Nashville's Theater Calendar 2/29/16

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Thus, we are happy to present one of our most popular features: The Nashville Theater Calendar, a comprehensive - maybe even exhaustive (lord knows we're exhausted from putting it together, gathering all the info from all over the interwebs!) - listing of theatrical openings for the 2015/16 season. We'll update the calendar every Monday, clearing out the shows that have closed and adding additional information on the shows still to come. Something's missing? That's an easy fix: just send us a message here, on Facebook, or by email at jeffreyellis37215@att.com.

Opened January 16

Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville: Church Basement Ladies, running through March 25. www.CCPlayhouse.com Opening in the Adventure Theater on January 16, Church Basement Ladies has been delighting audiences around the country for more than a decade with its lovable characters and pop music-riffing score. Based on the best-selling book Growing Up Lutheran, the Playhouse production of Church Basement Ladies features Carol Irvin, Weslie Webster, Patty Payne, Lindsey Mapes and Jason Ross. This celebration of the church basement kitchen and the women who work there highlights these four women and their relationships as they organize the food and the problems of a rural Minnesota church. From the elderly matriarch of the kitchen (Irvin) to the young bride-to-be learning the proper order of things (Mapes), these women handle a record breaking Christmas dinner, the funeral of a dear friend, a Hawaiian Easter Fundraiser, and a steaming hot July wedding. They stave off potential disasters, share and debate recipes, instruct the young, and keep the Pastor (Ross) on due course while thoroughly enjoying, (or at least tolerating) each other. Audiences will recognize these funny and down to earth Church Basement Ladies as they watch the church year unfold from below the House of God. Martha Wilkinson directs.

Opened February 6

Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville: Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, running through March 4. www.ccplayhouse.com Cumberland County Playhouse opens its annual youth/volunteer production, Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, telling the timeless story of the world-famous candy man and his quest to find an heir comes to life in this musical adaptation, with classic songs from the 1971 Oscar-nominated film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The stage musical includes the favorites "Pure Imagination" and "Candy Man," as well as new songs from Leslie Bricusse (the film's composer). The movie, adapted from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, became a cult classic and has gone on to become one of the most beloved titles in the history of children's cinema.Appearing in the title role of Wonka is Malachi Banegas (The Wizard of Oz, The Perils of Pinocchio). Sharing the spotlight with him are five young performers, including David Kappel, who plays the young protagonist Charlie Bucket. Charlie's overstuffed household (two parents, four grandparents, and one bed) is played by an septet of Playhouse volunteer veterans and newcomers alike. Chris Obenberger and Bill Macchio play Grandpa Joe, who leaves his bed to accompany Charlie through the factory. Charlie's live-in grandparents are portrayed by Alysa Medina (Grandma Josephine), Bob Ochsenrider (Grandpa George), andRuth Ochsenrider (Grandma Georgina). Charlie's hard-working parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket, are played by John and Brittany Goodwin. Joining Charlie in his quest through Wonka's factory is a quartet of children who personify excess at its worst. Braxdon King stars as the gluttonous Augustus Gloop, Ellie Burnett as the materialistic Veruca Salt, Emery Smith as gum chewing Violet Beauregard and Levi Bailey as technology obsessed Mike Teavee. The Willy Wonka creative team includes choreographer Leila Nelson and music director Ron Murphy, along with digital effects and animations by John Fionte and Tina Campbell, who created the projections for The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins and The Perils of Pinocchio. Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka will run through March 4; tickets may be obtained by calling (931) 484-5000 or by visiting www.ccplayhouse.com.

Opened February 11

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, 8204 Highway 100, Nashville: Funny Valentines, running through March 13 www.dinnertheatre.com Martha Wilkinson directs Brett Cantrell, Audrey Johnson, Jenny Norris-Light, Jeremy Maxwell and Lydia Bushfield in Funny Valentines - the latest offering from Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - which opened February 11 and continues at the iconic Nashville dinner theater through March 12. In Funny Valentines, children's book author Andy Robbins has been an unhappy bachelor since his divorce eight months before from his former collaborator, Ellen. On one incredible day, Ellen re-enters his life eight months pregnant; his agent arrives with a TV contract that needs both Andy's and Ellen's approval, a beautiful lawyer appears to wrap up the TV deal and seduce Andy, and Ellen's mother makes an unexpected appearance. Completely rattled, Andy lies and introduces the lawyer as his agent's fiancée while he tries to get Ellen to sign a contract she opposes. By the final curtain, Andy has grown up just enough to straighten out the mess and win back his wife. This romantic comedy is directed by Chaffin's Barn artistic director Martha Wilkinson, who has been a CBDT mainstay for almost 30 years and has directed and performed in numerous productions at the Barn (which this year celebrates its 50th season) and throughout the region.

