Jeffrey Ellis - Page 134

Circle Players opens its 2010-2011 season at The Keeton Theatre with Frank Galati's adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, running August 13-29.

Lakewood Village Theatre's Texas-sized summer comedy, Southern Hospitality, opens at the theatre in Old Hickory on Friday, August 6, continuing through August 21.

Eight of the best-known names in Nashville theater will be announced next Monday, August 2, as the Class of 2010 for The First Night Nashville Theatre Honors. The newly remodeled Hard Rock Cafe, at 100 Broadway in downtown Nashville, will play host to the preview party from 6 to 8 p.m., when the names of the honorees will be revealed publicly for the first time.

Craig Lucas' Reckless, directed by Jessika Malone, is next up in Actors Bridge Ensemble's 2010 season, opening Friday, July 23 at Belmont University's Black Box Theater. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m., except for Sunday matinees which are at 4:30 p.m.

Reckless - Craig Lucas' skewed vision of suburban life in contemporary America - is brought to life in an engaging and entertaining new production from Actors Bridge Ensemble. Directed with finesse by Jessika Malone and performed by a cast of talented actors who are supremely confident in interpreting Lucas' off-kilter comedy, it's a well-crafted show that fairly crackles with humor.

Nashville playwright and director Trish Crist has brought her latest project to the stage of Darkhorse Theatre, a heartfelt consideration of the journey taken by Americans since 1969 - the summer in which the modern lesbian and gay civil rights movement was finally galvanized at the Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village.

Eight of the best-known names in Nashville theater will be announced next Monday, August 2, as the Class of 2010 for The First Night Nashville Theatre Honors. The newly remodeled Hard Rock Cafe, at 100 Broadway in downtown Nashville, will play host to the preview party from 6 to 8 p.m., when the names of the honorees will be revealed publicly for the first time.

Craig Lucas' Reckless, directed by Jessika Malone, is next up in Actors Bridge Ensemble's 2010 season, opening Friday, July 23 at Belmont University's Black Box Theater. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m., except for Sunday matinees which are at 4:30 p.m.

Rhubarb Theater Company presents 41, Trish Crist's comedy/drama opens at the Darkhorse Theater, Friday, July 23, continuing through August 7. According to the playwright, who does double duty as director, 41 is inspired by this summer's 41st anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

Some 20-plus years after its Broadway debut - and about 15 or more years since I last saw the musical's first production at The Roxy - Into the Woods retains its powerful storytelling technique, made all the more memorable by Sondheim's beautiful score, and presents a plethora of characters from childhood storybooks in a way that remains contemporary and compelling. With Tom Thayer's strong direction and artistic vision, this production soars, taking audiences along for an imaginative and creative journey.

Rhubarb Theater Company presents 41, Trish Crist's comedy/drama opens at the Darkhorse Theater, Friday, July 23, continuing through August 7. According to the playwright, who does double duty as director, 41 is inspired by this summer's 41st anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

This confluence of events and elements has resulted in the perfect summer diversion at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, Nashville's venerable theatrical venue, with their production of Ray Cooney's Funny Money. Directed with a certain twisted grace by the multi-faceted Nate Eppler and performed by a top-notch band of actors, Funny Money is - put simply - delightfully daft and expertly played.

Most recently the audience development intern at Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Arkansas-born Barry Honold's next theatrical adventure is as production dramaturg for Nashville Shakespeare Festival's upcoming production of Love's Labour's Lost, the company's 2010 Shakespeare-in-the-Park presentation. Directed by company artistic director Denice Hicks, the production stars Tom Angland, Jeff Boyet, Shannon Hoppe, Nettie Kraft, R. Alex Murray, Eric Pasto-Crosby, Ricardo Puerta, Joseph Robinson and Brenda Sparks.

George C. Wolfe's acclaimed The Colored Museum is now onstage at Nashville's Amun Ra Theatre, continuing the company's 2010 season hot off the heels of the production of Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog. Opening Thursday, June 17, The Colored Museum runs through July 4. Shows are Thursday through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15.

As Nashville's summer theater season continues to heat up, anticipation continues to grow for September's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, the revival of the Music City theater gala that will benefit Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and sponsored by Macy's and BroadwayWorld.com. Set for Sunday, September 19, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre, First Night 2010 will honor eight individuals for their sustained and continued commitment to theater in Nashville.

Ciaran McCarthy gives such a stunningly raw and beautifully nuanced performance as film director Guido Contini in Boiler Room Theatre's production of Nine that it would be easy to lavish praise on him and leave it at that. But he is surrounded by a cast of women (and one very talented young man) who are wonderfully cast and who deliver performances that match McCarthy's in intensity and artistry. In other words: Don't even think of missing this show!

Pawnshop, a new play by Atlanta playwright Tiffany Parks, will be given a staged reading in Nashville Monday night, June 21, by The African American Playwrights Exchange. The reading will be held upstairs at Bongo Java, 2007 Belmont Boulevard. Pawnshop focuses on relations between members of Atlanta's African-American and Jewish communities in the 1950s and is the winner of the AAPEX Best New Play 2010 award.