CRITICS' CHOICE: Memorial Weekend's Best Bets

It's the official kick-off to summer, what with the Memorial Day Weekend upon us already - seriously, where did the time go? - and while we're certain your calendar is filled with cookouts, fireworks (we don't save all the sparklers for July 4th do we?) and swimming (if it warms up enough here in frosty Tennessee, where it's in the 50s as I type). But being the theatrical fanatic that we (using either the editorial "we" or the royal "we"...just take your pick) are, we would like to humbly suggest you make your way to the theater in the next few days to get some artistic inspiration.

There are new shows opening all over the place, along with some continuing productions like Encore's The Crucible (that'll make you think, for sure), John Chaffin's Cliffhanger is still running at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre (is peanut butter pie calling your name, as well?), Mary Poppins hangs up her umbrella at Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre this weekend - well, as you can see, there's great theater happening all over the place. And on Tuesday, Disney's Newsies will claim Nashville as their own hometown with a weeklong run at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Get thee to a theater post-haste, Americans!

Disney Theatrical Productions and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center announce that the Tony Award-winning smash hit musical, NEWSIES, will make its Nashville debut with a limited one-week engagement at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall, May 26-31. Tickets are available at TPAC.org, by phone at (615) 782-4040, and at the TPAC Box Office, 505 Deaderick Street, in downtown Nashville. For group tickets, call (615) 782-4060.

Newsies, the new American musical, features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. Newsies is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his work. The entire creative team has reunited to bring the break-out smash musical to audiences across North America.

"This season has been filled with Tony Award-winning shows, and introducing Nashville to the inspirational production of Newsies is the perfect way to close our year of top-notch Broadway entertainment," says Kathleen O'Brien, TPAC president and chief executive officer. "This show comes to us straight from Broadway during its very first national tour, and it has the high-energy that all of Disney's productions bring, from high-energy choreography to fantastic songs. With the storyline of the little guy trying to beat big odds, everyone in the family will enjoy this show."

When it opened on March 29, 2012, Newsies was intended for a Broadway run of only 101 performances. The show's fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however; they propelled the show to a run of 1,005 performances with attendance of more than one million and a gross of over $100 million.

While on Broadway, Newsies set and broke seven Nederlander Theatre house records and became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23 major theatrical nominations, including eight Tony Award nominations, and won Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Score and Choreography.

Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged 'newsies,' who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what's right.

Newsies is inspired by the real-life 'Newsboy Strike of 1899,' when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst, and other powerful newspaper publishers.

The stage version introduces seven brand-new songs by the original team of Menken and Feldman while keeping many of the beloved songs from the film, including "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," and "Santa Fe."

Since the film's 1992 theatrical release and subsequent DVD release, Newsies has grown into a cult phenomenon, and for years had been the single most requested title of all the Disney musical films not yet adapted for the stage. The film featured a screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White (Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians).

One of Nashville's most innovative theater companies - Five Dollar Recession Theater Company - has outgrown its original name to become Verge Theater Company just in time for its premiere production of Steven Dietz's The Nina Variations.

Opening tonight, and running May 22-24 and 28-30 at Belmont's Black Box Theater on Compton Avenue, The Nina Variations is directed by Jaclynn Jutting, head of the BFA Directing Program at Belmont University, and starring Holly Butler, Justin Hand, Kristin McCalley Landiss and Nettie Kraft.

"We were the Five Dollar Recession Theater Company but it's time to grow," says company founder Nettie Kraft. "The need for affordable theater, opportunities for young artists, expanding the theater audience, and reflecting the changing demographic of Nashville is here. Verge wants to help instill theater into this vibrant city in a powerful and lasting way.

"Our inaugural play is a contemporary, non-linear look at one of the most profound plays of Modern theater, Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. Dietz has taken the iconic final scene between Treplev and Nina and reimagined it into a treatise on love, memory, and whether we "write" our lives or have the narrative defined for us."

Tickets are pay-what-you-can with suggested prices based on age and income. For more information, go to www.vergetheaterco.org.

GroundWorks Theatre debuts Starlite Waltz tonight, as well, as the company's farewell production to the Nashville theater community. Founded in 2004 by theatre veterans Bob and A. Sean O'Connell and handed over to Jonathan and Myra Stephens in 2012, GroundWorks Theatre "has been the source of much joy for many actors, writers, directors and hopefully audience members over the past eleven years," according to artistic director Myra Stephens.

"But the fact is, a theatre as a man, cannot live on joy alone, or love, or even hard work. Because we had all of that and more, and it just wasn't enough," she continues. "Unfortunately it came down to money, because everything always does, doesn't it? It reminds me of a joke I once heard about a farmer who won the lottery. A reporter asked him what he was going to do with all that money. The farmer thought for a moment and then he put his hands in his pockets, looked the reporter square in the eye and said, 'Wellll... I guess I'll just keep on farming 'till the money runs out.'

