Jeffrey Ellis - Page 82

Smokey Joe's Cafe features the songs of Leiber & Stoller and stars Melinda Doolittle, Ryan Greenawalt, Libby Hodges, Harvey Hubert, Laura Matula, John-Mark McGaha, Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano Ramirez.

Set against a backdrop of the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, the Arts Center of Cannon County presents Chicago-the story of Roxie Hart (with Alexandra McNamara and Jessica Storvik alternating in the role) a housewife and nightclub dancer who maliciously murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her-running September 14-13 in Woodbury.

Theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors to pay tribute to a group of eight remarkable people who have made indelible marks on the theater scene throughout their storied careers. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored the eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Theater aficionados from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors, paying tribute to a group of eight remarkable people who have made indelible marks on the theater scene throughout their storied careers. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored the eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Dressed to the nines-despite forecasts of thunderstorms and a tornado watch that hung over the region-theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Chris Bosen and Nate Eppler, the curators of The Ten Minute Playhouse-named one of the Top 11 Theatrical Events of 2011 by The First Night Honors-have been invited by Street Theatre Company to present new programming in-residence during the 2013 season.

Steven Dietz's Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure has been performed all over the country, but when Nashville Children's Theatre presents it as the opening production of its 81st season, it will be the first time the play has been presented by a theatre for young audiences. And in another noteworthy first, the production marks the first time that Nashville Children's Theatre has mounted a show of some two hours in length.

Taylor Tracey makes her Nashville stage debut as Elle Woods in The Keeton Theatre's production of Legally Blonde, the Musical, running September 13-29 at the theatre, located at 108 Donelson Pike.

Clay Steakley and Jennifer Richmond will take on the roles of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald this fall as Actors Bridge Ensemble presents the world premiere of Bill Feehely's Outside Paradise, November 9-18 at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre. Outside Paradise follows the life and love of literary legends F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald through the jazz age and into infamy. Funded by a Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission Creation Grant, this new work examines the volatile passion, deep commitment and remarkable work of this iconic pair and their closest confidants.

Ariel Dorfman's Death and The Maiden, starring Phil Brady, Trish Crist and Bakari King, will be presented by Nashville's Rhubarb Theater August 23-25 at Darkhorse Theatre-with a special encore performance as part of the 2012 First Night Honors tonight, August 31, at Belmont's Black Box Theatre.

Broadway's Aaron Tveit-fresh off starmaking turns in next to normal and Catch Me If You Can-is the featured performer for this year's Tennessee Performing Arts Center Gala, set for tonight, August 25, and this year honoring community leader John Ferguson.

Ariel Dorfman's Death and The Maiden, starring Phil Brady, Trish Crist and Bakari King, will be presented by Nashville's Rhubarb Theater tonight, August 23-25 at Darkhorse Theatre-with a special encore performance as part of the 2012 First Night Honors on Friday, August 31, at Belmont's Black Box Theatre.

Yankees might find the idea crazy to turn a classic Irish play into a bluegrass musical set in the Virginia Mountains, but Southerners know that the Blue Ridge Mountains were settled by Scots-Irish folks-and that a fiddle is a fiddle all over the globe. So it should come as no surprise that John Fionte, Cumberland County Playhouse's New Works Director-who describes himself as a Boston Yankee in the Cumberlands-was a bit skeptical when he first heard the premise of Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge, the new musical that opens in Crossville on Thursday, August 23.

Curtain goes up Thursday night, August 23, on the regional premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, directed by George W. Manus Jr. for Murfreesboro's Out Front on Main. Guirgis' 2005 play uses flashbacks to an imagined childhood and lawyers who call for the testimonies of such witnesses as Mother Teresa, Caiaphas, Saint Monica, Sigmund Freud, Pontius Pilate and Satan.

Nashville's own American Idol finalist-and Belmont Unviersity almuna-Melinda Doolittle leads a cast of powerhouse vocalists in Smokey Joe's Cafe, Studio Tenn's first musical production of its 2012-2013 season, opening September 20 at the historic Franklin Theatre.

Director Lisa Gillespie is responsible for my most recent serving of Steel Magnolias (onstage at Boiler Room Theatre in Franklin through September 8), which like all richly decadent Southern delicacies, sates something within me that yearns for a memory-laden repast-serving up Harling's artful blend of comedy and drama that is so redolent of my upbringing. In fact, every new production of Steel Magnolias that I see reminds me of a family reunion, where the same stories of kinfolk and friends are told time and again, providing a rich heritage from which to draw sustenance.

First Night Award-winning Boiler Room Theatre is looking ahead to its 2013 season, unveiling the seven shows that will make up the company's Lucky 13th Season. The 2013 season shows have been announced via social media this week, with each day featuring the announcement of another title in BRT's slate of shows.

American Negro Playwright Theatre and SistaStyle Productions invite theater-goers in Nashville to join them in a celebration-on Friday, August 24-of their D.C. Black Theatre Festival win with a special presentation of Mary McCallums' SingleVille, directed by 2010 First Night Honoree Barry Scott.

Today, the spotlight falls upon Angela Gimlin, who is appearing this weekend in the debut work from Nashville's Kirk-Burgess Productions: Prince Gomolvilas' play Mysterious Skin, based on the Scott Heim novel of the same name, that weaves together the interconnected stories of two young men, each struggling to overcome his horrific past. Angela, whose versatility is obvious in the production, plays the distant mother of one of the boys' and a surly Little League functionary who simply doesn't want to be bothered.

Kirk-Burgess Productions makes an auspicious debut on the Nashville theatrical scene with a solid production of Prince Gomolvilas' play Mysterious Skin, based on the Scott Heim novel of the same name, that weaves together the interconnected stories of two young men, each struggling to overcome his horrific past.