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Jeffrey Ellis - Page 119

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:



BWW Reviews: LES MISERABLES at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center
May 18, 2011

As powerfully moving as it has ever been, Les Miserables - the epic musicalization of Victor Hugo's classic novel by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil - returns to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center for an eight-performance stand this week, in a visually commanding , artfully re-imagined and dynamic production celebrating the show's 25th anniversary on American stages.

Talkbacks planned for Thursday night performances of LONG WAY DOWN 5/19 & 5/26
Talkbacks planned for Thursday night performances of LONG WAY DOWN 5/19 & 5/26
May 17, 2011

3Ps Productions and Street Theatre are proud to announce two focused talkbacks during the run of the critically acclaimed Long Way Down currently running at Street Theatre Company, 1933 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville.

On the LINE: Andy Mann from Keeton Theatre's A CHORUS LINE
On the LINE: Andy Mann from Keeton Theatre's A CHORUS LINE
May 17, 2011

Director Kate Adams-Johnson, aka Nashville's busiest choreographer, is putting yet another cast through the paces in preparation for another opening night. But this time, she's serious. Very serious. The show, you see, is every dancer's favorite musical: A Chorus Line. Kate's cast is a blending of familiar faces and newcomers and so over the next couple of weeks, we're introducing the members of The Keeton Theatre's cast to you. As you'll see, some of them have much to learn about being interviewed by 'Nashville's favorite theater critic.' First up is Andy Mann...

Street Theatre Company to host public performance of NO MORE SECRETS 5/23
Street Theatre Company to host public performance of NO MORE SECRETS 5/23
May 16, 2011

Street Theatre Company is presenting a free public performance of the play, No More Secrets, on Monday, May 23 at 6 p.m. at the Martha O'Bryan Center in East Nashville. No More Secrets is being presented through the partnerships of the Metro Nashville Arts Commission and the Martha O'Bryan Center.

Hatfields and McCoys battle in TSF's COMEDY OF ERRORS this summer
Hatfields and McCoys battle in TSF's COMEDY OF ERRORS this summer
May 16, 2011

Shakespeare meets the Hatfields and the McCoys this summer in Tennessee Shakespeare Festival's family-friendly The Comedy of Errors, running June 17-July 10 in Bell Buckle on the campus of the Webb School. Tennessee Shakespeare Festival's latest production, The Comedy of Errors - described as 'a rollicking version of William Shakespeare's madcap tale of mistaken identity, set in the highlands of 1880s West Virginia.'

All-Star Cast Brings ROBIN GOODFELLOW Back to Nashville Children's Theatre, Closes 5/15
May 15, 2011

David Compton returns to a role he first played almost a quarter-century ago and Rona Carter plays a man who is transformed into an ass in Nashville Children's Theatre's upcoming production of Robin Goodfellow, playwright Aurand Harris' unique take on Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream. Opening on Tuesday, April 19, Robin Goodfellow runs at NCT through May 15.

BWW Reviews: THE RAINMAKER at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre
BWW Reviews: THE RAINMAKER at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre
May 14, 2011

N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker has been a part of our collective pop culture and theatrical canon for years and is probably best known because of the 1956 film version that starred Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster, which has cast its indelible shadow on every intervening stage production since its initial release. That being said, who could have everexpected the emotional wallop packed by the superb revival now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, directed by Sam Whited? Quietly and gracefully, the impact of The Rainmaker remains as potent as it has ever been and it is performed by a thoroughly committed cast of Barn veterans and newcomers all focused on the task at hand.

BWW Reviews: THE FALL TO EARTH from GroundWorks Theatre
BWW Reviews: THE FALL TO EARTH from GroundWorks Theatre
May 14, 2011

Joel Drake Johnson's The Fall to Earth is an atypical, darkly comic - yet at the same time very serious - take on the conventional mother/daughter tale. Now presented in an exceptional new production from Nashville's GroundWorks Theatre, The Fall to Earth stars an extraordinary trio of actresses who bring the disquieting story to life with a sense of camaraderie and trust, delivering as they do a truly compelling experience for theater-goers.

Nashville Children's Theatre to salute Shel Silverstein at June event
Nashville Children's Theatre to salute Shel Silverstein at June event
May 14, 2011

Nashville Children's Theatre (NCT) will host Telling Tales: A SHELebration Where the Sidewalk Ends on Thursday, June 2, 2011 - a brand new fundraiser event for grown-ups that features a varied collection of Nashville artists, leaders and performers paying tribute to Shel Silverstein.