"That's how a small theatre company is - you pay the rent, you pay the royalties, you pay the expenses (and trust me I've become an expert on doing things on the cheap), you pay the theatre company ten percent and then you pay the actors, director and crew if there's any money left over. Sometimes there is and sometimes there isn't. Just know that we will miss all of our wonderful Nashville audiences."

Which brings us to the 1989 SARTS Award-winning play, Starlite Waltz written by Keith Trawick. The show opens at the Darkhorse Theatre Friday, May 22, and playing weekends through Saturday, May 30. In Starlite Waltz, Candy and Rhonda deal with life at the Starlite Motel and Supper Club, waiting on tables and the chance to get up on stage and show the world what they can do. But life isn't easy. Candy has run away from an abusive husband and Rhonda is running as fast as she can in her search for Mr. Right, which can wear a girl out, if you know what I mean. Can they run fast enough and in the right direction to make it all happen? Come find out.

Morgan Robertson, as Candy is relatively new to Nashville from Bellhaven University where she majored in Theatre. Brooke Gronemeyer as Rhonda was recently seen in Pull-Tight's production of Catch Me if You Can. Both women appeared in GroundWork Theatre's recent production of Being Ebenezer. Brad DeVore, Fred Brown, Christopher Sax and Jonathon Stephens round out the cast. The play is directed by Myra Stephens.

Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. and are on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The matinee performance is at 2:30 p.m. and is on Sunday, May 24. Ticket prices are $15 Adult and $12 Seniors (60+) and Students. It is suggested that tickets be purchased in advance as they sell briskly. Tickets may be purchased online at www.groundworkstheatre.com

After 22 years , the ever-popular Smoke on the Mountain returns to Cumberland County Playhouse - Tennessee's Family Theater - on May 22.

Now in its 22nd consecutive year at CCP, Smoke continues to play to sold-out crowds and delight audiences again and again. "It's always huge fun to direct Smoke," says Smoke's director Weslie Webster. "Each year, I get to welcome new talent to the cast, plus I get to work with veteran actors who have performed in this show hundreds of times."

In fact, the multi-talented Daniel Black has, at one time or another, appeared onstage as every male member of the Sanders family as well as Rev. Oglethorpe. "Even though when I went on as Mervin, it was in A Sanders Family Christmas," laughs Black. "I think that might still be some kind of record."

Smoke takes place on a Saturday night in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, and the Reverend Oglethorpe has invited the Sanders Family Singers to provide an uplifting evening of song. The audience becomes the congregation as two dozen traditional and original hymns weave together with stories of witness from family members, along with a healthy dose of laughter. Though the Sanders Family try to appear perfect in the eyes of a critical congregation - who are skeptical about the whole notion of a "Saturday Night Sing" - one thing after another goes awry and they reveal their true and hilariously imperfect natures. The honesty, humor (sometimes unintentional!) and faith of this Southern mountain family and the church's new preacher connect strongly with audiences of all ages and faiths, who find themselves part of a very special afternoon or evening.

Leading the 2015 cast are Playhouse favorites Patty Payne as June Sanders, Jason Ross as Mervin Oglethorpe, and Daniel Black as Burl Sanders; among the three of them, they've appeared in well over one thousand performances of Smoke since the show opened in the Adventure Theater in 1994. The cast also includes Lauren Marshall, who does double duty as Vera Sanders and the show's Music Director. John Dobbratz will appear as Uncle Stanley, with Chance Wall as son Dennis and Ellie Burnett as Dennis's twin sister Denise.

"I truly think we've assembled the perfect cast for the Playhouse's 50th Anniversary year. The energy and joy of all the actors is just thrilling - and the relationships have never been stronger," Webster maintains.

Smoke on the Mountain opens May 22 and runs through October 10. Call (931) 484-5000 for tickets and information or visit www.ccplayhouse.com.

Also playing at the Playhouse are Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash, featuring Kellye Cash, through June 9; Singin' in the Rain, through July 12. Mary Poppins opens on the Mainstage on June 12.

Tennessee Women's Theater Project concludes its ninth year of the Women's Work Festival on Sunday, May 24, spanning multiple styles and genres to offer a completely different program at every performance: poetry and essays; one-woman shows; plays and readings; dance, music, film and a display of visual art works in the theater.

Middle Tennessee's first and only annual showcase for the creative efforts of women came about when Maryanna Clarke, the company's founder and artistic director, was sidelined with a back injury in early 2007: "After weeks with my pain meds and my walker, I had to concede I would not be able to direct the play we had booked for May that year," says Clarke. "I sent emails to every woman artist I knew, offering our stage for their plays, poems, films - all varieties of performing arts."

