Jeffrey Ellis - Page 4

While we wait for Ethel Waters to get the large-scale showbiz treatment she deserves, Nashville audiences, for now at least, can show respect and give recognition to the legendary figure who is brought to life onstage once more by Connye Florance and Saaneah Jamison via the Kennie Playhouse Theatre production of Parr’s His Eye Is On the Sparrow: The Ethel Waters Musical. Director Kennie Dozier’s production is somewhat uneven, but his two leading ladies – the aforementioned Florance and Jamison – are mesmerizing, each one creating her own indelible portrait and unique interpretation of Ethel Waters in two acts that feature some of her best-known songs, tunes that are a part of the Great American Songbook and among the most haunting, most beautiful melodies ever written.

Baker’s superb direction brings all the various moving parts of this huge production together to deliver a gratifyingly heartfelt paean to the millions of working women (and men) who inspired the screenplay and musical book by Patricia Resnick. Baker’s vision for the piece, in concert with her team of collaborators, delivers a production of 9 to 5: The Musical that is delightfully fresh and new, eschewing the tendency of some directors to offer a rehash of what’s already been seen on Broadway, on tour or in regional theater.

Thanks to Andrew Maraniss’ best-selling book Strong Inside – adapted for the stage by Tyrone L. Robinson – Wallace’s storied basketball career in the Southeastern Conference and the details of his upbringing in the segregated South are now brought vividly to life onstage in a history-making production from NCT, the third-oldest theater for younger audiences in the United States. Founded in 1931 by members of the Junior League of Nashville, there can be no denying that NCT, like its hometown itself and one of its favorite sons (Wallace), has been reflective of the growing diversity of its people and the evolution of its cultural and educational institutions.

For more than 30-plus years, Jack E. Chambers has been a stalwart of the Nashville stage, working with virtually every theater production company to ever exist here during those three-plus decades. And although audiences have seen him in a wide variety of roles (he’s taken on all kinds of characters to exist in an ever-evolving plane of fictional existence), it is perhaps on now, in the fall of 2023, that they have the opportunity to see the once fresh-faced, just-out-of-college Chambers – now grown into the affable middle-aged actor they eagerly anticipate onstage – as the thoughtful, observant and creative everyman he is.

Street Theatre Company’s residency at The Barbershop Theatre continues in its expected fine form as the groundbreaking company heads into the 2023-24 season with a gloriously sung production of 35MM – A Musical Exhibition, a song cycle from one of musical theater’s contemporary power couples: composer/lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver (who’s been tapped for stardom by critics, grantors, showtune lovers and theater-goers alike) and his photographer husband Matthew Murphy (whose pictures provide the inspiration for this particular endeavor and who has become one of the most regularly sought-after production photographers in the business).

Street Theatre Company officially opens its 2023-24 season at The Barbershop Theatre with its production of 35MM, opening Friday night and continuing through August 26. Directed by Everett Tarlton, with music direction by Nick Benefield, 34MM features music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver, based on and inspired by photographs by Matthew Murphy.

Post-pandemic Nashville theater audiences have witnessed a groundswell of creativity as local companies have made the production of original works part of their programming initiatives. While the result might best be described as hit-or-miss depending on perspective, one company’s efforts have been constant, abiding and transformative. Tennessee Playwrights Studio, co-founded by Molly Breen and Kenley Smith, has led this creative renaissance since its very beginnings and over the past several years has been responsible for nurturing the talents of a wide array of artists. We could not be more grateful to TPS and its founders for everything they’ve accomplished; it is truly noteworthy.

It was a part of life only understood completely, if experienced, and its impact continues to be felt today in ways you can sometimes predict, although oftentimes it invokes unexpected memories that take you completely unaware. That explains why I’ve taken so long to compose this review of Falsettos – which ends its three-weekend run this weekend at Nashville’s The Barbershop Theatre in another superb Street Theatre Company musical production – and which I saw last week during its last Sunday matinee performance.

One of musical theater’s most beloved offerings, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music is again brought to life by Studio Tenn in a lovely – and certainly crowd-pleasing – production through July 16 at Christ Presbyterian Academy’s Soli Deo Center, which marks the welcome return to the Nashville stage of director/choreographer Emily Tello Speck, who helms this production with her confident style and considered artistic vision.