Opened February 18

The Larry Keeton Theatre, Donelson/Nashville: Sunset Boulevard, running through March 5 www.thelarrykeetontheatre.org "I'm ready for my close-up." Unforgettable words from an iconic movie turned into a celebrated musical. The Larry Keeton Theatre will present the Middle Tennessee debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award winning musical Sunset Boulevard, starring Ginger Newman in the unforgettable role of Norma Desmond. "Sunset Boulevard" will open February 18, and run through March 5. Also starring in the production are Justin Boyd as Joe Gillis, Tonya Pewitt as Betty, and Randall Cooper as Max. Directed by Clay Hillwig, and produced by Jamie London and Larry Keeton with Newman pulling double-duty as Desmond and as musical director. Based on the 1952 Billy Wilder film the musical is set in Hollywood, 1949. Faded star of the silent screen, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world of the past in her decaying mansion on Sunset Boulevard. Down-on-his-luck screenwriter, handsome, Joe Gillis, has a chance encounter with Norma; where she speak to him of her next big comeback project. Broke and desperate for opportunity, he accepts an off to edit her 'masterpiece' in exchange for room and board. Joe soon finds himself living a luxurious life-style lavished with expensive gifts from Norma. Aging Norma falls in love with young Joe, and he soon discovers himself caught between her claustrophobic and reclusive fantasy world and the outside world with his love, beautiful Betty Schaefer. One fatal night Joe attempts to break free of Norma to be with Betty. Devastated and in a fit of shock and rage, Norma shoots Joe as he struggles to leave. Descending into madness Norma, the once Goddess of the Silent Films, is led away by authorities from her home on Sunset Boulevard.

Opened February 19

Tennessee Women's Theater Project, Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, Nashville: Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, running through March 6 www.twtp.org Evelyn O'Neal Brush stars in the title role of Lauren Gunderson's Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, as Tennessee Women's Theater Project continues its ninth season of provocative professional theater with the Tennessee première of Gunderson's play. Gunderson's play - her second work to be staged this season by TWTP, after last fall's The Taming - is based on the real life story of Emilie du Châtelet, a scientific genius of 18th century France. Women of her era were considered too simple-minded to understand mathematics or physics, but Emilie produced work ranging from a groundbreaking paper on the nature of fire (the first by a woman ever published by the Paris Academy), to a celebrated and still-used translation and commentary on Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica. She was married to a nobleman of the court of Louis XV, and took a series of lovers, including the writer and philosopher Voltaire. In the play, Emilie is returned from the afterlife to recount and defend her life. With an ensemble of four actors, she replays her interactions with family, colleagues and lovers, and examines her unanswered questions about science and philosophy, life and love.

Opened February 25

Nashville Children's Theatre, Nashville: Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, running through March 13 www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org December 1, 1955, Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks, a black woman, refuses to surrender her seat on a public bus to a white man. Her arrest proved to be a tipping point in American history, inspiring Montgomery's African-American citizens to organize in non-violent protest under the leadership of a new young pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association staged a 13-month boycott of Montgomery's public transit system that resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down segregation on public buses as unconstitutional.

Opening March 3

Hume-Fogg Academic High School Theatre, Nashville: In The Heights, running through March 5. www.hfatheatre.com In The Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood - a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. In The Heights is written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, star and creator of the Broadway hit Hamilton. Reserved seats are $13 available and are available online www.hfatheatre.com; General Admission: $10 Adults, $5 Students.

Opening March 4

ACT 1, at Darkhorse Theatre, Nashville: Lysistrata, running through March 19. www.ACT1Online.com Bradley Moore directs an updated version of the classic play by Aristophanes. When a brave group of women decide to stand up for peace, they find a powerful, yet unlikely strategy to get their own way. They tell their men the sex stops unless they stop fighting. Lysistrata by Aristophanes has been given a modern twist and dropped into a modern-day woman's prison in ACT 1's bold new take on this classic. Adapted by director Bradley Moore, this version focuses on a group of women in confinement who are fighting for their basic rights & privileges,which have been all but revoked by the Athens Prison authorities while a great territorial war is being fought on the outside. When the free women of the town catch wind of Lysistrata's plan to regain peace on the inside, they join in the crusade by withholding sex themselves to demand peace on the outside. With hugely comedic elements of physical theatre and exaggerated characters, this off-beat adaptation is a vibrant take on an Ancient Greek classic - and not a toga in sight.

