First Night's Top Ten of 2010: Nashville's Best Musicals

If you find yourself venturing outside of New York, and you want to see some really good musical theater, what should you do? Allow me to suggest a visit to my neck o' the woods: A trip to Nashville might provide you with exactly what you seek. After all, in a city perhaps best known throughout the world as Music City USA, what else could you expect but some exceedingly well-cast, well-produced, well-played and well-sung musical theater? We're lousy with exceptional singers and musicians and, as a result, musical theater is alive and well - and thriving - in Nashville. And here's my list of the Best Musicals of 2010...

• Big River. Directed by Rene Dunshee Copeland. Presented by Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Bakari King and Patrick Waller give such winning performances as Jim and Huck in Tennessee Rep's revival of Roger Miller's multiple Tony Award-winning Big River that they alone are enough to entice audiences to TPAC's Johnson Theatre for a re-sampling, if you will, of this particularly American musical. But three other individuals are perhaps most responsible for the overall delight that is Tennessee Rep's 25^th Anniversary season production: director Rene Dunshee Copeland, whose imaginative work helps to re-invent this musical on a basis that is at once more intimate, yet somehow on a grander scale; music director Paul Carrol Binkley, whose concept for performing the work's music gives it the ideal down-home feel that only a band of expert Nashville players can give it; and design genius Gary Hoff, who transforms Johnson's black box space into something we've never seen in that venue before - the proscenium theatre you've only seen in your mind's eye - and who, in so doing, elevates Nashville theatrical design beyond its previous limits, fashioning it into something of opulently epic proportions.Hoff's stunningly realized set is the very stuff of theatre magic: You walk into the Johnson Theatre not knowing what to expect only to find yourself immediately transported to a place only your wildest dreams could take you. Do I exaggerate? Perhaps, a bit, in my zeal to commit to words the visual feast I beheld on opening night; but Hoff's set for Big River is something you have to see to believe. It frames the musical from Roger Miller and William Hauptman with beautiful physical trappings, giving Copeland's thoroughly talented and completely committed cast the perfect backdrop for their engaging performances.

• Brigadoon. Directed by Michele Colvin. Presented by Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville. Brigadoon could well be one of the closest-to-sheer-perfection musical theater experiences I've ever had, beautifully played and exquisitely staged, performed by a phenomenally gifted cast led by the multi-talented Britt Hancock (who sings, act and dances with vigorous conviction) as Tommy Albright. If you are a true lover of musical theater, you really must see it before Brigadoon once again disappears into the mist. While The Playhouse has always been a center of immense creativity nestled into the Tennessee hills, the level of expertise now found onstage there may well be the most impressive assemblage of talent we've ever seen. To say we were completely disarmed by the lushly produced and emotionally satisfying Brigadoon is a definite understatement. Lerner and Loewe's classic musical about the mythic Scottish hamlet that appears but once every 100 years is romantic and moving, directed and choreographed with skill and panache by Colvin who proves her mettle in every scene, every moment, every nuance expressed in this spectacularly produced work. Colvin's mastery is evident throughout the show in every possible way. And, quite possibly, Lerner and Loewe's sumptuous score may never have sounded better - nor, perhaps, has it ever been more expressively performed - than it does when played by The Playhouse orchestra, conducted confidently by music director Ron Murphy.

• Hello, Dolly! Directed by Matt Logan. Presented by Studio Tenn. Make no mistake about it: Nan Gurley and the role of the irascible, confounding Dolly Gallagher Levi were made for each other. Perhaps that's not what Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart had in mind when they created the legendary musical comedy, Hello, Dolly!, but it's clear after seeing the Studio Tenn staging of the big, brassy Broadway musical at Belmont's Troutt Theatre that Nan and Dolly are a match made in heaven. With an imaginative staging and details-oriented direction by Matt Logan, with the superb musical direction of Nathan Burbank and the spirited choreography of Ashley Anderson McCarthy (who does double duty as "Minnie Fay" in the cast - and has never looked lovelier onstage), Studio Tenn's first official season kicks off in high style with this charming production that is as colorful and heartwarming as any we've seen. The musical's two biggest ensemble numbers are presented in a wonderfully kaleidoscopic style, filled with color and movement, and performed gloriously by this capable ensemble. Certainly, you would be hard-pressed to find a better version of "Hello, Dolly" (which features a nice moment between Gurley and music director Burbank) and my personal favorite - "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" - is presented with the right blend of theatricality and a genuine joie de vivre that is infectious.