Imagine walking into Jackson Hall on opening night, as I did, thinking, “Why did the directors reimagine this pleasant, if somewhat plodding, old-school musical with an ensemble of multi-ethnic women, trans and non-binary actors cast in the roles of America’s founding fathers?” Then leaving the theater after the final curtain wondering, “why on earth would anyone ever feel the need to cast the roles with men?” and reveling in the fact that 1776 tapped into my heart in unexpected ways, eliciting an emotional and, I daresay, patriotic response.

Truth be told, this may be the most impressive assemblage of talent we’ve ever encountered on the Jackson Hall stage in our 30-some years of reviewing Broadway at TPAC. Seriously.

For years – for decades, really – I have advocated that Music City tourism would benefit from a sit-down production of a country music-themed musical, one that would appeal to a wide range of aficionados and would showcase the musical library of a beloved figure in the pantheon of Nashville music. Finally, Studio Tenn delivers the perfect vehicle for that with the world premiere production of Here You Come Again, featuring songs written by or recorded by Dolly Parton (the Patron Saint of Tennessee aka The Smoky Mountain Songbird).

With noteworthy performances across the board, Nashville Repertory Theatre’s production of Violet – with a lovely, haunting and emotional score by Jeanine Tesori and a sometimes meandering, oftentimes difficult to follow, libretto by Brian Crawley, based upon Doris Betts’ short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim” – closes out the company’s 2022-23 in impressive style that heralds great promise for what is still to come as the Rep moves forward into its 39th season.

Nolensville High School’s Lainey McCarter and Independence High’s Sawyer Curtis were recognized as Outstanding Lead Performers at Saturday night’s presentation of the 2023 Spotlight Awards, assuring them both of a spot at this summer’s Jimmy Awards competition in New York City. Murfreesboro’s Siegel High School’s production of Les Misérables was named Outstanding Musical during The Spotlight Awards.

Described as “a story-telling phenomenon,” Listen to Your Mother debuted in 2010 and has been performed in more than 60 cities. This edition is presented by Tilley Perryman’s Joy’s Jubilations LLC, a new performing arts organization she founded to provide educational theater experiences for young people in the Gadsden area, with the goal of brining professional theater to the region within the next few years.

Colorful and campy, fast-paced and royally entertaining – and about as much fun as current Tennessee laws may allow (our state legislature’s supermajority, however, might be clutching their pearls and wailing about “who’ll protect the children?” even as the youngsters surrounding me on opening night were having the times of their lives) – Disney’s Aladdin has arrived in Music City via magic carpet, bus and truck. And grabbing a ticket to the show’s Nashville run should be among anyone’s three wishes (along with, of course, tickets for Taylor Swift, Janet Jackson and/or Trevor Noah, all of whom are upping the entertainment quotient – and demand for parking spaces – this weekend) for pure escapism!

When her boundless imagination was challenged some eight years ago to create Doña Perón, the acclaimed ballet that depicts the life of Eva Perón – known as Santa Evita to her beloved descamisados and for people all over the world who first became intrigued by her via Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning musical Evita – it was up to Ochoa to create a vivid portrait of the legendary, if still-controversial woman who died more than 70 years ago.  

We’ve been thinking about that 2012 legislation as we prepared to see Roxy Regional Theatre's 2023 production of Spring Awakening, the Tony Award-winning musical by Duncan Sheik and Stephen Sater, which is based on the play of the same name written in the late 19th century by playwright Frank Wedekin, in which he crafted an intricately plotted story of youthful suppression and the subsequent rebellion engendered by an appalling lack of open dialogue between “the adults” and “the children” that still today provides a provocative counterpoint to the nature of current social intercourse, proving the musical’s continued relevance, while underscoring its all-too-prescient message.

Among attributes audience members have come to expect from a Nashville Children’s Theatre production – fired by significant amounts of imagination and enough creativity to empower the minds of every youngster who has ever been introduced to the transformative power of live theater by the artists of NCT – are unique approaches to live performance, replete with stunning visuals, the casting of actors who look like their young audiences, and refreshingly new and exciting concepts that breathe new life in ages-old tales.

When the history of live theater performance in Nashville, post-pandemic, is written sometime in the future, it’s highly likely there will be a chapter dedicated to and inspired by the significance of the artistry of Alicia Haymer, the actor/director/playwright who grew up in Nashville and whose impact on local theater goes all the way back to her childhood.