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Jeffrey Ellis - Page 32

Jeffrey Ellis

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who's been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 35 years. In 1989, Ellis and his partner launched Dare, Tennessee's Lesbian and Gay Newsweekly which later became known as Query. Ellis is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theater in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly.  He is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and is the founder/executive producer of The First Night Honors - the history of which can be traced to 1989 and the first presentation of The First Night Awards - which honor outstanding theater artisans from Tennessee in recognition of their lifetime achievements and also includes The First Night Star Awards and the Most Promising Actors recognition. Midwinter's First Night honors outstanding productions and performances throughout the state. An accomplished director, Ellis helmed productions of La Cage Aux Folles, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and An American Daughter, all in their Nashville premieres, as well as award-winning productions of Damn Yankees, Company, Gypsy and The Rocky Horror Show. Ellis was recognized by The Tennessean as best director of a musical for both Company and Rocky Horror. Since 2015, Ellis has been increasingly in demand as a director by a variety of Tennessee theater companies and he has helmed productions of Picnic (Circle Players), The Last Five Years (VWA Theatricals), The Miss Firecracker Contest, Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will?, South Pacific, Winter Wonderettes and The Wizard of Oz (The Larry Keeton Theatre), The Little Foxes (ACT 1), The Boys in the Band (Jeffey Ellis Presents), Singin' in the Rain (Arts Center of Cannon County) and The Secret Garden (Center for the Arts, Murfreesboro) and, in 2020, the 70th anniversary season production of La Cage Aux Folles for Circle Players. Later this year, he will be directing Beautiful: The Carole King Musical for Center for the Arts.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Jeffrey Ellis

First Show:

EVITA, starring Patti LuPone

Favorite Stories:



Jutting Directs McIntyre in SEA WALL at OZ Arts 7/20
Jutting Directs McIntyre in SEA WALL at OZ Arts 7/20
July 6, 2017

Jaclynn Jutting directs a new production of Simon Stephens' acclaimed monologue Sea Wall, presented as part of OZ Arts' local spotlight series, on Thursday, July 20, starring Nat McIntyre. Sea Wall is the first theater production within OZ Arts' TNT local spotlight series.

BWW Review: Ryan Bowie Brings Back His Amazing HEDWIG To The Roxy
BWW Review: Ryan Bowie Brings Back His Amazing HEDWIG To The Roxy
July 5, 2017

Ryan Bowie revives his amazing performance as the 'international song stylist' Hedwig Schmidt in the latest incarnation of Hedwig and The Angry Inch, now onstage at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre through July 15. No matter if you saw him in 2014 during the show's initial run at theotherspace at The Roxy, you simply must make every effort to catch this vibrantly restaged version of the show that is unlike any other you're likely to see on any stage.

Critic's Choice: What's Playing in Tennessee? Nashville Theater Calendar for July 5, 2017
Critic's Choice: What's Playing in Tennessee? Nashville Theater Calendar for July 5, 2017
July 5, 2017

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

BWW Review: KB Productions' THE WATER'S EDGE by Theresa Rebeck
BWW Review: KB Productions' THE WATER'S EDGE by Theresa Rebeck
July 5, 2017

Performed amid a gorgeous, bucolic setting, the latest offering from Nashville's KB Productions - a retelling of Theresa Rebeck's Greek tragedy cum American family drama The Water's Edge - is performed upon what may be the most detailed, stunningly conceived and beautifully realized set ever seen on the stage of the iconic Darkhorse Theater. Designed by director Jaymes Campbell and crafted by a construction crew led by Joe Stinemetz, it provides an evocative backdrop for the action (or lack thereof) in Rebeck's much-maligned play, ideally capturing the physical trappings of a somewhat down-on-its-heels lakeside cottage where tragedy lurks behind every tree.

Thank You, Places...Production Stage Manager DEBORAH RHODUS ARVIN
Thank You, Places...Production Stage Manager DEBORAH RHODUS ARVIN
June 29, 2017

What's a stage manager? What do they do? What's their job? Seriously. Perhaps no job in the theater is as hard to define as that of a production stage manager and it's that blend of mystery, fear and total dependence that makes actors, directors, crew members, producers - you name it! - hold a really great stage manager in total awe and to revile someone who is (how do you say it, without offending anyone?) less than stellar in their position?

RAGTIME Next Up at Murfreesboro's Center of the Arts July 7-23
RAGTIME Next Up at Murfreesboro's Center of the Arts July 7-23
June 29, 2017

Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts explores what it means to be an American with its production of Ragtime, running July 7-23. The Tony Award-winning musical with book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens is directed by Rachel Jones, a CFTA newcomer.

ANNIE Debuts at Arts Center of Cannon County for July 7-22 Run
ANNIE Debuts at Arts Center of Cannon County for July 7-22 Run
June 29, 2017

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Hayes Hunter, with musical direction by Brittany Goodwin, Annie, the beloved musical about the plucky comic book heroine of the 1930s, comes to the Arts Center of Cannon County for a July 7-22 run.

