Jeffrey Ellis - Page 9

Members of the theater, film and voice-over communities in Nashville and beyond are still reeling from the news of the passing of LaQuita James, one of the region’s most prolific and best-loved artists, who was found dead in her home last Thursday, June 17. Her cause of death remains unknown, but she is thought to have died from natural causes, according to those close to her.

We welcome back our regular feature, The Friday 5 (+1), with today’s opportunity to get to know four members of the Dear Miss Barrett cast better before the curtain goes up on the show’s world premiere production. Crystal Kurek, Deron Ryan Martel, Kimberly Rye and Tyler Evick offer their answers to our queries and tell you why they expect to see you in the audience of Dear Miss Barrett over the next two weekends.

As you might imagine, Adam Pascal – the Tony Award-nominated star of Rent, who went on to play Radames in Elton John’s Aida on Broadway, William Shakespeare in Something Rotten, among an impressive list of roles (including Chicago’s Billy Flynn, Memphis the Musical’s Huey Calhoun and the emcee in Cabaret), both onstage and off – fairly radiates charm and confidence in his appropriately titled cabaret, So Far…An Acoustic Retrospective, which features the singer-actor-musician performing a program of songs from the shows for which he is justifiably renowned.

Years from now – when historians write about the initial signs of life that began to emerge from the mists that shrouded the world of live performance toward the end of a worldwide pandemic – it may well be determined that Adam Pascal, the Tony Award-nominated actor, singer and musician, knew exactly how to reconnect to audiences starved for satisfying entertainment.

ou have to hand it to Mitch Albom (the well-known sportswriter turned memoirist turned playwright turned heartland media mogul): the man knows how to craft a tale certain to appeal to a wide swath of his audience, manipulating and cajoling them along the way with good humor and sometimes incisive wit before going for the jugular of the sentimental with a dramatic payoff that’s sure to wring tears, sell tissues and send the aforementioned audiences into the real world with something to think about.

Outrageously camp and deliriously fun – what more can you expect from a pandemic-shattering original musical called Sloppy Bonnie? – but are we so blinded by the pure joy of the return to live theater (albeit in a parking lot, however spacious it may be) that we are forgiving of the stereotypes and cliches that abound in Krista Knight’s script and Barry Brinegar’s music.

Cumberland County Playhouse has recently announced the remainder of its 2021 Season, featuring the currently running revival of Duck Hunter Shoots Angel and the upcoming opening of Driving Miss Daisy.

Celebrating a return to performances after an extended intermission due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) is bringing the best of Broadway “Roaring Back” to Nashville with its 2021-22 HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC Season, featuring a multi-week return engagement of Nashville’s best-loved Broadway musical, Disney’s THE LION KING.

Nashville Repertory Theatre  unveiled its 2021-22 season Tuesday night at Kimpton Aertson Hotel’s rooftop patio, featuring a plethora of Nashville theater’s brightest stars, who charmed and entertained everyone in their audience (each of whom were fairly adither with anticipation of what’s to come and the joy of watching live performance).

Following an 18-month hiatus, live performances are returning this fall to the corner of Franklin and First in Historic Downtown Clarksville as the Roxy Regional Theatre readies for its return to the stage.  

Come From Away, Ain't Too Proud a?" The Life and Times of The Temptations, the pre-Broadway tour of Diane Paulus' eagerly anticipated revival of 1776 and a return of one of Nashville's favorite touring productions a?" The Lion King a?" are among the highlights of the 40th HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC season at Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Whether he is best known to audiences from his work in film (Ragtime, Yentl, The Princess Bride), on television (Chicago Hope, Criminal Minds, Homeland) or on Broadway (Evita, Sunday in the Park With George, The Secret Garden, The Wild Party), Mandy Patinkin has embodied countless unforgettable characters, created memorable moments in performance that continue to resonate with his fans and established himself as a star whose light continues to shine brightly and vividly.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's epic masterpiece Hamilton - the Broadway behemoth that continues to take the theater world by storm one city at a time, one stage at a time - has settled into its multi-week run at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Since arriving in our midst in early 2017, Ernie Nolan justifiably has gained a reputation as an innovator, a creative genius (Hyperbole? The answer is a resounding a?oeno,a?? judging from his artistic achievements of the past two-plus years) and a master of challenging the status quo. As executive artistic director at Nashville Children's Theatre a?" one of the leading theater companies in America, dedicated to serving young audiences through challenging, elucidating offerings certain to appeal to their varied sensibilities a?" he's given us a plethora of productions that have been both unexpected and exhilarating, elevating the local theater scene immeasurably in the process.

Luckily, for audiences at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse (where Elf, The Musical runs through December 21 in a delightful and sparkling production helmed by producing director Bryce McDonald), the role of Buddy is entrusted to Chris Hallowes, who has proven himself the personification of the term a?oesong-and-dance mana?? during his tenure at the Playhouse, and who once again proves his mettle with his latest onstage assignment. Were it not for the fact we've always considered Hallowes a star, we'd say Buddy is a starmaking performance for him.

There's no better way to ease into the hijinks and hubbub of the holiday season than with a nostalgic trip down memory lane with the awesomely talented, tremendously charming and oh-so-delightful quartet, aka the Marvelous Wonderettes, in Roger Bean's confectionary Winter Wonderettes, the seasonal follow-up to his popular The Marvelous Wonderettes, which first introduced us to Cindy Lou, Betty Jean, Suzy and Missy.

Hailed as a a?oenear-perfect movie musical,a?? Singin' in the Rain is nonetheless a challenge for companies mounting a full-scale version of it a?oelive and onstage.a?? It's not just about making it rain onstage during the show's eponymous song and dance number, but more about capturing the magic of bringing movies to life without all the technical wizardry of a film studio at one's behest.

atrick Cassidy, acclaimed performer and director with a career spanning Broadway, film and television, has accepted the role of artistic director at Studio Tenn. Cassidy, son of Shirley Jones and the late Jack Cassidy and brother to Shaun, Ryan and the late David Cassidy, recently moved from Los Angeles to the Franklin area with his wife, Melissa Hurley Cassidy.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob Squarepants, of course a?" and now, the ambitious but kind, optimistic yet somehow down-to-earth a?oesimple spongea?? is taking his show on the road in a colorful, fun-filled, peripatetic and eye-poppingly surreal musical fresh off Broadway: The Spongebob Musical. You don't have to be a longtime fan of the animated and timeless, eponymously titled Nickelodean series, but clearly it helps to have at least a passing knowledge of the Spongebob oeuvre to keep all the players straight in an apocalyptic, yet thoroughly entertaining, tale of imminent danger for all the Bikini Bottom inhabitants fans have come to love over the years.

There is something about Hatty Ryan King a?" the young woman playing Alice Murphy in Lipscomb University Theatre's superb production of Bright Star (the recent Broadway musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell) now onstage at Collins Alumni Auditorium through November 10 a?" that sets her apart from her peers, that makes her seem destined for greatness and which ensures that every role she takes on is elevated by her unerring instincts, her palpable presence and her inestimable talent.