Nashville theatre's top performances of '09: The Ensembles

If, indeed, "it takes a village," and if, as the poets say, "no man is an island," then perhaps no art form is more collaborative than live theatre. With a village of artists backstage and offstage assuring that each production is mounted, then coming to life during each performance, the collaborative effort is renewed. And what audiences see onstage is the collaboration of artists, the people who comprise the acting ensemble, the folks who bring the stagebound script to life, sending it soaring into our imaginations.

During 2009, as Nashville theatre companies stretched themselves further, challenging audiences, casts and crews, there were some ensembles whose work stood out from the rest. Those casts, and their productions, make up our list for Nashville Theatre's Top Performances of '09: The Ensembles...

• A Christmas Story. Directed by Rene Dunshee Copeland. Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Starring Samuel Whited, Jeff Boyet, Jamie Farmer, Andrew Kanies, Eric D. Pasto-Crosby, David Wilkerson and Shane Bridges. Tennessee Rep's A Christmas Story may be as good as it gets this holiday season. Wrapped up in a spectacularly designed package by Gary Hoff and featuring the cleverly imaginative direction of Rene Dunshee Copeland, it's the one Christmas gift you owe yourself this year. And it's a surefire way to lift your spirits and make you forget all the bad news that inundates your everyday life.Phillip Grecian's theatre script artfully includes all of the movie's highlights, all of those moments you know by heart and all of the minutiae that has made A Christmas Story a favorite for years. Based upon the wonderfully wry and witty writings of that quintessentially middle-American of mid-century essayists, Jean Shepherd (caught so vividly on film, thanks to Leigh Brown and Bob Clark), the play is not necessarily a slavish re-creation of the film, but rather an affectionate and certainly heartfelt homage.Copeland's skilled hand is seen in every moment onstage, her practiced eye focusing on the smallest of details and her wealth of theatrical experience felt keenly in the superb ensemble performance of her merry band of seven, altogether charming and talented, actors. With Hoff's beautifully crafted and colorful set providing the ideal backdrop for the play's action - and bringing to life in TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre, the environs of Hohlman, Indiana, circa 1940 - this production delightfully embraces the sentimentality of the season while injecting with humor, verve and nostalgia.

• Dead Man's Cell Phone. Directed by Bill Feehely. Actors' Bridge Ensemble. Starring Brooke Bryant, Paul Gatrell, Judy Jackson, Kurt Schlachter, Cynthia Tucker and Alice Raver. In veteran director Bill Feehely's production, Sarah Ruhl's comedy is both gentle and provocative, unyielding in its indictment of our society's dependence on cell phones and the accompanying loss of personal interaction. Feehely guides his actors, all of whom are uniformly well-cast, with care, remaining faithful to the playwright while giving The Players an opportunity to excel at their jobs. Brooke Bryant confidently plays Jean with a blend of naivete and worldliness (as the plot thickens, as it were) and exudes a warmth and compassion that is well-balanced by her comic timing and assured delivery. Thanks to an otherworldly visit from Gordon - Paul Gatrell, in a deft performance that blends snarkiness and charm to great advantage - we learn the truth about his life and his somewhat lurid shortcomings. Gatrell and Bryant play well off each other, displaying the essential chemistry which make their relationship, despite the lack of one, seem real despite its surreal trappings.Judy Jackson is funny as Mrs. Gottlieb, Gordon's haughty and salty-tongued mother, delivering some the script's best lines. Kurt Schlachter is fine as Gordon's nebbishy younger brother Dwight (so named because his mother felt the name "Dwight" was getting short shrift), and his budding romance with Jean is sweetly conveyed. Cynthia Tucker, as Gordon's vampishly blond mistress, is delightfully entertaining with her cartoonish Boris-and-Natasha accent and her character's musings on what makes a woman a woman. And, finally, Alice Raver is a delicious revelation as Gordon's shrewish wife, Hermia. Raver displays a gifted hand at comedy, her jarringly hard-edged accent very consistent, and her command of the role impressive.

