Jeffrey Ellis - Page 44

There comes a moment in Act Two (or maybe it's Act One - on second thought, maybe it's the second Act One, although it could be the third…) of Michael Frayn's Noises Off, now onstage at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre, in which Martha Wilkinson comes onstage, hits her mark, cuts her eyes at another actor and with perfect timing reaches out to touch his arm, her expressive face showing every word the audience needs to hear, eliciting guffaws and applause as her reward.

Joseph Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace, a genteel and sometimes beguiling 'suspense comedy,' is a favorite among the nation's various and sundry community theater companies. And for good reason: It's slyly amusing, despite its age, and it features some genuinely engaging (if somewhat despicable, depending upon your perspective) characters who have entertained audiences for 75 years (it bowed on Broadway in 1941).

2013 First Night Honoree Jamey Green leads the cast of Act Too Pro's production of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, opening Tuesday night, October 18, at the historic Franklin Theatre. Running through October 23, Willy Wonka follows the critically acclaimed Act Too Pro debut production of Mary Poppins, which played to capacity crowds in 2015.

It becomes very clear, just moments into a phone conversation with actress Katie LaMark that she's tremendously charming, amazingly sharp and intuitive and, quite frankly, very intelligent and quick-witted. So it comes as absolutely no surprise that the young woman - a Boston native now on the road, playing the role of Maureen in the 20th Anniversary Production of Rent, which makes its way to Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center next week - considers herself to be 'living the dream' as she criss-crosses the United States, bringing Jonathan Larson's character to life in an acclaimed revival.

It's only October, but the 2016-17 school year is already off to a frenzied start for Belmont University's Kyle Caress, who this week gets a respite from the halls of academia to spend fall break in New York City with some of his musical theater classmates/comrades/friends, taking in some of the hottest shows on Broadway before returning to Nashville to put the finishing touches on the department's fall musical offering.

Actor, stage manager, teaching artist, blogger, raconteur, Lipscomb University alumna - no matter how you refer to Emily Faith, she remains something of an enigma. No matter how well you think you know her, there's always more to discover, more layers to peel away. To say that Emily Faith is an intriguing individual remains an understatement of the first order: She is a fascinating woman.

Make no mistake about it, to know Lauri Gregoire is to love her - just ask the legions of people lucky enough to know her throughout her life, particularly those who have come to know her in the 20-plus years she's lived in Nashville. She's beautiful, to be certain, but perhaps more to the point, she is bright, clever, intelligent, empathetic, kind and committed to her family and friends, her career and business and to living the kind of life that has created a legacy of creativity and art in her adopted hometown.

There's something about Tonya Pewitt, a certain, almost indefinable, something that makes her an ideal musical theater leading lady (perhaps, we admit, that's a dated term in these politically correct times – we are, after all, in the 21st century and the election of the first woman president of the United States seems imminent – but in regard to Ms. Pewitt, we use the term affectionately, respectfully and even reverently), attributes that she has accumulated, if you will, in a lifetime spent as a fan of classic Broadway and film musicals. She's charming and oh-so-engaging, beautifully alive onstage in a way only great musical theater stars can be when the follow spot hits them upon their first entrance.

Melding Italian Renaissance elements with contemporary street art to signify a 'clash of cultures,' Vanderbilt University Theatre's production of Othello, one of Shakespeare's most powerful dramas and the first VUT production of the 2016-17 season, opens tonight at Neely Auditorium on the Nashville campus.

Just in time for the Halloween season, Cumberland County Playhouse presents its version of the recent Broadway hit The Addams Family - starring Playhouse favorite Jason Ross and newcomer Audrey Moore as Gomez and Morticia Addams - onstage in Crossville beginning tonight (Friday, September 30) and running through November 12.

Matt Smith and Ted Verbeten star in the iconic roles of Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar in Arts Center of Cannon County's new production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, opening tonight at the theater in Woodbury for a run through October 15.

West End United Methodist Church's 4th Story Theater presents Cotton Patch Gospel - by Tom Key and Russell Treyz, with music and lyrics by Harry Chapin - directed by Kirk McNeill, the company's artistic director.

Although she's only a freshman in high school, Shelby Jones (who attends Murfreesboro's Middle Tennessee Christian School) has already amassed an enviable theater resume and established a reputation as one of the finest singers to be found onstage.

ACT 1's 2016-17 season officially opens with the Daniel DeVault-directed production of Joseph Kesselring's classic comedy Arsenic and Old Lace, playing Nashville's Darkhorse Theatre October 7-22, and starring Debbie Kraski and Linda Speir as the daffy yet dastardly Brewster sisters.

Which brings us to this year's first installment of our popular feature/interview series, Collegiate Theatrics, featuring Belmont University sophomore Mary-Alexis McEntire, who is perhaps better known to friends, family and fans as Lexie McEntire. The Fairfax, Virginia, native is in the initial throes of her second year at the school - known widely for its theater and dance and musical theatre programs - as another young artist in a long line of Belmont students (then and now) making their names known on stages all over the globe.

Today's subject of Where Are They Now?, our regular feature in which we catch-up with those people who once called Nashville home but who are now reaching for their dreams all over the creative world. Actor Tyler Cravens first made a splash in Nashville theater after starring on the Roxy Regional Theatre stage while still in the U.S. Army and stationed at nearby Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

When an already unstable cast of actors begins to suffer the slings and arrows of falling in love (as well as falling down stairs) the possibility of a successful performance plummets, but the likelihood of audience delight skyrockets. That's what audiences can expect when Nashville Repertory Theatre opens the second show of its 2016-17 season: Michael Frayn's Noises Off.

One thing in theater seems certain: Give an accomplished and veteran director the reins to a show and you can be guaranteed they will approach the work decisively and imaginatively - no matter how weak or how strong a particular play's script may be…

Tony Award-nominated director Lynne Taylor-Corbett (Swing!) helms Part of the Plan, an original musical featuring the songs of the late, celebrated singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, currently in development at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center which this week will receive a 29-hour Equity staged reading with three invitation-only presentations September 22-24.

From the very first moment - when principal guest conductor Nathan Fifield raises his baton and the musicians of the Nashville Symphony play the very first notes of Prokofiev's lush score - it becomes apparent that Nashville Ballet's Cinderella is going to be something very special. And so it goes for the next two-and-one-half-hours: All the way to the final tableau in which the lovely young woman (danced with power and grace by the always-superb Kayla Rowser) finds herself upon a swing in an altogether bucolic setting, with the comforting and loving arm of her dashing prince (Judson Veach, handsome and steadfast) gently caressing her.