• Into the Woods. Directed by Tom Thayer. Presented by The Roxy Regional Theatre, Clarksville. As affecting and engaging as it has ever been, Stephen Sondheim's exquisitely off-kilter and melodiously rapturous musical Into the Woods is given a sumptuously mounted and expertly acted production by Clarksville's Roxy Regional Theatre, delighting audiences with its view of what life is really like "happily ever after." Some 25 years after its Broadway debut, Into the Woods retains its powerful storytelling technique, made all the more memorable by Sondheim's beautiful score, and presents a plethora of characters from childhood storybooks in a way that remains contemporary and compelling. With Thayer's strong direction and artistic vision, this production soars, taking audiences along for an imaginative and creative journey. Sondheim's lush and wondrous score, which so easily evokes the nature and scope of "fairytales," remains one of the musical theater's best-loved compositions. Act One's opening number is joyously hopeful, while "Hello, Little Girl" is deliciously ribald and disingenuously sexy, while "Agony" is melodramatic and amusingly droll. And the score's two big ballads, "No One Is Alone" and "Children Will Listen" are moving and emotional tributes to the human spirit, performed here with conviction by the talented players assembled onstage.

• john and jen. Directed by Martha Wilkinson. Presented by 3PS Productions. There may be actors who could give better performances as john and jen than Patrick Waller and Martha Wilkinson but they would have to be some sort of imaginary, dream-like apparitions to even come close to the stunningly brave and thoroughly focused interpretations given by these two exemplary Nashville artists. Consider it an ideal marriage of actors and characters, the perfect confluence of artists at their creative best coming together to breathe life and renewed vitality into their fictional counterparts, who are so richly drawn and evocatively written by Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald in their chamber musical. Lippa and Greenwald's work is almost completely sung-through, which is challenging for any actor/singer, but the characters they have written render john and jen even more challenging for actors taking up the roles. Those characters are so masterfully crafted that they almost instantly find their way into the audience's collective heart, developing a bond that makes the play's action all the more compelling and affecting. In the wrong hands, the result could be stultifyingly dull and plodding. Waller and Wilkinson - lauded by critics, adored by audiences and respected by their peers - take an artistic leap of faith in the challenging two-act musical during which they tell the stories of John and Jen Tracy, siblings separated by the six years of their births yet drawn together in a lifelong struggle to survive their hellish, abusive father and to come to terms with the differences that pull them apart and the abiding love and devotion that binds them together forever.

• Nine. Directed by Corbin Green. Presented by Boiler Room Theatre, Franklin. Ciaran McCarthy gives such a stunningly raw and beautifully nuanced performance as film director Guido Contini in Boiler Room Theatre's production of Nine that it would be easy to lavish praise on him and leave it at that. But he is surrounded by a cast of women (and one very talented young man) who are wonderfully cast and who deliver performances that match McCarthy's in intensity and artistry. Ignore the urge to rent the DVD of the recent, misguided film version of the Arthur Kopit/Maury Yeston musical; you will be disappointed and while you will likely come away with renewed respect for the talented Penelope Cruz, you won't have the enriching, invigorating and provocative experience you are guaranteed by McCarthy and company, under the expert direction of Corbin Green, musical director Jamey Green and choreographer Lauri Gregoire. Boiler Room's superb production is artfully and creatively brought to life by the talented cast who bring Green's artistic vision so compellingly to the stage, telling the story of Guido's slow descent into despair and madness with a vigorous grace that is somehow unexpected, but is so genuinely expressed. The Kopit/Yeston musical remains somewhat uncomfortable and off-putting as it delves into Guido's psyche and the impact of all the women in his life, but it also inspires and enlightens the audience with its depiction of an artist's obsession with beauty and perfection and the dangers of rampant success come too early in an artist's creative career. Yeston's music, which certainly works best in the context of the play, is beautiful and melodic nonetheless and is almost operatic in its dramatic import (which is completely appropriate in its telling a story of an Italian artist) and its ability to propel the play's fast-paced action. Jamey Green and his accomplished band of musicians present Yeston's score with ease.

• Rent. Directed by Corbin Green. Presented by Boiler Room Theatre, Franklin. With a trio of powerful leading performances from Ben Van Diepen, Ciaran McCarthy and Laura Matula, the Boiler Room Theatre production of Jonathan Larson's Pultizer Prize-winning Rent may well be the finest interpretation of the groundbreaking musical we've ever seen. Certainly, we've never seen a more passionate or more engaging mounting of Rent and the cast assembled by director Green deserve every accolade possible for the obviously heartfelt rendering they give Larson's work.Green's overall artistic vision for the piece - given the strong underpinnings of Jamey Green's expert musical direction, Lauri Gregoire's evocative choreography and Melissa Cannon's pitch-perfect costume design - breathes new and vibrant life into Rent, which in lesser hands could be dated and maudlin. But in this production, the cast and crew effectively skirt stereotype, refusing to take the easy way out and, in turn, deliver a Rent that resonates vividly for the new millennium. The ensemble of performers bringing Rent to life night after night in the intimate confines of the Boiler Room Theatre is uniformly impressive and thoroughly committed to their jobs. While Van Diepen, McCarthy and Matula, as the play's three leads, deliver stunningly real and altogether fresh readings of their characters, all of the musical's roles are played at the same high level of confident theatricality, the larger-than-life moments kept real by the integrity of a cast determined to do more than simply recite lines or mimic a cast album. Instead, they present a unique visceral interpretation of Larson's seminal work which illuminates that certain period of time in which the play takes place and enlightens audience members with its intensely felt retelling.

