Jeffrey Ellis - Page 132

With a trio of powerful leading performances from Ben Van Diepen, Ciaran McCarthy and Laura Matula, the Boiler Room Theatre production of Jonathan Larson's Pultizer Prize-winning Rent may well be the finest interpretation of the groundbreaking musical we've ever seen. Certainly, we've never seen a more passionate or more engaging mounting of Rent and the cast assembled by director Corbin Green deserve every accolade possible for the obviously heartfelt rendering they give Larson's work.

Nashville theater audiences owe a huge debt of gratitude to Tennessee Repertory Theatre's creative team - led by producing artistic director Rene Dunshee Copeland, scenic and properties designer Gary Hoff, costume designer Trish Clark, lighting designer Phillip Franck and technical director Tyler Axt - for the exceptional production of To Kill A Mockingbird, now onstage at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre, extended through October 30.

Boiler Room Theatre, in the historic Factory at Franklin, opens its production of Jonathan Larson's Rent on Friday night, October 1, preceded by a gala celebration at South Gate Studios from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Following the reversal of their convictions and their release from prison, six Death Row inmates tell their harrowing stories in their own words in the drama, The Exonerated by Jessica Blank and Erik Jenson. The play will be performed at Nashville's Christ Church Cathedral's Cheek Hall in six performances October 7-9 and 14-16 as the kick-off to the seventh season of the Sacred Space for the City Arts Series.

Thursday's the night for A Knight to Remember, a gala fundraiser hosted by the Brentwood Arts Society, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Towne Centre Theatre and concluding with an exclusive performance of the company's staging of Once Upon a Mattress.

The eight theater visionaries feted during First Night Week in Nashville were the guests of honors at a dinner on Thursday, September 16, at Germantown Cafe, during which they were presented with their medals which help to designate them as members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees.

With its 2010-2011 season ready to kick off next month with a production of Hello, Dolly!, Studio Tenn promises to fully engage the Nashville theater community as their primary source of talent, and likewise commit to having Broadway, film and/or national tour-credited talent involved in every production.

The play is described as 'a tender, often hilarious exploration of the lives of three women: 34 year-old hairdresser Rose lives on a farm with her husband and two children, wondering if she married too young. Lola, in her 50s, has withdrawn from the world. Nobody ever visits, unopened mail piles up, and she's trying to face the job of selling, packing and moving on. Lyndsey, at 11, is worried that her best friend has stopped sitting beside her in art class. When breast cancer intrudes, everything begins to come undone.'

A cast of more than 125 performers took to the stage of the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University to fete the eight members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees in a production that featured the best of the best of Nashville theater and included a surprise appearance by Joseph Mahowald, winner of a 1989 First Night Award, now playing the role of Franklin Hart Jr. in the national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical, which opened in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, September 21.

Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler have quickly gained a reputation as Nashville's most accomplished playwriting team and, thanks to their latest effort - the winkingly titled Rear Widow, now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - the talented duo have scored their biggest success to date. Rear Widow is a fast-paced and completely entertaining salute to the film noir genre, brought winningly and charmingly to life by director Lauren Shouse and her superb cast of actors (which includes Martha Wilkinson, Jennifer Richmond and B.J. Rowell in addition to the two playwrights themselves).

Make no mistake about it: everybody in Tennessee loves Dolly Parton! She's a Volunteer State treasure, a role model for people all over the world and an example of what hard work and a whole lotta heart can achieve. Hell, if Dolly (in Tennessee, no other modifier is needed to identify our favorite daughter) ran for office, she'd be a shoo-in! And it's clear - judging from audience reactions during the national touring company's Nashville kick-off at Tennessee Performing Arts Center - that Tennesseans love 'em some 9 to 5: The Musical, the retooled, refashioned and re-imagined theatrical piece based on the 1980 film in which Dolly made her own screen debut.

When the show finally ended on Sunday night, September 19, and First Night revelers made it to their cars, they headed downtown to Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, located at the corner of Broadway and First, for the After-Party. Although the show ran long (as awards presentations tend to do) at four hours, a hale and hearty crowd of theater-types partied until the early morning hours of Monday, September 20 in the Reverb Room and on the rooftop balcony overlooking the glittery Nashville downtown and the Cumberland River with the soaring Nashville skyline in the background.

With a cast of 125 performers, a seven-member band, the show's running crew and a smattering of other people holding forth, the backstage scene at last Sunday night's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors was a virtual stage show in itself with all the hustle and bustle amid the hushed tones associated with the backstage area of a huge theatrical production.

Nashville theater's past, present and future was the topic of discussion on Monday night, September 13, as seven of the eight 2010 First Night Honorees gathered for the First Night Symposium. Held at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre, the event attracted an audience of about 75 and was moderated by First Night founder/executive producer Jeffrey Ellis.

Photographer Stacy Battles, one of Nashville's best known celebrity photographers, was on hand to shoot the red carpet arrivals that heralded the return of First Night, after an absence of some 14 years. First Night is presented by Jeffrey Ellis, who covers Nashville theater for BroadwayWorld.com, and who is the founder of the awards celebration that was first held on September 17, 1989.

The glitterati of Nashville's theater community took to the red carpet Sunday night, September 19, prior to the start of the First Night Nashville Theatre Honors. Held at the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University, the First Night Honors recognized eight leaders of the Nashville theater community for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the art form.

When eight of Nashville's best-known theater visionaries are lauded for their inspiration, commitment and leadership during the 2010 First Night Nashville Theatre Honors, eleven of the region's brightest young actors also will be recognized for their own theatrical achievements and the promise of much more to come.

During the Symposium, the eight honorees will answer questions posed by Ellis during the first half of the evening's program. Following intermission, questions from the audience will be included as the eight honorees, each of whom has been chosen for his or her lifetime of achievement and continued dedication to creating rich, vibrant and compelling live theater in Nashville, share the wealth of their knowledge with the audience.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival kicked off its 23rd year of Shakespeare in the Park on Thursday, August 19, with the opening night of Love's Labor's Lost at Centennial Park. Photographer Rick Malkin, one of Nashville's busiest artists, captured some of the highlights of opening night with his camera, sharing them with Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com.