Jeffrey Ellis - Page 16

Jennifer Turner, currently executive vice president and managing director at Southern California's Segerstrom Center for the Arts, has been named as the next president and chief executive officer at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center starting May 2019.

Some two years after its presence in the theater community was made know during One Night of Empathy, which brought together 14 separate theater companies, Nashville-based Humanity Theatre Project debuts its first full production March 8-16 with Lynn Nottage's Sweat at Darkhorse Theater.

Crafting a musical theater hit is a lot like alchemy - the ancient study focused primarily on creating gold from baser elements - and oftentimes no matter the ingredients, directors never quite achieve the outcome for which they strive. But in the case of director/choreographer Everett Tarlton's production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate (now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre through March 7), he has crafted something so special that it essentially defines the theatrical gold standard.

No doubt about it, A Bronx Tale - the musical version of Chazz Palminteri's original 1989 one man show (he played some 18 characters in the original work) that ultimately led to a 1993 film directed by Robert DeNiro - is one engaging night of theater, telling an intriguing story of a boy who grows to manhood on the mean streets of The Bronx, in the shadow of local wiseguy/mob kingpin Sonny, played here by Joe Barbara with chilling authenticity and palpable, if oily, charm.

It's a homecoming of sorts for Joey Barreiro this week as he and his castmates from the national tour of A Bronx Tale - the Broadway musical that's based on a one-man show created by actor/writer Chazz Palminteri - encamp at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center for a week-long stand.

KST Studio of Voice - the creative brainchild of acclaimed concert, opera and musical theater soprano Katherine Sandoval Taylor - will host its annual Winter Showcase this Saturday night, February 9, at 7 p.m. at Washington Theatre at Murfreesboro's Patterson Park.

What better way to spend a Saturday night - or any other night of the week, for that matter - than at Abigail's Party, the latest theatrical offering from Verge Theater Company? Featuring a wonderfully engaging ensemble of actors, Abigail's Party is now onstage through February 17 at The Barbershop Theater.

For Darya, a 42-year-old Polish emigre eking out a meager and bleak existence in New Jersey, life in America seems far less promising than she may have considered at the outset of her journey. But in Martyna Majok's exquisitely crafted and beautifully written play - Ironbound - which ends its all-too-brief Nashville run tonight, there is a glimmer (a very faint one, truth be told, but a glimmer nonetheless) of hope that may augur a brighter future ahead.

In recent years, Center for the Arts has certainly upped the ante with musical productions which have, consistently, been better than the one before, raising the bar for all the shows still to come. Case in point: Disney's Newsies, which closed its sold-out run in Murfreesboro on Sunday.

During the very first scenes of Ghost - the world premiere of the play by Idris Goodwin, based upon the 2016 book of the same name by Jason Reynolds, now onstage at Nashville Children's Theatre through February 3 - the audience becomes caught up in the emotional turmoil experienced by young Castle Cranshaw and his mom, Terri. As their world is upended by events taking place onstage, the story of Ghost is set in motion, hurtling toward a moment in which lives are changed and the future opens up in ways both unexpected and completely authentic.

One of the silver screen's most popular musicals, Singin' in the Rain comes to the stage of Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County with all the trappings of a box office smash: memorable score, talented actors and enough technical razzle-dazzle to delight even the most discerning of theater-goers. Opening February 8 (and continuing through February 23) at ACCC, the stage musical stars Austin Jeffrey Smith, Lindsey Mapes Duggin and Daxton Patrick in the film roles immortalized by Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor in the award-winning 1952 film version.

Cumberland County Playhouse - winner of the First Night Award for Outstanding Musical of 2018 for Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - has announced its lineup for the 2019 season.

Nashville Story Garden presents the Nashville premiere of Ironbound by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok January 26-February 2 at the former Inglewood United Methodist Church, 3511 Gallatin Pike, Nashville. Starring Joe Mobley (Vik), Gerald Pitts (Maks), Tamara Todres (Darja) and Ted Welch (Tommy), Ironbound is directed by Kristin McCalley.

Tennessee Playwrights Studio, a Nashville-based new-play development lab in partnership with Actors Bridge Ensemble, has announced its fellows and associates for 2019. Five TPS fellows, chosen from a competitive application process, will work under the direction of Kenley Smith to develop new full-length scripts that will be presented in public readings at the Darkhorse Theatre Chapel later this year. Two associates will contribute to monthly workshop sessions in the first year and will become TPS Fellows in 2020. TPS will continue to cast actors from the Nashville community for workshops and readings.

As the century was about to turn when Shakespeare first unveiled his tragic masterpiece, Julius Caesar - it's believed to have been written around 1599 - political turmoil was afoot in Britain as worries mounted about who would succeed the aging virgin queen on the throne upon her demise. Thus, all the political intrigue and conspiratorial backbiting of Elizabeth I's reign no doubt proved fertile enough to inspire Shakespeare's epic tale of the demise of the Roman leader.

Last week, while talking with Tony Award-winning actress/singer/songwriter Renee Elise Goldsberry - during which we discussed her upcoming series of concerts with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra - she responded to my query about how much of 'Renee' is in each of the myriad characters by which she's come to be known and loved by her legions of fans.

Actors Bridge Ensemble's acclaimed production of Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves and Cumberland County Playhouse's rendition of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street were named as the top shows of the year during Midwinter's First Night, the annual tribute to theater in Tennessee, held at Nashville's The Larry Keeton Theatre last Sunday night, January 13. Photographer Rae Lynn Whetzel-Stickney captured many of the night's biggest moments with her camera, which are shared on BroadwayWorld Nashville today.

For legions of musical theater fans brought up on daily trips to Sesame Street, thanks to the fine folks at Children's Television Workshop, there is quite possibly no show more beloved than Avenue Q - the grown-up version of the kind of programming directed at children in hopes of helping them navigate the vagaries of childhood and adolescence. To be certain, Avenue Q is not for the easily offended or politically conservative, but the Tony Award-winning best musical of the 2004 Broadway season is an ideal outing for anyone with a highly developed sense of humor and a fondness for pushing the envelope, musical theatre-wise.

No matter the role for which you may best remember Renee Elise Goldsberry - whether it's her Tony Award winning turn as Hamilton's Angelica Schuyler, The Good Wife's assistant state's attorney Geneva Pine, One Life to Live's Evangeline Williamson, Altered Carbon's Quellcrist Falconer on Netflix, or the title character in HBO's acclaimed film adaptation of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - you may be certain they all come from within the heart and soul of the multi-talented actress/singer/songwriter who makes her first appearance with the Grammy Award-winning Nashville Symphony Orchestra, beginning tonight for a three-performance run through Saturday, January 19 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Looking for the perfect way to ward off winter's chill on a particularly cold and damp Nashville night? Then take our word for it: There's no better way than by immersing oneself in On Your Feet: The Emilio & Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical, now onstage at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, January 20.