• She Loves Me. Directed by Michele Colvin. Presented by Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville. Forget the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or schlepping to the mall to shop 'til you drop on Black Friday, the best - and definitely the most joyous - way to welcome the holiday season is Cumberland County Playhouse's gloriously rapturous production of She Loves Me, the lovely and lyrical musical from Joe Masteroff, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. Based on Hungarian playwright Miklos Lazlo's Parfumerie, She Loves Me is, for most musical theater aficionados, one of those infrequently-produced gems exemplified by much-played cast albums and countless hours of discussion. Thus, when you happen upon a production of it, it's as if you've stumbled upon hidden treasure - and you simply cannot keep it secret. You want to tell everyone you know, stop strangers on the street, sing it to the world: She Loves Me is onstage! Certainly, that's the case with this artfully realized production that so expressively captures the work's romantic themes, transporting you to a world only previously imagined. Given a sumptuous mounting in The Playhouse's Adventure Theater, She Loves Me is brought to life through Ron Murphy's focused music direction, Leila Nelson's winning choreography and Michele Colvin's expert direction and the casting of some of the company's best-loved and most-talented actors. If there's a better way to celebrate the season than this splendidly written and sublimely performed musical, I can't imagine what it would be. It's like finding the most beautifully wrapped package (featuring set design by John Partyka, costume design by Rebel Mickelson and lighting design by Emily Becher-McKeever) under the tree contains the most perfect gift possible.

• Titanic. Directed by Tim Larson. Presented by The Keeton Theatre and Circle Players. You have to hand it to Tim Larson: The man obviously knows no fear. As the director of Titanic, the Musical, he has assembled a cast of thousands, overcome a multitude of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and has persevered to deliver to the stage nothing short of a miracle: An altogether moving and totally involving production of the Maury Yeston-Peter Stone Tony Award-winning musical - replete with a sinking ship - amid the intimate confines of the Senior Center for the Arts' theatre in Donelson. Who'd have ever thought a community theatre could take on such a daunting task and be so imminently successful in doing so? Frankly, it boggles the mind. Larson, in tandem again with choreographer Kate Adams-Johnson, has beautifully staged the musical, capturing all the spirit and pathos of the actual Titanic story, while giving an artfully conceived mounting of the musical. With John Kennerly's music direction and the expert interpretation of Yeston's score by his four-person band, it is a triumph any theatre company would be proud to claim. But that it comes from Middle Tennessee's oldest community theatre company only makes it more completely satisfying. Designer Jim Manning - and Brad Kamer for his set design - should be applauded for figuring out how to construct a ship that sinks on the tiny stage at SCA. Clearly, this isn't Broadway and the budget is no where near the millions of dollars spent for the mainstem production of the musical, but if you are willing to suspend disbelief and to allow yourself to revel in the musical's richly told (and beautifully sung) story, you cannot help but be swept up in the emotions of the piece.

• The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Directed by Lauren Shouse. Presented by Street Theatre Company. If not for a bad case of M-E-N-I-N-G-I-T-I-S, my life would be completely different. You see, it was my misspelling of that particular word in 1971 that led me down the path of decadence, debauchery and depravity that I have lived since. Because I, like spelling wunderkind Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre in The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, "overcomplicated" the spelling to a bastardized M-E-N-Y-N-G-I-T-I-S, and finished second to that closet queen David Beck. Thanks to Street Theatre Company's stellar production of the William Finn-Rachel Sheinkin-Rebecca Feldman musical comedy, I'll be wallowing in self-pity until I find better ways to occupy my time and better memories to fill my mind . But for now I am happy to reflect on the joyous and frivolous fun that is director Lauren Shouse's superb and sparkling staging of the musical that somehow manages to be both completely contemporary and gloriously traditional in a musical-comedy-sort-of-way. Shouse's exceptional cast of actors, accompanied by music director Rollie Mains' talented musicians and featuring the sprightly choreography of Paul Cook, are sheer perfection as The Bee's crew of over-achieving - sometimes cringeworthy, yet always lovable - middle school spelling phenoms. You'd be hard-pressed to experience a more satisfying night at the theatre. An affectionate evocation of the trials and tribulations of adolescence,The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fast-paced pastiche of comic scenes and drolly amusing drama created by Sheinkin (based on Feldman's original improv comedy tale of pre-teens taking part in a spelling bee) , all set to Finn's fine musical score.

Pictured: Britt Hancock and Lindy Pendzick in Brigadooon