2016 Midwinter's First Night Set for Sunday, January 10

Justin Boyd, Britt Byrd, Katherine Morgan and Taylor Novak will team up to host 2016 Midwinter's First Night - set for Sunday night, January 10, 2016 - and to ride herd on First Night founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis for the presentation of the BWW Nashville Awards and the presentation of First Night's Top 10 of 2016.

"Mad, bad and dangerous to know," Midwinter's First Night is the cold weather follow up - and more intriguing younger sibling to September's more august First Night Honors. The history of The First Night Honors and Midwinter's First Night go back to 1989 and the first presentation of The Dare Theater Awards which became The First Night Awards, eventually evolving into The First Night Honors.

Chambers Stevens, a 2012 First Night Honoree, will be on hand for a special performance from his current one-man show, It's Who You Know, that will be wrapping up a four-performance run that weekend at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre.

Midwinter's First Night festivities get under way at 7 p.m., with the presentation of awards and special musical performances, including an opening number performed by the cast of Circle Players' Sister Act - directed by Tim Larson and opening at Tennessee State University's Performing Arts Center later that same week.

Presenters for the event, at press time, include Steven Griffin, Jessica Hunter, 2012 First Night Most Promising Actor Matthew Hayes Hunter, Curtis LeMoine-Reed, Jenny Norris-Light, Austin Olive, Sarah Shepherd, 2015 First Night Star Award winners Mary Ellen and Matt Smith and Everett Tarlton.

Tickets are $10 per person, in advance by debit/credit, and are available by calling (615) 892-4044. At the door, tickets will be $15 per person, paid for by cash or debit/credit.

About the co-hosts:

Justin Boyd is a proud native Nashvillian and an alumnus of Tennessee State University. He's been involved with the Nashville Theatre community for five years, and has been part of more than 30 productions during that time. During the past year, he has stayed busy working on show after show. For example, in 2015, he has played the role of Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof (The Larry Keeton Theatre), Oliver Hix in The Music Man (The Larry Keeton Theatre), Van in Dog Sees God (Act 1), and Johnny in the Nashville premiere of American Idiot (Circle Players). Along with his onstage credits, he has also played in the band (Upright and Electric Bass) for Street Theatre's production of Memphis the Musical and Pull Tight's production of Catch Me If You Can.

Britt Byrd is delighted (and let's be honest, a little nervous) to co-host the 2015 Midwinter's First Night. Certainly no stranger to the First Night festivities, she co-hosted the Midwinter's First Night ceremony in 2012, appeared in the star-studded staged reading of All About Eve and most recently co-hosted the First Night Honors 2015 Preview Party. Britt's recent acting credits include Hearts Like Fists with Actors Bridge Ensemble and Bonnie & Clyde, The Musical with Murfreesboro's Center For The Arts. Britt also hosted Throwback Thursday Live! and produced and starred in Mindy Kaling's Matt & Ben for Actors Bridge Ensemble's Sideshow Fringe Festival, for which she also served as a festival curator. She can next be seen in Cousin Cleetus' Country Christmas at Events On 3rd during the holiday season and "4,000 Miles" with Music City Theatre Company in April 2016. She would like to apologize to the Midwinter audience in advance for Mr. Ellis. You're all his favorites (but she's definitely the favorite).

Katherine Morgan is delighted to be co-hosting the Midwinter's First Night of 2016. She is very excited to be taken into the bosom of Jeffrey Ellis and having the opportunity to share the stage with the Britt Byrd, Justin Boyd and Taylor Novak (all super sexy). After relocating to Nashville from Los Angeles, California, she was honored to be cast as Morticia in Circle Player's Addams Family. Still a working Voice over artist, she has voiced the national commercial campaigns for companies such as McDonald's, Sprite, Lincoln SUVs, Hewlett Packard and Nationwide Insurance. She was also cast in independent films such as The Sky is Falling and Slaves of Hollywood. Katherine majored in Musical Theater at Kansas State University and is currently studying with Nashville Acting Studio. She is a member of SAG/AFTRA.

Taylor Novak Taylor Novak is absolutely thrilled to be co-hosting alongside three incredibly talented, super attractive fellow Nashville theatre nerds under the command of the one and only Jeffrey Ellis. You may have seen him shirtless/almost naked/actually naked in his first three roles on a Nashville stage, but recently made his first fully clothed Nashville stage debut in ACT 1's August: Osage County. Connections to the other hosts: He has had the honor of performing under the direction of Jeffrey in Circle Players' Picnic; has shared the stage with THE Justin Boyd in Circle Players' American Idiot; can be seen performing alongside the fabulous Britt Byrd in Music City Theatre Company's 4,000 Miles in April (they also kissed in an audition once); and has been stuck in a Katherine Morgan-induced trance since the moment he first saw her in Addams Family. He hopes he can slightly entertain you tonight!

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who has been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 25 years. A 2013 First Night Honoree, he is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theatre in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly and editor in chief of Tennessee's first gay and lesbian weekly newspaper, Query. 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. In 2015, he directed William Inge's Picnic for Circle Players and Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years for VWA Theatricals, and will direct Beth Henley's The Miss Firecracker Contest for The Larry Keeton Theatre in April, 2016.

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