Jeffrey Ellis - Page 67

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five on Thursday: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. Today, our spotlight focuses on Rosemary Fossee and Megan Murphy Chambers, two of the powerhouse talents slated to appear in the world premiere of Geoff Davin's original show The First Church of Mary, The Repentant Prostitute's FIFTH ANNUAL Benefit Concert, Revival, and Pot Luck Dinner, directed by nine-time First Night Award winner Martha Wilkinson and starring Davin, Fossee, Chambers, Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva and Brooke Leigh Davis (the latter two recently took part in Friday Five festivities, leading to today's subjects Fossee and Chambers).

You don't have to be a devotee of Chekhov - you don't even have to be a fan of live theater necessarily - but it clearly helps if you are in the audience for Verge Theater Company's production of Steven Dietz's The Nina Variations, which is sometimes whimsical and oftentimes dramatic in the rich tradition of Russian literature.

Christopher Gattelli's superb choreography - spirited and athletic, amazingly theatrical and awe-inspiring - may be reason enough to see Disney's Newsies, the show now ensconced at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, where it's entertaining audiences and eliciting some of the loudest responses we've ever heard in that cavernous space.

Disney's Newsies will claim Nashville as their own hometown with a weeklong run at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center beginning Tuesday, Osborne and Eppler's Southern Fried Nuptials takes the stage in Woodbury, and local favorite Geoff Davin unveils his latest theatrical creation - Adamenses Huckster…and there's plenty of theater continuing this week to keep you occupied all week long!

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening around us that it's difficult to keep track of it all. Thus, we are happy to present a new feature: The Nashville Theater Calendar, which is a comprehensive listing of theatrical openings,that will be updated each week, for the 2015/16 season.

Subtitled 'a play about Faith, Narcissism, & Red Velvet Cake,' The First Church of Mary (which is how we will refer to it hereafter) allows Davin to don a wig and heels - 'yet again,' according to the show's press release - to play his newest creation Adamenses Huckster, the protagonist of his 'new play (with mus

It's the official kick-off to summer, what with the Memorial Day Weekend upon us already - seriously, where did the time go? - and while we're certain your calendar is filled with cookouts, fireworks (we don't save all the sparklers for July 4th do we?) and swimming (if it warms up enough here in frosty Tennessee, where it's in the 50s as I type). But being the theatrical fanatic that we (using either the editorial "we" or the royal "we"…just take your pick) are, we would like to humbly suggest you make your way to the theater in the next few days to get some artistic inspiration.

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, our spotlight focuses on Justin Hand, who plays Treplev, and director Jaclynn Jutting from Verge Theatre's production of Steven Dietz's The Nina Variations, opening tonight at Belmont's Black Box Theatre.

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 focus our virtual spotlight on Brooke Gronemeyer and Morgan Robertson, the stars of Starlite Waltz, the latest - and, unfortunately, last - production from GroundWorks Theatre, headed by artistic director Myra Stephens and managing director Jonathan Stephens, who took over the company from founders Sean and Bob O'Connell (2011 First Night Honorees).

Two of Nashville's best-known young actors, Lucy Turner and Paige Glasser, lead the cast of Mama's Girls - an original play by Marilyn Barner Anselmi, directed by Vickie Bailey - which is slated for a staged reading as part of Tennessee Women's Theater Project's Women's Work Festival this Friday night, May 22.

With so many new productions bowing this week (hence, the Friday 5 on Thursday), the spotlight shines first on Austin Olive and Amie Lara from the cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, directed by the talented Joshua Waldrep, and opening tonight at Pearl Cohn Comprehensive High School. It's the last production of the 2014-15 - that's the 65th year - season of Circle Players, the oldest community theatre troupe in Middle Tennessee.

It's been a busy spring in Tennessee and as we head into summer, you can rest assured that things are only going to get busier - and more interesting. Our advice? Hydrate yourself (drink plenty of water before heading out), dress comfortably (but tasteful) and head out for a night at the theater. You'll be inspired, entertained and possibly even transported to some far-away world of wonder and imagination. 

School's out for summer, but that doesn't mean that college theater students are lounging by the pool, waiting for their next big break. Rather, if you're someone like Rebekah Stogner, an acting/journalism major at Nashville's David Lipscomb University, chances are you're preparing for the next audition and getting ready for fall semester.

Today's actor/subject/model is the hardest working man in Nashville theater - or, at least, the busiest - Justin Boyd, who will be appearing as Van in ACT 1's production of Dog Sees God, directed by Jim Manning. His headshot is by photographer Megan Maddox.

Despite knowing that the time would come, I am still staggered by the news of Arita Trahan's passing last weekend. Although she had moved from Nashville some years back - living in Los Angeles and Philadelphia after leaving Tennessee - she always remained a member of our theater family, one of the leading lights among the scores of talented people who have called our city home over the years.

The weekend is upon us, which means you have just a few hours to figure out a game plan so you don't miss out on all the fun that's happening all around you. We've got the goods on theatrical events this weekend, to save wear and tear on your brain, and we can offer some sound advice: Just do as we say and everything will be fine. Resistance is futile.

Cookeville High School's production of West Side Story claimed top honors - the award for Best Show of 2014/15 - last Saturday at the second annual Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards, presented at Lipscomb University's Collins Alumni Auditorium and hosted by Melinda Doolittle.

VWA Theatricals, a Nashville-based theatrical production company, will make its official bow this summer with a production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, set to play the iconic Darkhorse Theater in August.

There always seems to be so much to do in Nashville, from a creative and theatrical standpoint, we're often asked for recommendations of what's not to be missed on our calendar. Well, have no fear, gentle readers, we're at your service, at the ready to tell you of the shows you really should see this week and in the coming weeks…

But not all of our best-known teen actors are studying in the traditional secondary school manner. Today, we focus on Shane Kopischke, a 17-year-old rising high school senior who is home-schooled and currently celebrating his 11th year of doing stage productions.