Street Theatre Company, at Bailey Middle School, Nashville: In The Heights, running through March 20. www.streettheatrecompany.org Nashville's Street Theatre Company launches its 11th season with Lin Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning In The Heights, the smash musical that took Broadway by storm and paved the way for Miranda's new Broadway blockbuster Hamilton. Directed by STC founding artistic director Cathy Sanborn Street, In The Heights will be her farewell production in Nashville as she and her husband, JJ Street move to Wilmington, North Carolina in March. Widely performed throughout the United States, Central and South America - and in London's West End - In The Heights tells the timeless story of a vibrant Latin-American community living in the New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood. The musical fuses the classic styles of musical theater showtunes with hip-hop and Latin rhythms to tell the heart-warming and universal story of family and belonging. In The Heights is onstage at Street Theatre Company's current home - Bailey Middle School in East Nashville - March 9-20. Curtain is at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday shows at 5 p.m., along with one 2 p.m matinee performance on Saturday, March 12. Tickets are $20 for adults and $16 for students and seniors, and are available by contacting the Box Office at (615) 554-7414. All tickets are pay-what-you-can on Sundays.

Lakewood Theatre, Old Hickory: All My Sons, running through March 20. www.ticketsnashville.com Michael Rex directs a cast of veteran actors and newcomers in Lakewood Theatre Company's upcoming production of Arthur Miller's acclaimed All My Sons. Written in 1947 - and inspired by events of World War II and the true-life story of a woman who alerted authorities to her father's wartime wrong-doing - All My Sons focuses on the story of a businessman who once narrowly avoided financial ruin by shipping cracked machine parts to the military. He blames his business partner and builds an empire, but eventually his crime comes back to haunt him in Miller's riveting play, which is now considered a modern American classic. Rex's cast includes: Doug Allen as Joe Keller; Kathleen Jaffe as Kate Keller; Ben Gregory as Chris Keller; Andrea Coleman as Ann Deever; Daryl Ritchie as George Deever; Ron Veasey as Dr. Jim Bayless; Andrea Crowe as Sue Bayless; Zach Parker as Frank Lubby; Adrienne Hentschel as Lydia Lubby; and Chloe McKanna as Betina. All My Sons runs March 4-20, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. For reservations, call (615) 847-0934, or tickets may be purchased online at www.ticketsnashville.com. Lakewood Theatre is located at 2211 Old Hickory Boulevard. Season passes are available now.

Towne Centre Theatre, Brentwood: Murder's in the Heir, running through March 19. www.townecentretheatre.tix.com Turn the game Clue into a play and you have the masterfully entertaining Murder's in the Heir. Simon Starkweather, the tyrannical billionaire, gathers his family and employees to announce the contents of his will. His lawyer, reveals that he has bequeathed vast fortunes to a few odd relatives and his servants. The rejected heirs are not pleased and roam the old mansion carrying such items as an ax, a gun and poison. When Simon is discovered murdered, his grandson is determined to find his grandfather's killer. Almost every character in this hilarious mystery has the weapon, opportunity and motive to commit the unseen murder, and it will be up to the audience to decide who actually did it! Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by calling (615) 221-1174 or online at www.townecentretheatre.tix.com. Show times are 8 p.m. for evening performances and 2:30 p.m. for Sunday. Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain. Tickets are $16 for students, $18 for seniors 60 and over, and $20 for adults. Purchase a specially priced Thursday 4-pack of tickets online and get four tickets for only $60; available online only. Group rates are also available. Towne Centre Theatre is located at 136 Frierson Street in Brentwood.

Monday, March 7

Playhouse Nashville at First Amendment Center, Nashville: Staged Reading of Strong Inside, starring David Chattam. Adapted from the award-winning book by Andrew Maraniss, STRONG INSIDE is a new play detailing the journey of Perry Wallace - the Nashville native who broke the color barrier as the first African-American basketball player in the Southeastern Conference at Vanderbilt from 1966-1970. Actor David Chattam portrays Wallace and other influential figures who left their indelible mark on the turbulent times in unforgettable ways in a script currently under development by Playhouse Nashville. Admission is free and begins with a reception from 6:30 to 7 p.m. prior to the reading. A talkback with the creative team immediately follows the reading.

