement of winners set for Sunday, January 8, during Midwinter's First Night at The Keeton Theatre in Donelson. Details about that event will be announced in the coming weeks.

Arthur Miller's All My Sons, which debuted on Broadway in 1947, continues to resonate with contemporary audiences thanks to its timeless, heart-wrenching relevance and Miller's unequaled ability as a storyteller. Now onstage at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre in an impressive production that opens Tennessee Repertory Theatre's 2011-2012 season, All My Sons is Miller's searing consideration of the relentless pursuit of the American Dream, selflessness be damned in the name of profit.

NowPlayingNashville.com, an initiative of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, recently has unveiled smARTS -a ticket package collaboration with Actors Bridge Ensemble, Dance Theatre of Tennessee, GroundWorks Theatre, Street Theatre Company, and Tennessee Women's Theater Project. This unique discount ticket package allows patrons to sample five performances from five organizations' 2011-2012 seasons for $60, a savings of more than $25.

When Circle Players presents the Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newly musical Willy Wonka, running October 14-30 at the Keeton Theatre in Donelson, the audience will be exposed to plenty of sugary treats. After all, the stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic story is mostly set in a magical chocolate factory where its owner, Willy Wonka, is checking out possible heirs to his candy empire. He puts his young candidates through a series of character tests which only one boy, Charlie Bucket, passes.