BWW Interviews: Jeffrey Ellis, A Life in the Theater

Jeffrey Ellis has been a fixture on Nashville's theater scene for many years - as a writer, reviewer, director and, of course, his many years with the First Night Awards. After a brief hiatus from theater, Jef's back and Nashville is glad to have him in the theater where he belongs. Writing for BroadwayWorld.com, Jef has kept the world informed of the theater life that happens in Nashville, from incisive reviews to interviews with some of Music City's best-loved local talent.

With The First Night Nashville Theatre Honors just around the corner (Sunday, September 19, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre), this local actor thought it would be fun to turn the tables on Jef. So, I have come up with a few questions based on the ones he has asked so many of us to answer.

What was your first taste of theater? Probably the earliest show I saw onstage was a Toby Show during elementary school. Toby Shows were kind of a touring vaudeville revue that visited small towns throughout the Southern United States. I don't remember much about it, to be honest, and just assumed Toby and Susie (the show's nominal stars) were just spreading cheer because they loved doing it. I later found out that Toby Shows were more of a cultural phenomenon than I would have ever suspected - or even thought about - as a child. I also remember a touring theater group from Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee, coming to my elementary school and doing some Shakespeare. For me, though, reading is what brought me to theater; books allowed me to read myself away to worlds unknown, far, far away from my very small hometown of Bethel Springs, population 750. That's why having RIF (Reading is Fundamental) as the beneficiary of First Night is so important to me. I want other kids like me out there, who know they don't fit in, can discover a world where they are welcome and even celebrated.

You have worked many aspects of theater, what has been your favorite? The most satisfaction I've ever derived from theater has always come from reviewing and criticism. I wrote my first review in college at Middle Tennessee State University - a review of The Royal Family - that show has remained one of my favorites since. I also reviewed a Twyla Tharp dance performance at the Opry House back in the late '70s and I remember a professor questioning some of my word choices, only to apologize for questioning me after he'd finished my review. He told me that was what I was cut out for - I think he was right; reviewing and criticism is ideal for the person I am, intellectually and emotionally. I take the responsibility very seriously and while I don't think a bad review can keep people from seeing a show, a good review might actually encourage someone to go see a show. I think about it a lot before it ends up on the page. I also love directing, the creative process is exhilarating. I know there are those people who think I'm a hack - whether as a critic or as a director - but I actually kind of know what I'm doing.

When reviewing, what do you prefer to focus on, the script or the production? If it's an original production, I'll probably focus more on the script because there's a chance the playwright will actually read what I write and it might influence them if they do re-writes. If the script is for an established vehicle, something that's been produced time and again, then certainly I'll focus on the production, what makes it unique from others. Let's face it, Neil Simon ain't gonna change a word because of a review I write, but [Nashville playwrights]Trish Crist, Wes Driver or Greg Greene might, at least, think about it.

Nashville has been blessed to produce a lot of original works, do these excite you more than the more tried and true shows? Of course. It's always exciting to see new work produced and to see what local playwrights are doing. I always look at the script from the perspective of someone who wants it to succeed, for it to be a hit with audiences and critics alike. But I won't mince words; my job is not to heap undeserved praise upon anyone. My job is to objectively look at a show, and say what works and what doesn't. It really is that simple.

 

 

Last week you announced a very impressive group of honorees for the First Night Honors, true visionaries in the Nashville theater community, what were the guide lines you used to come up with such an amazing group? When I decided to revive First Night, I thought of who I considered worthy of the recognition and I talked to a lot of people in the theater/creative community and the names that kept coming up were the names on my wish list. Imagine my surprise and my delight when they all agreed to be members of our first class of honorees. Basically, I wanted to honor people who have truly made a difference in our lives - that is, the lives of everyone in the theater community in Nashville. They are hard working, driven individuals who pursue their dreams daily, bringing the magic of live theater to audiences every night. I think they deserve all the recognition we can give them and I'll do everything I can to pay them back for all the joy they've given me - and everyone else - over the years.

 

 

If you could choose a perfect six-show season for any theater company, what shows would make the cut and why? Well, it would depend on a lot of variables, of course. But if it were a perfect world, I would do a season that includes She Loves Me (I have this wonderful concept for doing a production of this superb musical); Parade (the Jason Robert Browne/Alfred Uhry musical about Leo Frank); Floyd Collins (Adam Guettel's musical about the Kentucky farmboy who dies in a cave in Western Kentucky and the subsequent media circus that grows up around the incident); I love me some musicals, obviously. Among plays, I'd love to do The Little Foxes and Another Part of the Forest (both by Lillian Hellman, offering different perspectives on Regina Giddens and her brothers), and something by Tennessee Williams. Obviously, this season shows my preference for Southern works because, well, I'm a Southerner and I know these characters.

What's next for the First Night Honors, will this become an annual event once again? I already know who I want to honor in 2011 and have figured out some production numbers I'd like to stage in the coming years. First Night allows me the chance to produce, which I really love and it keeps me above the fray and out of the competitive world of theater. Last week at the preview party, Bob O'Connell referred to me as an "impresario" and I really love the sound of that. As corny as it sounds, I want First Night to be my legacy when I'm not around any longer - and I've already told Christi Dortch she is the only person I would trust to do it the way I would want.

Do you have any plans to returning to the production side of theater? No. That would be totally inappropriate so long as I'm working as a critic. How could I possibly be objective? As Mammy said in Gone With the Wind: "It ain't fittin'...it just ain't fittin'!"

Who would play you in the film version of your life story? Philip Seymour Hoffman is probably the best candidate for the job, but only if he gets to have sex with Kellan Lutz, who can play a character based on every man I've ever slept with.

What's your favorite play/musical? My favorite play is actually Strindberg's Miss Julie; I think it's gripping and amazingly contemporary in its tone. My favorite musical is Gypsy - nothing else even comes close.

If you could have dinner with any three figures (living or dead, real or fictional) who are a part of the theater, who would you choose and why? Now I know why it takes people so long to answer this question when I ask them...and for purely personal and all too sentimental reasons I would choose Anne Tonelson and Lon Gary, two great stars of the stage here in Nashville who are no longer with us and both of whom allowed me to direct them - and even thanked me for it. Anne and Lon both treated me as if I were the most important person to ever tell them where to stand and what to do onstage and for that I will be eternally thankful. And the third person? Cole Porter, of course; he and I could go bar-hopping after dinner and pick up pretty boys looking for their big break.

What advice would you give someone who wants to write for a living? Don't take no for an answer.

Guest columnist David McGinnis is a Nashville actor who was recently profiled in this very same space by regular contributer Jeffrey Ellis. He turns the tables this week on Ellis, who is always willing to do an interview that promotes The First Night Nashville Theatre Honors.

 

 

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