Jeffrey Ellis - Page 83

Martha Wilkinson, the nine-time First Night Award-winning actress (who's been singled out for honors by both The Tennessean and Nashville Scene, as well) who is one of the few actors in Nashville whose very name can lend starpower to the box office of any show she's in, is back onstage this weekend in Nashville Shakespeare Festival's World War II-era adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. So, in honor of Martha's role as "the ultimate diva of Nashville theater," we've come up with a poll, asking the $64,000 Question: What Martha Wilkinson role would you love to see her play onstage again?

Described as "bold, captivating and often shocking," Mysterious Skin, a play by Prince Gomolvilas based on the novel by Scott Heim, is being brought to the Darkhorse Theatre stage, thanks to producing/directing duo of L.T. Kirk and Jonathan Burgess.

Bobby Wyckoff, a favorite of audiences at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, directs The Dixie Swim Club, the latest offering from the playwriting team of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, running August 23-September 30 at the dinner theatre located at 8204 Highway 100 in West Nashville.

Broadway's Aaron Tveit-fresh off starmaking turns in next to normal and Catch Me If You Can-is the featured performer for this year's Tennessee Performing Arts Center Gala, set for Saturday, August 25, and this year honoring community leader John Ferguson.

There comes a moment in Xanadu-the deliciously campy musical theater confection that is based on the unintentionally campy 1980s movie of the same name-when the Greek muse Calliope suggests that "it's just like children's theater for 40-year-old gay people" (or words to that effect) which perfectly captures the show's charm and unfailing appeal for audiences of every conceivable ilk and for one theater critic, in particular.

Featuring a triumvirate of capable, confident and consummately talented actors-LaToya Gardner, Kevin Mead and Lisa Graham-in the show's leading roles, it is a beautifully sung, interestingly staged and tremendously affecting musical that succeeds even despite the limitations of director Ralph Gabriel's sometimes questionable choices.

Next weekend marks the annual return of Nashville Shakespeare Festival to Centennial Park for the company's 25th offering of some of the Bard's best-known and best-loved works. We're wondering what production is your favorite from among the 10 most recent offerings from the company?

Apparently, it is Elvis Week in Nashville (at least according to the fine folks at Loveless Cafe), so before we head out to the theater for a full weekend of show openings and the like, a trip to West Nashville for a slice of the Loveless' Elvis pie is in order (for the uninitiated, that's peanut butter, banana, bacon and homemade whipped cream-the four basic food groups, according to The King.), so before we slip into a diabetic coma, here's installment #7 of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print from onstage, offstage, backstage and beyond…

It's becomes very clear very quickly, when talking to Rupert Holmes, that writing the libretto for The Nutty Professor-which paired him with composer Marvin Hamlisch-has been an astonishing and inspiring experience for the man whose resume is filled with noteworthy achievements in theater, music, publishing and, practically, any endeavor of self-expression that one can name. Yet, as Holmes remembers his friend, his collaborator and his fellow musical theater legend, it is apparent that Hamlisch's sudden death this week has left an indelible imprint upon him.

Thornton Wilder's American classic, Our Town, is the third production of The Renaissance Players' 2012 theatrical season, running August 10 - August 19 at The Renaissance Center's Anne Deason Performance Hall.

Ariel Dorfman's Death and The Maiden, starring Phil Brady, Trish Crist and Bakari King, will be presented by Nashville's Rhubarb Theater August 23-25 at Darkhorse Theatre-with a special encore performance as part of the 2012 First Night Honors on Friday, August 31, at Belmont's Black Box Theatre.

Described as "bold, captivating and often shocking," Mysterious Skin, a play by Prince Gomolvilas based on the novel by Scott Heim, is being brought to the Darkhorse Theatre stage, thanks to producing/directing duo of L.T. Kirk and Jonathan Burgess.

Throughout the day, company members had taken to social media to express their shock and grief at the news of Hamlisch's death. Hamlisch, one of the most honored music composers in history, had been scheduled to fly to Nashville this week to see the show for the first time. He was last in Nashville at the start of the company's rehearsals in Music City.

Tonight, in TPAC's James K. Polk Theatre, Michael Andrew, Marissa McGowan, Mark Jacoby, Klea Blackhurst, Jamie Ross and the rest of the ensemble will take to the stage to bring The Nutty Professor to life once more for a Nashville audience. Today, however, the company has been quietly reflective, taking to social media to express their shock and grief at the loss of their show's composer…

Composer Marvin Hamlisch, whose latest musical theater work is on display in Nashville in the Broadway-bound production of The Nutty Professor, has died in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press. He was 68 years old, and his death was made public by a family spokesperson. He is survived by his wife, Terre.

Kummer, who has a lengthy resume of Nashville productions he's either music directed or conducted, leads the band onstage when they are assembled on the bandstand for The Nutty Professor's pep rally production number that closes the show. Clad in sparkly purple vests and green ties (the school colors of fictional Korwin University) designed by Tony Award-winning costumer Ann Hould-Ward, it's a rousing moment when the musicians take the stage. Suffice it to say, Nashville audiences have been vocal and expressive in their reactions since the show's first preview performance on July 24.

Despite the best efforts of some of Nashville's finest and most promising young actresses, who do their best with such a disappointing script, they can't bring the show to life. The play's characters-who represent some of the 1,800-plus real women who entered training in 1943 to become Womens Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) a paramilitary organization designed to allow women to provide support for the male pilots of the Army Air Forces-represent a cross-section of American women who wanted to aid the war effort in the best possible way.

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find on stages in the Volunteer State. Today, the spotlight focuses on Stephen Michael Jones, who tonight will debut as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Stones River Theatre Company's concert mounting of the classic Frank Wildhorn musical Jekyll & Hyde.

Danny Young grew up in the small Wisconsin town of Viola (population 500), the son of a band director, so it should come as absolutely no surprise that he's now plying his trade as a professional musician-a drummer, to be exact-and he's part of the blue-ribbon orchestra playing a brand-new Marvin Hamlisch score every night during performances of The Nutty Professor, A New Musical now onstage at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Gnimn has a secret that may be revealed during performances that are part of the second Sideshow Fringe Festival, happening this weekend at various Belmont-area venues and featuring a plethora of events ranging from puppetry to dance, a 90-minute Hamlet and comedy.