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Jeffrey Ellis - Page 78

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:



Broadway Leading Man David Elder Has a WHITE CHRISTMAS Homecoming in Nashville
Broadway Leading Man David Elder Has a WHITE CHRISTMAS Homecoming in Nashville
November 12, 2012

For David Elder, making the trip to Nashville to star in the national touring company of Irving Berlin's White Christmas-the stage musical based on the holiday film favorite-is a homecoming of sorts. For it was in Music City that the talented young man from Texas first set off on his circuitous route to stardom.

STAGE TUBE: Geoff Davin's 'White Beat'
STAGE TUBE: Geoff Davin's 'White Beat'
November 12, 2012

Nashville actor/singer/musician Geoff Davin has released his latest music video 'White Beat,' written by the multi-talented performer himself. The star of Boiler Room Theatre's The Rocky Horror Show and Circle Players' Company, the versatile Davin surrounds himself with an all-star cast of some of Music City's favorite stage stars. For more information, go to www.GeoffDavin.com.

BWW Reviews: Feehely's Exquisite OUTSIDE PARADISE Given World Premiere by Actors Bridge and Belmont
BWW Reviews: Feehely's Exquisite OUTSIDE PARADISE Given World Premiere by Actors Bridge and Belmont
November 12, 2012

Thanks to the exquisitely crafted and wonderfully creative Outside Paradise, a new play written by Bill Feehely and given an opulent world premiere production from Actors Bridge Ensemble, the story of these two tragic figures is brought to life onstage.

BWW Reviews: Trio of Leading Ladies Provide the Heart for Keeton Theatre's SWEET CHARITY
BWW Reviews: Trio of Leading Ladies Provide the Heart for Keeton Theatre's SWEET CHARITY
November 11, 2012

Despite terrific performances by the show's three leading ladies, The Larry Keeton Theatre's production of Sweet Charity, that 1966 musical theater oddity that spawned two of pop music's favorite showtunes-"If My Friends Could See Me Now" and "Hey, Big Spender"-lacks the polish and pizzazz expected from a theatre company known for its top-flight musical revivals.

Photo Coverage: The First Night Robe is Presented to OUTSIDE PARADISE's Clay Steakley
Photo Coverage: The First Night Robe is Presented to OUTSIDE PARADISE's Clay Steakley
November 10, 2012

Clay Steakley, who plays the role of F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Actors Bridge Ensemble's world premiere production of Bill Feehely's Outside Paradise, is the latest recipient of The First Night Robe. Jeffrey Ellis, founder and executive producer of The First Night Honors, presented the robe to Steakley on Saturday, November 10, prior to curtain of Outside Paradise at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre.

Boiler Room Theatre Celebrates The Holiday Season With Pair of Shows
Boiler Room Theatre Celebrates The Holiday Season With Pair of Shows
November 10, 2012

Boiler Room Theatre celebrates the upcoming holiday season with not one, but two productions sure to delight audiences-the beloved children's classic A Year With Frog and Toad and Christopher Durang's loopy comedy Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge.

BWW Interviews: PAMM HOWARD is The Latest Actor to Tackle The Friday Five
BWW Interviews: PAMM HOWARD is The Latest Actor to Tackle The Friday Five
November 8, 2012

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com'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. This week, the spotlights focuses in on one of Nashville theater's most versatile actresses: the lovely and talented Pamm Howard.

BWW Interviews: The Amazing Creative Capabilities of Studio Tenn's MATT LOGAN
BWW Interviews: The Amazing Creative Capabilities of Studio Tenn's MATT LOGAN
November 8, 2012

Legend has it-as stories like this are wont to go-that Matt Logan has always been something of a genius, a wunderkind if you will, since he first found his way home to the theater. An integral part of the theater scene in Nashville, a city where creativity abounds and the imagination flourishes, Logan has made a name for himself as artistic director of Studio Tenn, the theater company he heads with managing director Jake Speck. Together, the two men have created a theater company that is widely respected by actors and audiences alike, gaining acclaim from critical types who regularly heap praise upon its productions.

Actors Bridge Ensemble Stages World Premiere of Feehely's OUTSIDE PARADISE
Actors Bridge Ensemble Stages World Premiere of Feehely's OUTSIDE PARADISE
November 8, 2012

Developed with the aid of a creation grant from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission, Outside Paradise-playwright Bill Feehely's stage treatment of the life and love of literary lions Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald-debuts at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre on November 9, running for two weekends and starring Jennifer Richmond and Clay Steakley as the sta-rcrossed lovers.