Critic's Choice: What's Playing in Tennessee? Nashville Theater Calendar for June 29, 2017
Critic's Choice: What's Playing in Tennessee? Nashville Theater Calendar for June 29, 2017
June 29, 2017

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

BWW Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN! Wows Nashville Audiences During Show's TPAC Run
BWW Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN! Wows Nashville Audiences During Show's TPAC Run
June 29, 2017

Nashville audiences have long been noted for their generosity in rewarding performances with a standing ovation - to the point that they have become rather commonplace - but never before have we witnessed a 'standing O' at the end of a particularly raucous, thoroughly inspiring and resolutely entertaining musical number. That is, we had never seen it happen until opening night at the conclusion of the rousing and rollicking 'A Musical' that comes midway through Act One of Something Rotten!, the uproarious Broadway hit that made its Music City debut at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall on Tuesday evening.

Wayne Kirkpatrick on Bringing SOMETHING ROTTEN! To His Hometown
Wayne Kirkpatrick on Bringing SOMETHING ROTTEN! To His Hometown
June 22, 2017

Try as you might, chances are you won't be very lucky in convincing Wayne Kirkpatrick to give you the scoop about his next Broadway musical - that information is kept under the strictest of confidence, thanks to his pledge to producer Kevin McCollum and his musical collaborator who just happens to be his brother, Karey.

Jill McMillan Named New Executive Director of Arts & Business Council
Jill McMillan Named New Executive Director of Arts & Business Council
June 21, 2017

Jill McMillan, current corporate relations manager at Boston's Institute of Contempory Art, has been named the next executive director of The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville (ABC). She is scheduled to take the reins at ABC on June 28 after completing her role at ICA.

Critic's Choice: What's Playing in Tennessee? Nashville Theater Calendar for June 21, 2017
Critic's Choice: What's Playing in Tennessee? Nashville Theater Calendar for June 21, 2017
June 21, 2017

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

BWW Review: Street Theatre Company's Social Media-Inspired PIPPIN
BWW Review: Street Theatre Company's Social Media-Inspired PIPPIN
June 20, 2017

Musical theater lends itself to the "high concept" approach, to be certain, even if it doesn't always add to the overall success of a production. Case in point: Street Theatre Company's current revival of Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, onstage through June 25 at Holy Trinity Community Church in Nashville, which despite a cast of theatrical heavy hitters seems rather lost in a befuddling miasma of forced social media fun and games.

LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! Set for July 7-23 Run at Music Valley Event Center
LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! Set for July 7-23 Run at Music Valley Event Center
June 20, 2017

Terrence McNally's critically acclaimed 1995 Broadway hit Love! Valour! Compassion! is being revived in Nashville for a limited run at Music Valley Event Center. Produced in cooperation with Murfreesboro-based nonprofit Radical Arts, Love! Valour! Compassion! will offer patrons dinner and show-only options for its July 7-23 performances.

Where Are They Now? DOUGLAS WATERBURY-TIEMAN
Where Are They Now? DOUGLAS WATERBURY-TIEMAN
June 20, 2017

Among such actors is Douglas Waterbury-Tieman, a graduate of the Belmont University Musical Theatre program, now living in Inwood, New York City, with his wife Annabelle Fox (also a Belmont grad and a recent subject of this series), whom he met in school in Nashville.

Thank You, Places...Production Stage Manager KATIE VEGLIO
Thank You, Places...Production Stage Manager KATIE VEGLIO
June 20, 2017

What's a stage manager? What do they do? What's their job? Seriously. Perhaps no job in the theater is as hard to define as that of a production stage manager and it's that blend of mystery, fear and total dependence that makes actors, directors, crew members, producers - you name it! - hold a really great stage manager in total awe and to revile someone who is (how do you say it, without offending anyone?) less than stellar in their position?

BWW Review: So Good It's Addictive...ACT 1's REEFER MADNESS
BWW Review: So Good It's Addictive...ACT 1's REEFER MADNESS
June 19, 2017

'Over-the-top' and 'larger-than-life' are but two of the descriptive phrases that may be used in reference to both director Jason Lewis and his latest theatrical project Reefer Madness the Musical - and, in both instances, they are equally justified. In all honesty, who else better than he to helm a production of the thoroughly madcap and deliciously campy musical now onstage at Darkhorse Theater through this weekend as the final show of ACT 1's 2016-17 season?

Thank You, Places...Production Stage Manager ALEXIS LAVON
Thank You, Places...Production Stage Manager ALEXIS LAVON
June 15, 2017

What's a stage manager? What do they do? What's their job? Seriously. Perhaps no job in the theater is as hard to define as that of a production stage manager and it's that blend of mystery, fear and total dependence that makes actors, directors, crew members, producers - you name it! - hold a really great stage manager in total awe and to revile someone who is (how do you say it, without offending anyone?) less than stellar in their position?

FRIDAY 5 (+1) on Thursday: MARY POPPINS' Beverly Grant & Teal Davis
FRIDAY 5 (+1) on Thursday: MARY POPPINS' Beverly Grant & Teal Davis
June 15, 2017

It's yet another opening night at The Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson, as co-directors Jamie London and Noah Rice unveil the company's latest: Mary Poppins the Musical. Featuring a cast of more than 40 actors, it's the last production of The Keeton's 2016-17 season.

Back by Popular Demand: Ryan Bowie in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
Back by Popular Demand: Ryan Bowie in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
June 14, 2017

Houses were packed to capacity, Broadway World called it 'one of the year's most unforgettable performances,' and audiences have been begging for more ever since and now it's coming back by popular demand: Ryan Bowie stars in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre June 30-July 15.



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