• Eat the Runt. Directed by A. Sean O'Connell. GroundWorks Theatre. Starring Cee Anthony, Marc Mazzone, Lisa Marie Wright, Frank Preston, Adele Akin, Reischa Feuerbacher and Lily Palmer. Avery Crozier's play manages to be both intellectual and entertaining without a hint of condescension or superiority. Thanks to veteran director A. Sean O'Connell's sure-handed mounting of the work and her exceptionally well-cast ensemble, the absurdly comic tale is altogether believable and relatable. Eat the Runt provides an evening of richly compelling theatre on all levels. Somehow Crozier manages to cut a wide swath through contemporary societal manners and mores, touching on such heretofore incendiary (not to mention timely) topics as religion, politics, racism, sexism and white supremacy. He very deftly handles his task, crafting a comedy that is sure to provoke thought while providing a healthy dose of raucous laughter. O'Connell's cast might well deliver the season's best ensemble performance. Clearly, it's the best we've seen thus far, featuring some new faces along with some of Nashville theatre's best-loved veteran actors, including Adele Akin, Reischa Feuerbacher, Cee Anthony, Marc Mazzone, Lily Palmer, Frank Preston and Lisa Marie Wright. Each of the actors is given an opportunity to shine onstage in Crozier's cleverly written script and they each take up the challenge with confidence. Simply put, there isn't a false moment to be found during the seemingly short two-act comedy.

• Filthy Rich. Directed by David Compton. Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. Starring Erin Parker, Layne Sasser, Nate Eppler and J. Dietz Osborne. Eppler's richly textured script might best be described as a send-up of Anastasia meets Grey Gardens, with some Sleeping Beauty, Annie, You Can't Take it With You and The Grifters (plus an affectionate nod to Fiddler on the Roof) thrown in for good measure, all presented in a farcical manner that works on every level. Kudos to director David Compton for keeping things moving at a good clip and coaxing some stellar performances from his cast of gifted players. Eppler's script tells the outlandish tale of Anna Roman and her daughter, Annie (the Big Edie and Little Edie of Filthy Rich), and a pair of inept grifters named Frederick and Larry who turn up at their dilapidated Hamptons estate in search of a fortune and instead find two wacky women hiding out from the Bolsheviks and some "chizz-eating rats." Eppler's unerring ear for dialogue results in anything but the typical. The script is full of lines that will leave you laughing out loud and there are enough twists and turns on the way to the play's denouement that you will find some delightful surprises along the way. And when voiced by Compton's crackerjack cast of exceptional actors, you can't help but love this show!

• See How They Run. Directed by Charles Burr. Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. Starring Nate Eppler, Stefani Paige, Tammie Whited, J. Dietz Osborne, Lane Wright, Eric Tichenor, Flynt Foster, Erin Parker and Derek Whittaker. Phillip King's See How They Run is classic British farce at its best - complete with mistaken identities, hilarious hijinks and at least four collar-wearing wannabe vicars - and it's given a top-notch production by Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, under the confident lead of director Charles Burr and his exceptional cast. With Burr's expertly cast ensemble enacting the ridiculously absurd situations, you have a winning combination that will delight audiences. Nate Eppler is ideally cast as the vicar, once again displaying a comedic grace and versatility that is his stock in trade. If there is a Nashville actress who could look more like a '40s era pinup girl, we simply can't think of anyone more suited to the role than Stefani Paige, who gives a winsome performance that evokes images of every actress from that era that we can remember. J. Dietz Osborne, of course, is unparalleled in his portrayal of the worldly wise, almost caddish, but thoroughly charming, American actor turned soldier who ends up playing one of the wannabe vicars. TammieWhited is quite good as Ida, the vicarage's housekeeper. The very tall Lane Wright (why doesn't someone mount a revival of Arsenic and Old Lace for this towering actor?) is visually funny as the escaped Communist spy (talk about making some dated material work) and delivers his lines with a stilted, Boris and Natasha-inspired Russian accent. Eric Tichenor, as the visiting minister, gives a veritable tour de force comedic performance in his cameo role, making the most of his short time onstage to create a terrifically funny characterization. Flynt Foster is fine as Sgt. Towers and is confident enough to play his role somewhat buffoonish in order to garner the audience's approval and laughter. Derek Whittaker is superb as the visiting Bishop of Lax (who also happens to be Penelope's uncle), giving a outlandishly appealing take on the role, what with his blend of double-takes, pratfalls and the like. But my hat is off to Erin Parker who gives the evening's most inspired performance. You may find yourself looking twice at Parker and your program to prove to yourself that it is truly she who is hiding behind Miss Skillon's tweedy suit and sensible shoes (and rather large backside).