Barter Theatre sets benefit performances of HANK AND MY HONKY TONK HEROES 5/17 & 5/21
Barter Theatre sets benefit performances of HANK AND MY HONKY TONK HEROES 5/17 & 5/21
May 14, 2011

Due to the tragic circumstances of the people in Glade Springs because of the tornados, Barter Theatre has designated two performances of Hank and My Honky Tonk Heroes as benefit performances for the Town of Glade Spring and its residents. All proceeds from tickets sold beginning immediately for the May 17 7:45 p.m. and May 21 8:15 p.m. shows will be donated to the relief fund. Call (276) 628-3991 or visit BarterTheatre.com for tickets and more information.

GroundWorks's THE FALL TO EARTH Concludes 5/14
May 14, 2011

After much too long an absence, 2010 First Night Honoree A. Sean O'Connell finds herself in the director's chair again, this time helming the latest production from Nashville's GroundWorks Theatre - the regional premiere of Joel Drake Johnson's The Fall to Earth.

NO DAY AT THE BEACH Plays Street Theatre 5/14
May 14, 2011

Murder, music and fun? Sounds like the perfect spring recipe for Street Theatre Company's newest murder mystery musical event - Murder: It's No Day at the Beach - set for Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14 at Nashville's Tulip Street Methodist Church, 522 Russell Street.

BWW Interviews: Jennifer Richmond, A Life in the Theater
BWW Interviews: Jennifer Richmond, A Life in the Theater
May 13, 2011

Jennifer Richmond is one of the most fascinating people you could ever hope to meet. Seriously. She's smart and intuitive, to be certain, and her ever-inquisitive mind moves quickly from one subject to the next. In many ways, she is a modern-day Renaissance woman: She's good at very many things.

MASTER CLASS, H.M.S. PINAFORE et al. Set for ACT 1 in 2011-12 Season
MASTER CLASS, H.M.S. PINAFORE et al. Set for ACT 1 in 2011-12 Season
May 13, 2011

Nashville's Artist's Cooperative Theater 1 - ACT 1 - today announces its 22nd Season. The upcoming Season will offer audiences modern classics, a musical, a play about singing, and a rarely produced classic comedy.

ACT 1 Closes Season with MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, 5/20-28
ACT 1 Closes Season with MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, 5/20-28
May 11, 2011

ACT 1 brings its successful 21st season to a close May 20-28, with Much Ado About Nothing, a Shakespearean comedy filled with wit, romance, and villainy. Brittany Carlton directs the show which is set in Messina, Italy.

First Night's Springtime Theatre Retreat Set for Sunday, 5/15
First Night's Springtime Theatre Retreat Set for Sunday, 5/15
May 11, 2011

Members of Tennessee's theater community will gather Sunday, May 15, at The Renaissance Center in Dickson for First Night's Springtime Theatre Retreat, an opportunity for representatives of the state's burgeoning theater community to come together for discussion of shared vision and goals for the coming year.

Women's Work 2011: Lindsay Terrizzi Hess of A DOG'S TALE
Women's Work 2011: Lindsay Terrizzi Hess of A DOG'S TALE
May 11, 2011

Tennessee Women's Theater Project has returned to Nashville's Z. Alexander Looby Theater for the fifth year running - continuing through Sunday, May 22 - for its annual Women's Work festival of performing and visual arts created by women. The festival cuts a broad swath across styles and genres to offer eleven completely different programs: poetry and essays; one-woman shows; staged readings of new plays; film, dance, music and a display of visual art works in the theater lobby. On Saturday night, May 21, audiences will be treated to A Dog's Tale, a one-woman show featuring Lindsay Terrizzi Hess (directed by Anne-Geri Fann and with music direction/accompaniment by featured performer Jeffrey Williams), one of Nashville's favorite young actresses.

Nashville Children's Theatre unveils 80th anniverary season
May 11, 2011

Celebrating its 80th year of presenting theatre, inspiration and delight to Nashville and Middle Tennessee children and their families, Nashville Children's Theatre (NCT) has announced its 80th anniversary season offerings. During its 80 years of service and creativity, NCT has played to more than two million people and is the oldest professional children's theatre in the United States.



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