Jeffrey Ellis - Page 135

An all-star cast takes to the stage in the latest work from the playwriting team of J. Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler: Cinderella 8.0: Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous, opening June 22 at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. The musical comedy is presented on the mainstage at Chaffin's Barn Tuesday through Saturday mornings, with the house opening at 10 a.m., with the show at 11 a.m. through August 7.

During his 20-plus years as a part of the theater community in Nashville, Matt Carlton has become known as one of its hardest working - and most loved - members, winning countless fans with his superb stage work while gaining a reputation among actors, directors and producers as a hard-working, creative and multi-faceted personality. And he's shown that talent in a wide variety of roles while working for practically every company in town, including Tennessee Rep, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, People's Branch Theatre, Nashville Shakespeare Festival and Actors Bridge Ensemble.

George C. Wolfe's acclaimed The Colored Museum is now onstage at Nashville's Amun Ra Theatre, continuing the company's 2010 season hot off the heels of the production of Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog. Opening Thursday, June 17, The Colored Museum runs through July 4. Shows are Thursday through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15.

A revival of a much-earlier production during ACT 1's first 20 seasons, which was also directed by Seay, the cast featured some returning favorites including Riley Bryant, Caroline Davis, Douglas Goodman and Jordan Keller. The presence of these Nashville stage veterans made the production all the more appealing and, when supplemented by a talented group of newcomers, ensured that audiences would walk away humming a sprightly tune while contemplating the horrors of World War I. Who knew mustard gas could be so darn much fun?

Provocative and compelling, John Patrick Shanley's script for Doubt remains stagebound - albeit a Pulitzer Prize-winning, stagebound masterpiece - until a confident director and cast take on the challenge of mounting a production, in which to breathe life into the characters created so vividly by the playwright on the written page. For the next two weekends, Nashville audiences are given the opportunity to see Doubt in a remarkably acted and superbly staged production at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.

Franklin-born and -raised Hannah McGinley, now a senior at New York University pursuing a degree in musical theatre, is spending the summer at home, portraying 'Louise,' the young woman who would become Gypsy Rose Lee in the Towne Centre Theatre production of Gypsy. Karen Himelrick directs Gypsy, the beloved musical by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents, as it dances its way onto the Towne Centre stage for a July 10-July 3 run at the Brentwood theatre.

Audiences will be humming along to some of the pop hits of the 1950s when the Roxy Regional Theatre opens the musical Forever Plaid on Friday, June 11 at 8 p.m.

The cast for Funny Money includes: Mike Baum (last seen in Rumors), Chris Bosen (last seen in Frankly My Dear), Adam Burnett, David Compton (last seen in Christmas Belles and Alone Together), Jenny Noel (last seen in There Goes the Bride), Dietz Osborne (last seen in Frankly My Dear), Johnny Peppers (last seen in Seeing Stars in Dixie) and Jennifer Richmond (last seen in Frankly My Dear).

Since first arriving in Nashville, David McGinnis has kept busy on various stages around town -- his first onstage role in Music City was in La Cage Aux Folles, a show I directed for Circle Players more than 10 years ago -- either performing roles or serving in a technical capacity, most likely designing the lighting plan for a new production. And with his 40th birthday fast approaching (the big day is Friday, June 4), he found time to sit down and answer our questions to give us a glimpse of his 'Life in the Theatre.' Read and enjoy...

Johnny Peppers, the affable 'Every Man' of Nashville theatre, makes his directorial debut with Mixed Nuts, the latest from 3Ps Productions now onstage at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn. Peppers, who might best be described as the most likable man in Nashville theatre circles - and certainly among the hardest working people onstage anywhere - shows that he is a competent, details-oriented, director whose strongest suit might possibly be his casting skills.

Earlier this season, Amanda Card-McCoy took on one of the three roles in the Tennessee Women's Theater Project's Secrets of a Soccer Mom, earning good reviews while impressing TWTP artistic director Maryanna Clarke, who has raved about her talent and her work ethic. The Nashville native got her professional start at Nashville Children's Theatre and she counts Nashville theatre stalwarts David Alford, Brenda Sparks, Denice Hicks and Matt Carlton as among her role models - the folks who inspired her to pursue her career in the theatre. Last weekend, Amanda took the time to answer our questions and to give readers at Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com a glimpse into her 'Life in the Theatre.'