Opening March 9

Broadway at TPAC, Nashville: The Phantom of the Opera, running through March 20 www.tpac.org

March 9 and 16

ACT 1, at Darkhorse Theater, Nashville: ACT 1 One Act Wednesdays ACT 1 One Act Wednesdays are back again, with performances on March 9 and 16 at Nashville's Darkhorse Theater, with curtain at 7:30 p.m. Among offerings this month are Christopher Durang's The Actor's Nightmare, a short comic play directed by Kristin Parsons. It involves an accountant named George Spelvin, who is mistaken for an actor's understudy and forced to perform in a play for which he doesn't know any of the lines. Patrick Kramer stars as George, with Bethany Champion as Meg, Tammy Sutherland as Sarah, Jenni Cadaret as Ellen and Douglas Goodman as Henry. Gray Matter, written by Jeanette Farr and directed by Ron Veasey, takes a look at what can happen when we get call out on our prejudices. The play features veteran actor Adele Akin and TSU student and actor Stewart Romeo, who show us that people are not always what they seem. Finally, ACT 1 welcomes local playwright Kenley Smith directing his-one act play, Resolve to Die a Nameless Death, featuring Pat Riley as Sean, Christopher Bosen as Larry, K.C. Bragg as Moe and Emily Eytchison as Tim. Tickets are $5 cash at the door - and if you bring your One Act program to ACT 1's production of Lysistrata, running March 4-19, Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. at the Darkhorse - you get $5 off your regular priced ticket.

Opening March 10

Robertson County Players, at Springfield High School Theatre, Springfield: The Man Who Came to Dinner, running through March 19. " Sarah Head directs and Ronny Noles produces Moss Hart and George S Kaufman's comic masterpiece. Performances March 10, 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19 at 7 p.m. each evening, with a special Saturday matinee on March 12 at 2 p.m.

Opening March 11

Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury: Memphis the Musical, running through March 26 www.artscenterofcc.com 2015 First Night Honoree Darryl Deason directs a cast that includes Micahel Adcock and Melinda Paul in the Tony Award-winning musical that evocatively captures the feeling of the music scene and life in Tennessee's Bluff City. . Memphis: The Musical runs March 11-26, featuring choreography by Regina Wilkerson Ward, with music direction by Robert Hiers. Memphis is set in the places where rock and roll was born in the 1950s: the seedy nightclubs, radio stations, and recording studios of the musically-rich Tennessee city. With an original score, it tells the fictional story of DJ Huey Calhoun, a good ol' local boy with a passion for R&B music and Felicia Farrell, an up-and-coming black singer that he meets one fateful night on Beale Street. Despite the objections of their loved ones (Huey's closeD-minded mama and Felicia's cautious brother, a club owner), they embark on a dangerous affair. As their careers rise, the relationship is challenged by personal ambition and the pressures of an outside world unable to accept their love. Performances run March 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. and on March 13 and 20 at 2 p.m. In addition to the two leading players, the cast includes Michael McGee, Jordan McCullough, Quantavius Rankin, Susan Arnold Walsworth, Bill White, Zavior Phillips, Laurie Burger, Sam Wright, Shayna Brown, Maryam Mohammed, Julie Kelley, Eli Ragland, James Bessant, Tim Kelley, Kristin Taylor, Mckenzie Turney, Zoe Mulraine, Toyin Edogun, Mary Grace Bouldin and Alexander Sanford. Tickets are $15 with discounts available for students and seniors and can be purchased by calling (615) 563-2787 Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., or online at www.artscenterofcc.com and (subject to availability) at the door one hour prior to show time.

The Theater Bug, Nashville: Showmance, presented by Studio Tenn, running through March 13 www.thetheaterbug.org Great fun for audiences of all ages, Showmance is an original musical written specifically for child actors by The Theater Bug's director and founder, Cori Anne Laemmel. The production will feature an all-youth cast of approximately 40 children. Performances will be held in Jamison Hall inside the Factory at Franklin.