• Steel Magnolias. Directed by Rene Dunshee Copeland. Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Starring Mary Jane Harville, Marin Miller, Martha Wilkinson, Ruth Cordell, Brooke Bryant and Denice Hicks. Six of Nashville's finest actresses are conducting a master class of sorts at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center - the occasion is the opening production of Tennessee Repertory Theatre's 25^th anniversary season and the vehicle is Robert Harling's beloved Steel Magnolias, the now iconic tale of Southern women, their immeasurable strengths, their fiery grace and their unique brand of affectionate, sometimes biting, humor. Directed by Tennessee Rep's singularly accomplished producing artistic director Rene Dunshee Copeland, this fine production is so much more than a mere revival of the company's 1989 production, although it once again stars Mary Jane Harvill in the role of M'Lynn. Harvill is much better suited to the role now age-wise, and her life's experiences provide the necessary emotional heft and foundation for her character's emotional arc in the two-act play. Her Act Two monologue, in which she rails against God and the uncertainty of life in response to her daughter's untimely death, is particularly poignant and heart-rending. As Shelby, a character often played to maudlin excess, in a pitch-perfect performance Marin Miller plays her exquisitely. Her Shelby has the appropriate sharpness beneath the sweetness, thus providing a much-needed counterpoint that allows the character to be more relatable and, frankly, more believable. Copeland has cast four other superb actresses in the play and, quite honestly, I have a feeling that playwright Harling would have a hard time imagining any actress delivering his trademark quips and bon mots more effectively or more convincingly than Martha Wilkinson as Truvy. Entrusted with some of Harling's best one-liners and most memorable quotes that are now etched in our Southern lexicon (and every gay man's book of outrageous quotes), Wilkinson delivers the goods in her own heartbreakingly real way that is refreshingly free from stagy artifice. Cast as Clairee, the elegantly beautiful Ruth Cordell has an ease of delivery and a grace of movement that typifies the Southern matron in all her glory. Brooke Bryant's Annelle is the very picture of restraint, which saves the naïve character from becoming a cliché. But, clearly, if anyone in the cast threatens to steal the show from her capable castmates, it's Denice Hicks as the neighborhood harridan Ouiser Boudreaux, who can do it. One of the region's most respected stage actresses (and directors--she's also artistic director for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival), Hicks' performance is revelatory in its scope-a good thirty years younger than the character she plays, she becomes every Southern town's rich, eccentric, old lady whose harshly frank exterior belies her heart of gold. Hicks' confidence is extraordinary and while she does not (in any sense) steal focus from any of the other women onstage, she gives a master class in character acting that is not to be missed.

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Directed by Scot Copeland. Nashville Children's Theatre. Starring Patrick Waller, Peter Vann, Vanessa Callahan, Rona Carter, Patricia Taber, Jeff Boyet, Ross Brooks and Henry Haggard. Nashville Children's Theatre opens its 2009-2010 season in high style with its production of the Ken Ludwig-Don Schlitz musical, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. With the mischievously appealing Patrick Waller in the title role, backed up by an ensemble of some of the most talented actors to be found in Nashville, NCT's staging is far more successful than the Broadway version mounted in 2001, thanks in large part to the skillful editing that was necessary to create a more accessible work for younger audiences. Skillfully and knowingly directed by NCT's producing director Scot Copeland, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer tells Mark Twain's classic tale of young Tom, his best mate Huck Finn, his feisty girlfriend Becky Thatcher and all the other colorful characters to be found in St. Petersburg, Missouri, circa 1840. With music and lyrics by Don Schlitz, a member of Nashville's very own music royalty, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a tuneful, lyrical work, and Schlitz delivers a largely theatrical score. Paul Carrol Binkley's musical direction is spot on and his onstage musicians provide an exceptionally gifted musical underpinning to the onstage action. Waller's clear tenor and boyishly charming portrayal of young Tom Sawyer allow him to clearly stand out among the cast members. He sounds especially good on "Here's My Plan" as he relates Tom's efforts to gain the town's sympathy and adoration by running away, and his duet with Becky (winsomely played by the lovely Vanessa Callahan in her NCT debut) on "To Hear You Say My Name" is one of the show's musical highlights. In this adaptation, the ensemble of eight actors play the 20-plus characters found in the original script, and they each deliver remarkably restrained-and yet somehow larger than life-characterizations. Peter Vann is vividly warm, funny and clever as Huckleberry Finn, playing the perfect foil to Tom. Patricia Taber plays Tom's loving Aunt Polly, who as envisioned by Ludwig is both younger and sweeter than the book's original character. Taber's very earth-motheriness (if there is such a word) make her the perfect actress for the role; her "Angels Lost" is beautifully sung and is particularly moving. Jeff Boyet (playing Judge Thatcher, among other roles that include Tom's prissy brother Sid) is quite good, and he excels in his part of "Angels Lost," as well. Rona Carter is sweetly compelling as Widow Douglas and her onstage chemistry with Vann makes their duet of "I Can Read" especially memorable. Ross Brooks is superb as the broodingly scary Injun Joe and Henry Haggard plays a quartet of roles with seasoned aplomb. It's hard to imagine Copeland-or anyone for that matter-assembling a more skillful cast to bring this musical to life.

Erin Parker, J. Dietz Osborne, Nate Eppler and Layne Sasser in Filthy Rich at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre