Jeffrey Ellis - Page 137

But the week before the show, cast members from the production of Titanic, the Musical took part in the opening ceremonies for the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The cast performed the opening number from the show which introduces many of the people who were on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic and ends with the stirring anthem 'Godspeed, Titanic.'

For women in the audience (and both women and men came out in droves this past weekend for the opening of Potty Talk at the Darkhorse; making reservations for this week's upcoming performances is a very good idea), I suspect that the shared camaraderie of the ladies' room is a given. For men in the seats, however, it's a new experience, given our penchant for staring straight ahead and saying nothing (unless, of course, you have the 'wide stance' of a right-wing senator and his ilk). Regardless of your gender, you'll find a lot to laugh about and think about in Crist's play.

Rife with corruption and intrigue, teeming with forbidden love and deception, Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto is among the most often performed operas in America - and Nashville Opera closes out its 2009-2010 season with a beautifully designed and sumptuously mounted production of the Italian masterpiece in Andrew Jackson Hall at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Yet, as exquisite as its physical trappings are, Nashville Opera's Rigoletto may be even more impressive in its artful musicality: it is rapturously sung by a deft blending of talented newcomers to the Nashville stage.

The musical version of Mark Twain's classic tale sweeps audiences down the mighty Mississippi as the irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Their adventures along the way are propelled by an award-winning score from Roger Miller, which provides a theatrical celebration of pure Americana.

Flynt Foster, a Franklin-based actor seen recently in the world premiere of Southern Fried Funeral, stars as Michael Caldwell, a shy, aspiring writer from the Midwest who comes to New York in search of fame and fortune. His life becomes a series of hilarious encounters with the unpredictable residents of his dilapidated apartment house including a commercial actor who specializes in portraying inanimate objects, a Russian ballerina on the lam from the KGB, and a wisecracking actress. To maintain his own sanity, Michael retreats to his fantasies, only to find that the world of his imagination is even more nerve-racking than the reality surrounding him.

William Shakespeare's 446th birthday will be celebrated in grand and proper style in Nashville this month - Friday, April 23 - as Nashville Shakepeare Festival calls on would-be Romeos and Juliets to take part in 'The Biggest Balcony Scene Ever!' at 6 p.m. on the south steps of The Parthenon in Centennial Park.

Despite a few glimmers of hope and the promise of a transformative evening of theatre, the current Circle Players production of To Kill a Mockingbird is a thoroughly passionless and completely uninspired staging of Harper Lee's classic Southern tale and, clearly, is one of the biggest disappointments of the Nashville theatre season.

Opening Friday, April 9 - and continuing for nine performances through April 17 - Potty Talk is the latest play from Crist's fertile imagination. 'A 'royal flush' of Nashville comediennes polish the nuggets of wisdom that women discuss in the ladies' room,' is how Crist herself describes the play.

Jason Robert Brown's musical about a young Jewish boy making the move from New York to Indiana, 13, is among the highlights of Circle Players' 61st Season as one of Tennessee's oldest community theatre companies. Circle board president Jim Manning made the announcement of the new season's offerings prior to curtain of the 60th Season's To Kill a Mockingbird last week.

The East Tennessee native has called Nashville home for the past several years, following her graduation from nearby Middle Tennessee State University, and earlier this season she won great critical acclaim (which means I absolutely raved about her performance) in GroundWorks Theatre's production of Neil LaBute's Fat Pig, a show perfectly tailored for her talents. And I wasn't the only person - or critic, for that matter - to be totally enraptured by her courageously drawn portrayal of the play's plus-sized heroine Helen. After her appearances as the matriarch in A Sanders Family Christmas at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn, the role of Helen gave Amanda Lamb the opportunity to show another side of her immense talent.

Nashville Ballet promises to unveil 'magical surprises' in one of Shakespeare's favorite comedies with the world premiere of Paul Vasterling's original adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, April 23-25, in Andrew Jackson Hall at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Bringing the written word to life through Mendelssohn's music and the narrative of dance, audiences will watch as Puck plays tricks on the ill-fated lovers in the enchanted forest and as the antics of the midsummer's night become resolved by the light of the day.

Hot on the heels of the Nashville premiere of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Amun Ra Theatre shows no sign of slowing down its pace this season as it prepares to tackle Samuel Beckett's absurdist classic Waiting For Godot, directed by guest artist Robert Kiefer and starring a virtual 'who's who' of ART Ensemble members. Waiting For Godot, the second show in ART's 2010 'The Future Is Now Season,' opens April 22 and runs through May 9 at the Amun Ra Theatre Playhouse, 2508 Clifton Avenue.

Described a 'a sweet and endearing look at the American dream for all types during any era in our nation's history,' I Remember Mama features Paula Higgins as the headstrong Mama, while Annaliese Higgins plays her daughter Katrin. Recently transplanted to Tennessee, the two actresses have been looking for an opportunity to share the limelight and, at the same time, that would allow them to become more involved with the Brentwood community.

Christopher Sergel's stage adaptation of Harper Lee's classic Southern novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, will open Tennessee Repertory Theatre's 26th Season with an October 2-23 run at the Andrew Johnson Theatre at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Other shows featured during the 2010-2011 season includes Steven Dietz's Yankee Tavern, the acclaimed stage adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, and the toe-tapping musical favorite Pump Boys and Dinettes. Last season's holiday hit, A Christmas Story, will be revived as a season special and Tennessee Rep has three shows on tap for its popular REPaloud Series of staged readings.

ACT 1 (Artists Cooperative Theatre 1) continues its 20th anniversary season with a revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The show plays through Saturday, April 3, at Darkhorse Theatre.

The national tour of 9 to 5: the Musical will launch in Nashville this September, setting the stage for one of the most varied Broadway seasons in the history of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center as it celebrates its 30th anniversary.

McCarthy's boyishly appealing Matt, Sonn's winsomely beguiling Luisa and Sevier's beautifully sung El Gallo are, clearly, the lynchpins that guarantee audiences will respond favorably to the show, and they are given ample support from a gifted veteran cast assembled by Morton. Morton's direction is sure-handed and confident, with her obvious care and genuine affection for the piece apparent throughout the quickly moving production. Coupled with Green's exquisite musical direction and the accompaniment of his three-person band which ensures that the actors have the requisite musical underpinnings for their performances, The Fantasticks lends further credence to Boiler Room's ever-expanding reputation as a thoroughly professional theatrical venue in a city where musical theatre truly shines.

Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. (CDT) with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. at Darkhorse Theatre, 4610 Charlotte Avenue in Nashville. For reservations, call (615) 726-2281, and for further informatin about ACT 1, visit the company's website at www.act1online.com.

Celebrating the last day of their junior year, the East High Wildcats blast onto the summer scene with newfound jobs at the Lava Springs Country Club. Keeping the light-hearted fun that made High School Musical a household name, the takes on the questions of real kids facing the realities of the adult world. Friendships are tested, summer romances go haywire and the meaning of success is redefined.

The weekend-long Titanic Museum Attraction Grand Opening Celebration, hosted by Regis Philbin, will also feature a free concert by country music artist Neal McCoy. The event, open to the public, also will be attended by descendants and family members of those onboard the Titanic and includes a christening of the ship.