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Jeffrey Ellis - Page 64

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:



Photo Coverage: Sideshow Fringe SATURDAY 2014
Photo Coverage: Sideshow Fringe SATURDAY 2014
July 11, 2015

Nashville's acclaimed Sideshow Fringe Festival gets under way next Thursday, so what better way to get ready for this year's event than by looking back at 2014's Saturday morning and evening events, captured in a series of photographs by Wesley Duffee-Braun. If 2014 looked this good...can you imagine what 2015 is gonna look like?

Photo Coverage: Sideshow Fringe 2014 FRIDAY
Photo Coverage: Sideshow Fringe 2014 FRIDAY
July 10, 2015

Nashville's acclaimed Sideshow Fringe Festival gets under way next Thursday, so what better way to get ready for this year's event than by looking back at 2014's Friday night events, captured in a series of photographs by Wesley Duffee-Braun. If 2014 looked this good...can you imagine what 2015 is gonna look like?

CRITICS' CHOICE: Looking for weekend fun?
CRITICS' CHOICE: Looking for weekend fun?
July 10, 2015

There are four new shows opening in the Middle Tennessee area this weekend, along with several other shows continuing their runs - Nobody's Perfect at Chaffin's Barn, KB Productions' The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, Mary Poppins and Smoke on the Mountain at Cumberland County Playhouse, along with the final performance of Singin' in the Rain - so there's plenty of theater to keep you entertained through a hot July weekend. It's that time of year, so go have some fun!

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Four from ACCC's BRING IT ON, THE MUSICAL
THE FRIDAY FIVE: Four from ACCC's BRING IT ON, THE MUSICAL
July 10, 2015

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. Today, we introduce you to four cast members from Arts Center of Cannon County's production of Bring It On, The Musical, opening tonight in Woodbury. Here's your chance to get to know Cheyenne Clark, Shawna Rayford, Allison Hall and Kyle Henry from Bring It On, The Musical…then you can make your reservations to catch the show, which runs at ACCC through July 25.

Photo Coverage: Sideshow Fringe 2014 Thursday
Photo Coverage: Sideshow Fringe 2014 Thursday
July 9, 2015

Nashville's acclaimed Sideshow Fringe Festival gets under way next Thursday, so what better way to get ready for this year's event than by looking back at 2014's opening night events, captured in a series of photographs by Wesley Duffee-Braun. If 2014 looked this good...what does 2015 have in store?

THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Thursday): RENT's Philip Boston
THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Thursday): RENT's Philip Boston
July 9, 2015

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. Today, we introduce you to Philip Boston, who Friday night makes his debut as Mark in PACT's embattled production of Rent in Tullahoma.

The ALL SHOOK UP Diaries: Harley Seger and Daron Bruce Report
The ALL SHOOK UP Diaries: Harley Seger and Daron Bruce Report
July 9, 2015

Rehearsals got under way this week for Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's big musical for the summer of 2015: All Shook Up. With a cast of Nashville theater veterans -- joined by some of the region's brightest up-and-comers -- you can rest assured that the rehearsal process will be just as much fun as the show itself. Throughout the next couple of weeks we'll be sharing 'diaries' from members of the cast and crew in anticipation of opening night on July 23. Today, 2015 First Night Most Promising Actor Harley Seger (a rising senior at Christ Presbyterian Academy) and 2014 First Night Honoree Daron Bruce bring us up to speed...

Upcoming Auditions in Nashville 7/8/15
Upcoming Auditions in Nashville 7/8/15
July 8, 2015

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Harvey and Deathtrap - and Nashville is seeking a few good babies to be featured in the ABC series' fourth season. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse!

CRITICS' CHOICE: What's Happening This Week?
CRITICS' CHOICE: What's Happening This Week?
July 7, 2015

Summer's theater lull has come to an end and Nashville/Tennessee audiences have a plethora of new openings to choose from iin the next fews days, leading to the season's busiest flush of new shows and productions. Whether it's a relatively new musical based on a fun film, the controversial revival of one of the late 20th century's most iconic musicals or the Nashville premiere of a new film starring some of the region's best known and most talented actors -- there's a lot of good stuff to be seen inside a theater...

Nashville Theater Calendar 7/6/15
Nashville Theater Calendar 7/6/15
July 6, 2015

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

BWW Reviews: KB Productions' TRAILER TRASH HOUSEWIFE
BWW Reviews: KB Productions' TRAILER TRASH HOUSEWIFE
July 4, 2015

You have to wonder why it took someone so long to bring Del Shores' The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife to the Nashville stage. After all, the play opened to widespread acclaim in Los Angeles in 2003 and was made into a movie in 2011 (Blues for Willadean).