Members of the Nashville theatre and dance community - including many performing companies and individual artists - will take part in ARTS for Nashville-Flood Relief Fundraiser, to be held Saturday, May 22 at 7 p.m. at the Larry Keeton Theatre in Donelson. They will join forces to raise money for those people affected by the recent catastrophic flooding in Middle Tennessee. Proceeds from Saturday night's event will go to the Nashville Salvation Army's Local Flood Relief Direct Services. In addition, the Keeton Theatre will be collecting food items for Second Harvest Food Bank. Tickets for the show are $20 and are available online at www.ticketsnashville.com.

Starring a whole slew of Barn regulars hamming it up, The Butler Done It is cliche-filled romp -- and while it covers no new ground, Chaffin, Wilkinson and company are clearly in on the joke and make certain to include their audience in the fun. That's an essential part of the show's hard-won success: Some of the situations are groan-inducing, some of the lines are cringe-worthy and the plot is, well, predictable. But Wilkinson's keen eye for what works onstage and what's really funny, coupled with the estimable efforts of her hard-working cast result in a pleasantly diverting night of theatre. They get it - and they make sure you (the audience member) get it too!

One of this season's most beautifully acted productions, Vincent in Brixton is moving and emotional, funny and evocative. Thanks to Feehely's wealth of experience and his discerning eye, it is a lively affair, completely engaging the audience in the tale being told onstage. By turns immensely entertaining and thoroughly inspiring, Vincent in Brixton is also heart-wrenching in its candor and honesty and the multi-layered performances of Feehely's talented cast only gives the play deeper meaning and resonance.

Keri Pisapia is one of those Nashville actors who has quietly made a name for herself in a wide range of roles and productions during her time on the Music City stage. After adding a number of shows to her burgeoning resume (including the role of Anne in La Cage Aux Folles, which I directed for Circle Players a long, long time ago), she left Nashville to pursue her career in New York City, only to find herself returning to her adopted hometown after her NYC sojourn.

What with all the star power of the assembled cast - featuring such theatre luminaries as Heather Headley, Alli Mauzey, Jodi Benson and Anthony Fedorov - it should come as something of a surprise that showHOPE's concert version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was very nearly stolen out from under them by some homegrown Nashville talent. No matter how you look at it, Cinderella was a completely magical and enchanting success, but had it not been for Nashville's very own Nan Gurley, Bonnie Keen and Carolyn German as Cinderella's nefarious stepfamily, the show wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it actually was.

Fedorov's castmates in the star-studded production - directed and designed by Matt Logan, a Nashville native, whose work in New York City included staging events much like this - include Tony Award-winner Heather Headley (Aida) as The Fairy Godmother, Tony nominee Jodi Benson (Crazy for You) as Queen Constatina, BeBe Winans as King Maximillian, Jake Speck (Jersey Boys on Broadway) as Lionel and Alli Mauzey (Hairspray, Wicked, Cry-Baby) in the title role. Fedorov will sing the role of Prince Christopher and backstage spies tell us his duets with Mauzey are certain to dazzle audiences.

The altogether charming and amazingly talented Mauzey claims an impressive theatrical resume, which includes her starmaking turn in Cry-Baby, the Broadway musical based on the John Waters film, that resulted in a 2008 Theatre World Award, as well as a Drama League Award nomination. She's also had roles in both Wicked and Hairspray - two of the musicals that have helped define the first decade of the new millennium in Broadway terms - playing Glinda in Wicked (a role she'll play again later this year in San Francisco) and Brenda in Hairspray.

Starring Nashville actress Nan Gurley as Sister Aloysius, with Steven Pounders as Father Flynn, Doubt will be directed by Mike Fernandez, Lipscomb's chair of theater. Shanley's June 3 appearance is part of an invitation-only preview of Doubt, which runs June 4-12. Shanley will present a talk-back session after the June 3 performance and will hold a book-signing after that at 9:30 p.m.

When I ran into Carolyn one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, she invited me to attend Songs in a Silken Sky, a cabaret performance by participants in Metro Parks Theater and Music Department's Young Performers Program. Presented at historic Two Rivers Mansion, the production 'offers these talented young vocalists a chance to learn and to perform a wide variety of music in a cabaret setting,' including songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jason Robert Brown, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Schwartz and David Friedman.