Women from Nashville and across the country responded, and nine years later the showcase is going strong. Women's Work 2015 includes both new and returning artists from the Nashville area, plus presenters from Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Two of Nashville's best-known young actors, Lucy Turner and Paige Glasser, lead the cast of Mama's Girls - an original play by Marilyn Barner Anselmi, directed by Vickie Bailey - which is slated for a staged reading as part of Tennessee Women's Theater Project's Women's Work Festival tonight, May 22.

Mama's Girls is the fourth script by Anselmi to be staged at Women's Work, as well as the fourth work by the playwright to be directed by Bailey. Mama's Girls, which also features Deanna Glasser and Phil Brady, is "an exploration of transgender issues in childhood." Curtain is at 7:30 pm. at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre on Rosa Parks Boulevard in north Nashville.

Tickets are available online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1564597 - $10 for individual performances. This year 60% of ticket revenue will go right back to the presenting women artists. "Come and support these talented women as they share their talents with us - show them some love," implores Maryanna Clarke, artistic director of TWTP and the founder of Women'sWork.

Middle Tennessee's first and only annual showcase for the creative efforts of women came about when Clarke, the company's founder and artistic director, was sidelined with a back injury in early 2007: "After weeks with my pain meds and my walker, I had to concede I would not be able to direct the play we had booked for May that year," says Clarke. "I sent emails to every woman artist I knew, offering our stage for their plays, poems, films - all varieties of performing arts."

Saturday, May 23, is Dance Night, always one of the festival's most popular programs. This year's presentation features the work of returning presenters Elaine Husted and Husted Dance, Jen-Jen Lin and Lisa Spradley, Epiphany Dance and Marci Murphree's REASONS Contemporary Dance Ensemble. Alicia Dawn Williams of Girls on Trapeze, best known as an aerialist, will offer a performance of ground exercises. Li Chiao-Ping, a professor at University of Wisconsin, brings the Li Chiao-Ping Dance Troupe from Madison, and Cynthia Adams, a dance instructor at Iowa State, will perform a solo piece. Local dance artists making their Women's Work dance debuts include Megan Ciccolone White, and Erin Law, who will screen a video dance creation.

Women's Work plays at the Looby Theatre, adjacent to the Looby Branch Library at 2301 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. The festival continues weekends through Sunday May 24. Showtimes are at 7:30 pm Thursday through Saturday, and 2:30 pm Sundays. For a complete schedule of performers, show dates and times, reservations and information, call 615-681-7220, or visit Tennessee Women's Theater Project on Facebook or at its web site (www.twtp.org).

Circle Players concludes its 2014-15 season with its production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, opened last night, May 21, at Pearl Cohn Comprehensive High School.

Directed by Joshua Waldrep, music direction is by Rollie Mains and choreography by Chris Heinz. Among the cast members are Austin Olive, Jason Lewis, Amie Lara and a whole bunch of new folks whose names we don't know since no one bothered to send a press release.

Performances are May 21-31, (Thursday-Sunday), with a special Saturday matinee on May 30, and PWYC (Pay-what-you-can) on Thursday, May 28. For tickets, go to www.circleplayers.net.

Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts continues its run of the Frank Wildhorn musical Bonnie and Clyde through May 31. Described as an "electrifying story of love, adventure and the crimes that captured the attention of the country is fearless in its betrayal of the reckless young lovers," Bonnie and Clyde features a score of songs by Wildhorn and Don Black.

Bonnie and Clyde is the tale of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the two small-town nobodies in West Texas who became two of America's best known folk heroes and the Texas law enforcement's worst nightmares. When Bonnie and Clyde meet, their mutual cravings for excitement and fame immediately set them on a mission to chase their dreams. Their bold and reckless behavior turns the young lovers' thrilling adventure into a downward spiral, putting themselves and their loved ones in trouble with the law. Forced to stay on the run, the two lovers resort to robbery and murder to survive. As the infamous duo's fame grows bigger, their well-known inevitable end plays out for all to see.

The Center for the Arts' production of Bonnie and Clyde is directed by Kim Powers, with musical direction by Charlie Parker and choreography by Emily Davis.

Starring in the title roles are Michael Adcock as Clyde and Jamie Lawler as Bonnie, with Patrick Kramer, Corey Shadd, Britt Byrd and Gary Davis. Rounding out the 28 person cast are numerous ensemble members who also double as multiple characters.

Bonnie and Clyde runs through May 31, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for Seniors, Students and Military and $11 for children age 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased on the Center's website - www.boroarts.org - by calling (615)904-2787, or by stopping by the Center during business hours.

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