The FRIDAY FIVE: TRAILER TRASH HOUSEWIFE's Arnold & Strong
The FRIDAY FIVE: TRAILER TRASH HOUSEWIFE's Arnold & Strong
July 3, 2015

Today, we focus our spotlight on Andrew Strong and Cat Arnold, stars of KB Productions' staging of Del Shores' The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Park Housewife, opening tonight at Nashville's iconic Darkhorse Theater for a six performance run over the next two weekends. Directed by the First Night Star Award winning director/actor/producer Clay Hillwig, the latest from Shores promises to pack an emotional wallop, judging from everything we've heard during the run-up to opening night.

CRITICS' CHOICE: Celebrate America's Independence at the Theater
CRITICS' CHOICE: Celebrate America's Independence at the Theater
July 2, 2015

Can you believe that it's already time to celebrate Independence Day - aka The Fourth of July - with the biggest-in-the-country fireworks display right here in Music City USA? We know how to celebrate America's Independence right here in Nashville and we expect even more tourists (playwright/actor/director/producer/bon vivant Del Shores is in town, for example, to get a taste of a down-home good time) than normal to fill our city's streets over the four-day holiday weekend.

THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Thursday): Cumberland County Playhouse's LAUREN MARSHALL
THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Thursday): Cumberland County Playhouse's LAUREN MARSHALL
July 2, 2015

Today, our spotlight focuses on Lauren Marshall, the beautiful and talented, clever and imaginative company member from Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse who, like most of her compatriots this summer, is playing a number of different roles in repertory. At one show, she's matriarch Vera Sanders in the 22nd annual run of Smoke on the Mountain, a few hours later she's Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins - and in between those performances, chances are she's rehearsing for another show! And with CCP celebrating its 50th birthday this year, Lauren and her friends are even busier, as they welcome bigger crowds than normal to the playhouse.

Sideshow @ Actors Bridge Fringe Unveils Plans for 2015 Festival
Sideshow @ Actors Bridge Fringe Unveils Plans for 2015 Festival
July 2, 2015

Led by program director Jessika Malone and technical director Mitch Massaro - and named by CNN as one of 'most intriguing festivals' in the 'Best of the U.S.' - Nashville's Sideshow @ Actors Bridge unveils its fifth annual slate of performances for July 16-19.

The FRIDAY FIVE (on Monday?): TUNA's Asa Ambrister & Patrick Goedicke
The FRIDAY FIVE (on Monday?): TUNA's Asa Ambrister & Patrick Goedicke
June 29, 2015

Today, we train our spotlight on Asa Ambrister and Patrick Goedicke, the two versatile actors who bring the whole town of Tuna, Texas, to life in Red, White And Tuna, the latest incarnation of the Tuna cycle at Miss Jeanne's Dinner Theatre. The show opened Friday night and continues through July 12…so here's your opportunity to get to know Asa and Patrick and then make reservations to see their wacky characters before the show's run ends.

Nashville Theater Calendar 6/29/15
Nashville Theater Calendar 6/29/15
June 29, 2015

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Thursday!): THE 39 STEPS' Josh Bernaski
THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Thursday!): THE 39 STEPS' Josh Bernaski
June 25, 2015

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five (on Thursday): five questions (well, actually, six) designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. Today, we introduce you to Josh Bernaski, currently onstage in The 39 Steps at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre. The consummate journeyman actor, Josh's career has taken him all around the world (well, almost!) but for a while at least, his Tennessee fans can revel in his immense talents while enjoying one of the theater's most entertaining works (which seems tailor-made for his abilities)…

Cumberland County Playhouse, Scopes Fest's FRONT PAGE NEWS Coming to Dayton
Cumberland County Playhouse, Scopes Fest's FRONT PAGE NEWS Coming to Dayton
June 25, 2015

Following last year's successful run, Cumberland County Playhouse and the Scopes Trial Festival of Dayton, Tennessee, will once again co-produce Front Page News: Dayton and the World-Famous Scopes Trial, July 17-26, presented in the famous courtroom where Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan battled in 1925.

Upcoming Auditions in Nashville 6/25/15
Upcoming Auditions in Nashville 6/25/15
June 25, 2015

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of The Bible in 30 Minutes...or less!, The Music Man and Harvey - and more! We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse!



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