Jeffrey Ellis - Page 85

Today, our spotlight focuses in on the show's leading lady, the luminously beautiful Marissa McGowan, the actress who plays Stella Purdy, the love interest of the musical's repressed and shy Professor Julius Kelp and his suave and sophisticated doppelganger Buddy Love. During a media look-in at the company's rehearsals, McGowan knocked the socks off of all those cynical folk, delivering a beautiful rendition of a new Hamlisch-penned power ballad that we're likely to hear for years to come.

After a protracted four-year battle with an especially virulent form of cancer, Murfreesboro actor-director-producer-artist Bryan M. Sunday-Booth died in the early hours of Friday morning, July 20. As the news of his death made its way through the theater community in Middle Tennessee, several of his friends and associates shared their memories of Bryan, seeking to cope with their own stages of grief while coming to terms with the realities of the day.

In fact, in his answer to our very first query, Jason Sparks (who is a swing in the show's ensemble) actually made me laugh out loud as he painted a picture of a childhood fairly brimming over with adventure and happy memories-not to mention an experience that may have destined him to time spent on an analyst's couch. Actually, though, Jason seems enormously well-adjusted and, it should come as no surprise that everyone seems to love him

Today, we have two unique-and we daresay spectacular and wonderful-women who are paired together, thanks to director Paul J. Cook, in helping to bring Pippin to life at the Boiler Room Theatre: Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva and Lynda Cameron-Bayer. Jennifer is part of the powerhouse cast of the Stephen Schwartz musical (which has been acclaimed by every critic in town), while Lynda is the production's costume designer, dressing the ensemble in a gorgeous assortment of circus-inspired garb. Each woman, at any particular time, is sure to knock your socks off, so be prepared to lose 'em…

Today the spotlight falls on Sarah Marie Jenkins. And I've gotta tell you, there's just something about Sarah-she's charming and funny and disarmingly appealing, she's pretty and talented and, well, you're just gonna love her. Hell, I've only shared emails and Facebook messages and posts with her and I'm already crazy about her (but in a talented girl-crush sort of way, not like some creepy stalker kind of way)! Seriously, if you're not just absolutely taken with her after reading this interview, then read it again.

Save the date: On Saturday, August 4, the Arts Center of Cannon County will host a special evening of fun and games that includes a reverse raffle-with a grand prize of $5,000-and gourmet dinner. Tickets are $75 each and is your passport to an entertaining and fun-filled evening-and you don't even have to be there to win.

The Full Monty, with book by Terrence McNally, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, runs through Aug. 4, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, except for the Friday, July 27 performance, which will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $16 for students and seniors age 65 and older.

Opening ACT 1's 2012-13 season at The Darkhorse Theatre in Nashville this fall will be the company's revival of Michael Cristofer's The Shadow Box, the 1977 Tony Award winner for best play (which won for Cristofer the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, brought to the stage by director David McGinnis, who makes his ACT 1 directorial debut with this effort.

Broadway star Bailey Hanks will take on the role of Doralee Rhodes in The Roxy Regional Theatre's upcoming production of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 The Musical, which opens at the Clarksville venue on September 14.

Last week we launched The Nutty Five as our way of welcoming all these talented people into our midst-even the ones who have Nashville connections, like today's star of the show Danny Young, who is the drummer for The Nutty Professor band (who may be just as jazzed up about his new drum set for the show as he is working with Jerry Lewis).

We've been introducing the company's members to Nashville over the past several days and today it is Allison Little's turn to take on our five Nutty questions so that when you see her, you'll feel like you already know her. Or, if you actually do know her already, you can just puff out your chest and say, "I knew her when…"

Members of the 2012 First Night Honors' Class of Honorees will be revealed to the public Monday night, July 23, during the First Night Preview Party, which will be held at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, 8204 Highway 100 in Nashville.

Nashville actor/playwright/director Matthew Carlton's Hanging Mary has earned top honors during the 2012 Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights (AFPP) held July 6-July 13 at The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia.

Welcome to the fifth installment of Music City Confidential, my column to collect the flotsam and jetsam, informationally speaking, of theatre in Tennessee. Sorry for the long delay since the last installment, but I've been theatering my butt off all over the Volunteer State in search of intriguing gossip and riveting news stories just for you, my gentle readers.

Today, our altogether welcoming (my mama raised me right) spotlight falls on Alex David, who's part of the ensemble and is the double for Julius Kelp/Buddy Love (played by star Michael Andrew), and who is obviously having the time of his life in Nashville. And keep this in mind: Alex may need your help when he's sent flying by a mechanical bull!

In fact, director Kate Adams and musical director Ginger Newman have crafted Nashville's own lovely and, I daresay, star-studded version of the musical which simply proves once again that Into the Woods is one of the most enchanting, most entertaining and most moving examples of contemporary musical theater at its best

Obviously, my mama raised me right-and what better way is there to welcome these newcomers to our midst than with the public airing of some of their most embarrassing moments and the admission of their long-held dreams. Among those enormously gifted artistic types is ensemble member Carly Blake Sebouhian (who fairly drips stage presence in her performance-we got a sneak preview of a few numbers last Wednesday), whose ever-growing resume offers an account of her impressive theatrical experience. Her charm and lovely spirit are sure to set her apart to gain the attention of Nashville audiences who will see her onstage in The Nutty Professor.

Nashville Children'sTheatre will unveil its second student summer musical production on July 27 and 28 with Avenue Q: School Edition, based on the original Broadway hit and Tony Award-winning musical by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty.

Jeremy Benton has come a long way since he was dancing around in the backyard of his family's home in Springfield, Tennessee. In fact, way back when-before he even had his first dance class with Cherri Coleman at the Springfield School of Classical Dance-for all he knew he might have even created or invented what he later learned was referred to as "tap."

Think of it as a newfangled take on our venerated Southern hospitality-my mama raised me right, for goodness' sake-and what's more Southern than welcoming newcomers into our community? Whiskey and barbecue, of course, but until then this column will have to suffice, even if the ensemble's Patrick O'Neill has suffered through some 20 years of barbecue deficiency. Until we can rectify that situation, this is just gonna have to do…