Pulitzer-winning Composer Lang Will Be Special Guest for Nashville Opera Opening
Pulitzer-winning Composer Lang Will Be Special Guest for Nashville Opera Opening
November 4, 2012

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang will be on hand for the opening night performance of Nashville Opera's production of The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, his treatment of a fanciful Ambrose Bierce short story from 1888.

Colin Cahill Stars In JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT At Cumberland County Playhouse
Colin Cahill Stars In JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT At Cumberland County Playhouse
November 4, 2012

Colin Cahill stars as The Cumberland County Playhouse wraps up its 2012 season with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, opening Friday, November 16 and runnng through December 23 on the Crossville theater's Mainstage.

SANDERS FAMILY CHRISTMAS Onstage At Cumberland County Playhouse For 15th Year
SANDERS FAMILY CHRISTMAS Onstage At Cumberland County Playhouse For 15th Year
November 4, 2012

Curtain's up on Cumberland County Playhouse's 15th annual presentation of A Sanders Family Christmas-the holiday-flavored sequel to the enormously popular Smoke on the Mountain-a down-home musical filled with faith, family and old-fashioned fun and starring a cast of Playhouse favorites.

PETER PAN Continues At Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County Through 11/17
PETER PAN Continues At Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County Through 11/17
November 4, 2012

Karen Lewis directs Peter Pan-based upon Sir James M. Barrie's 1904 play about the boy who refuses to grow up-is onstage in Woodbury through November 17, the latest in Arts Center of Cannon County's 2012 Stagedoor Series.

BWW Reviews: Mason and Ashley Shine In Lipscomb Theatre's Sparkling PAJAMA GAME
BWW Reviews: Mason and Ashley Shine In Lipscomb Theatre's Sparkling PAJAMA GAME
November 3, 2012

The Pajama Game's abbreviated run (just four public performances in four days) means that time's a-wasting to get your tickets for the remaining two shows tonight and tomorrow afternoon. So get to it! You'll be glad you did.

Photo Coverage: Tennessee's Theaterati Celebrate Halloween 2012
Photo Coverage: Tennessee's Theaterati Celebrate Halloween 2012
November 1, 2012

Ah, Halloween...the theaterati's favorite holiday (right after Tony Awards Day and, in Tennessee of course, First Night Day!)...gives everyone the opportunity to show off their inner characters and unknown doppelgangers. So how did Tennessee's theater types celebrate the day? Dress up with some place to go...

Baker and Boccitto Bring THE PAJAMA GAME to Lipscomb Theatre Stage, Now thru 11/4
Baker and Boccitto Bring THE PAJAMA GAME to Lipscomb Theatre Stage, Now thru 11/4
November 1, 2012

Beki Baker directs and 2011 First Night Award-winning Justin Boccitto will choreograph as Lipscomb University's Department of Theatre brings the Richard Adler-Jerry Ross Tony Award-winning musical The Pajama Game to the stage of Collins Alumni Auditorium tonight, November 1-4.

YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN Opens at Nashville Children's Theatre, 11/1
YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN Opens at Nashville Children's Theatre, 11/1
November 1, 2012

Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Schroder and the irresistible Snoopy-the whole Peanuts gang-present their familiar scenarios and foibles for Middle Tennessee families, when Nashville Children's Theatre performs You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, beginning today, November 1 and running through December 23.

Rocketttes To Host Master Class in Nashville Sunday, November 11
Rocketttes To Host Master Class in Nashville Sunday, November 11
October 30, 2012

Dancers in the Nashville area will have the opportunity to learn from-and to dance with-the world-famous Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, as they host the Rockettes Master Class, a Rockettes Experience, on Sunday, November 11, at Nashville Ballet.

MBA Wins State One-Act Play Competition for Third Time Since 2005
MBA Wins State One-Act Play Competition for Third Time Since 2005
October 29, 2012

For the third time since 2005, student actors from Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville-along with a trio of actresses "on loan" from Harpeth Hall School-have claimed the state one-act play competition during this past weekend's Tennessee Theatre Association annual meeting in Maryville.

Playhouse Nashville Seeks Scripts For 2012 Ten Minute Playhouse Presentations
Playhouse Nashville Seeks Scripts For 2012 Ten Minute Playhouse Presentations
October 28, 2012

Eager to feed Music City's growing appetite for quality original theatrical material, Playhouse Nashville is now accepting submissions for the fourth incarnation of its popular showcase for Middle Tennessee artists, The Ten Minute Playhouse-named one of The First Night Award's Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011.



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