BWW Previews: Cumberland County Playhouse Celebrates 50th Anniversary with 2015 Season

First Night Award winning playwrights Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler's Southern Fried Funeral will be featured among productions celebrating the Golden Anniversary of Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse in 2015.

"CCP's 2015 Golden Anniversary Season features stories of Tennessee, the South, and families, in new comedies and musicals by nationally recognized Tennessee playwrights and songwriters," according to a CCP spokesperson.

"The Playhouse continues to feature strong local talent, in both new works and great family favorites like The Wizard of Oz and the professional regional premiere of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins. Unlike movies and touring shows, attending a performance at the Playhouse keeps millions of entertainment dollars in the Tennessee economy, creating performance and production jobs and career opportunities!"

CCP's Golden Anniversary Season opens January 17 with Lori Fischer's musical, Barbara's Blue Kitchen. A graduate of Belmont University, Fischer grew up in Nashville where her father has written songs for the likes of Reba McIntyre. Her plays are licensed by Samuel French, Inc., the oldest and largest theatrical publisher in the world.

Nashville's Osborne and Eppler have productions of their comedies running across the country, licensed through their own Tennessee company. Southern Fried Funeral is relatively new, but has had multiple productions nationwide following its initial success as a commissioned work for the Bethlehem Players at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Brentwood/Franklin. Subsequently, Southern Fried Funeral was produced at Nashville's Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre and at The Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia. Osborne and Eppler live in Nashville, working with Nashville Rep and Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theate, among other area theater companies. Only CCP is producing Southern Fried Funeral in the Middle/East Tennessee region this season.

The Playhouse's 2015 Season:

• Barbara's Blue Kitchen (January 17 - March 21): In a country diner just outside Nashville, proprietor Barbara Jean serves her customers and shares their hilarious, heartwarming stories. Starring Patty Payne, Daniel Black and Jason Ross (all 20-year stars of the long-running bluegrass/gospel musical Smoke on the Mountain), who all play multiple roles.
• The Wizard of Oz (January 31-February 21) will play the Playhouse Mainstage as director Weslie Webster (Best Christmas Pageant, The Foreigner) leads the Playhouse kids, teens, volunteers (and professional orchestra) through adreamscape designed by Hollywood TV designer Leonard Harman (Angel, Stalker).
• Southern Fried Funeral (February 27-April 17): Who knew Southern Fried could be so good for you? A comedy about family, Southern style-in the spirit of Dearly Departed and The Foreigner.
• Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash (March 27 - June 9) returns by popular demand, once again featuring Kellye Cash, The Man in Black's niece. It's described as "a foot-stompin', crowd-pleasin' salute to a uniquely American legend that climaxes in a moving, exhilarating concert."
• CCP's Triple Threat Performance Education Department will present its annual youth production on May 1 and 2...50/50: A celebration of 50 years of Community Collaboration. The students and teachers of the program will celebrate the past 50fifty years-and look forward to the next 50-in song and dance!
• The Playhouse gets ready for April showers with Singin' In the Rain, the all-singing, all-dancing, showbiz extravaganza, based on one of the most beloved movies in history. Singin' In The Rain has been described as "one of the best musicals of all time" and runs April 24 - July 12.
• The ever-popular Smoke on the Mountain (May 22 - October 10) returns for its 22nd season! In 1938 North Carolina, young, enthusiastic Pastor Oglethorpe has asked the Sanders Family to the church's first-ever "Saturday Night Sing."
• Summer finds everyone's favorite practically perfect nanny flying to the Mainstage in Mary Poppins (June 12-August 16). We all can learn a lesson from the nanny who advises, "Anything can happen if you let it."
• CCP's summer continues with the record-shattering musical A Chorus Line (July 24-August 28), winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical...and the Pulitzer Prize, this singular sensation is one of the longest-running Broadway musicals ever.
• The Fox on the Fairway (August 6-October 16) is a madcap adventure about love, life, and man's eternal love affair with... golf. With its mistaken identities, slamming doors, and romantic shenanigans, Fox recalls 2013's smash hit, Suite Surrender.
• CCP's most requested title, The Foreigner (September 4-November 5), returns for its 50th Anniversary Season, once again starring Jason Ross, Carol Irvin and Daniel Black, this wickedly clever farce is outrageously funny.
• From the writers of Seussical and Ragtime comes Once On This Island (September 25-November 6) is an award-winning Caribbean musical adventure for the whole family.
• In October, the Playhouse opens the first of three holiday treats: In-Laws, Outlaws, and Other People (Who Should Be Shot) described as "a wacky new Christmas comedy that's filled with surprises, laughs and Christmas spirit." It runs October 22-December 12.
• The Playhouse is still negotiating the rights for a title that is To Be Announced and which is slated for a mainstage run from November 13-December 19.
• A Sanders Family Christmas (November 20-December 22) is the heartwarming sequel to Connie Ray and Alan Bailey's wildly successful bluegrass gospel musical Smoke on the Mountain! Join Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe and the Sanders Family for hilarious and touching stories and 25 Southern Gospel Christmas favorites.

For details about the Golden Anniversary season and the shows, or order a season brochure or season tickets, along with tickets for all shows and concerts, call (931) 484-5000 or visit www.ccplayhouse.com.

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