Opening March 18

Bongo After-Hours Theatre, Nashville: Somewhere Between - Cidny Williams' "one wo/man show" opens at Nashville's Bongo After Hours Theatre on March 18. Produced by Ken Bernstein, the Grammy-nominated musician's autobiographical show lifts the veil on love, death and gender through storytelling and song. Somewhere Between is an autobiographical solo show written and performed by Cidny Bullens, directed by Tanya Taylor Rubinstein and produced by Bernstein. Somewhere Between is described as a multimedia theatrical production with live performances of songs past and present. Cidny Bullens' Somewhere Between is a personal, poignant and powerful story of perseverance, tragedy, triumph - and ultimately unconditional love. With a unique perspective on life, Bullens tells his story in an intimate setting with a guitar, images and a healthy sense of humor, and will be performed at Bongo After Hours Theatre over two weekends, with shows on Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19, and March 25 and 26.

Circle Players, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, Nashville: Children of Eden, running through April 3. www.circleplayers.net Joshua Waldrep directs this epic, heartfelt musical by Stephen Schwartz, based on the story of Genesis and its age-old conflict between parents and children.

Valley Regional Theater, at Billy S. Hobbs Community Center, White House: The Phantom of the Opera, running through March 19. www.valleyregionaltheater.com The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, adapted for stage by Tracy Wells, with music by Donizetti, Mozart, Puccini and Gounod. Performance dates are Friday March 18 at 7 p.m. and Saturday March 19 at 2 and 7 p.m. Matinee tickets are $10 and evening performances are $15.00 Reservations can be made by calling (615) 334-6127. Due to loud unexpected noises and scenes of violence, this show is not recommended for small children.

Opening March 19

Nashville Rep at TPAC's Johnson Theatre: Chicago, running through April 16 www.nashvillerep.org Chorus girl Roxie Hart tried to pin the murder of her lover on her unwitting husband, but the jig is up and Roxie has landed in Cook County Jail. Jazz star and accused murderer Velma Kelly is less than pleased to see Roxie on her cell block, since Roxie's sensational crime and feigned innocence capture the attention of the public as well as Velma's hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn. This Tony Award-winning satire whisks you into a world where everyone is a dazzling performer, truth is defined by what gets the most attention, and owning the spotlight is the most important thing. Nashville Rep's cast for Chicago stars Martha Wilkinson (Roxie), Corrie Maxwell (Velma), and Geoff Davin (Billy). Additional cast includes Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva (Matron "Mama" Morton), Shawn Knight (Amos/Ensemble), and J. London (Mary Sunshine). Ensemble members include DeVon Buchanan, Wesley Carpenter, Jess Darnell, Billy Ditty, Rosemary Fossee, Mia Rose Lynne, Neely Scott, and Everett Tarlton. Tickets are $25 for previews and start at $50 for regular run. Cabaret tables close to the stage seat four and begin at $60 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at nashvillerep.org or by calling the Box Office at (615) 782-4040. Preview performances of Chicago are March 17 and 18, and opening night is Saturday, March 19.

Opening March 21

Chicago Talking Machine Company, at Centennial Black Box Theatre, Nashville: The Strange, running through March 26. www.chicagotalkingmachine.com Kristin McCalley Landis and Tamara Todres star in the Nashville premiere of Jenny Magnus' The Strange, produced by The Chicago Talking Machine Company at the Centennial Black Box Theater, 211 27th Avenue North, March 21-26. Tickets for The Strange are now available at www.thestrange.brownpapertickets.com. Nashville-based playwright Nate Eppler (whose critically acclaimed Good Monsters is now in its world premiere production by Nashville Repertory Theatre) will lead a conversation with Jenny Magnus following the March 25 performance. In Magnus' play, a woman and a girl meet by chance late one night. They candidly trade truths and tales and try to figure each other out. Over time, they meet twice more in the same room and wonder if their first meeting changed each other. The Strange asks if one person can ever truly influence another, and if we have any control over how others absorb the things that we share with them. The Chicago Talking Machine Company is a music, theatre and film production company. Founded in Chicago in 2009, it is now based in Nashville. To learn more, go to www.chicagotalkingmachine.com.

March 31

Kevin Thornton Presents: The Quest for Cupcake: A One Woman Show, at Bongo After-Hours Theatre, Nashville. www.cupcakehawthorne.com The Quest for Cupcake: A One Woman Show is the latest stage incarnation of writer-musician-actor-performer Kevin Thornton, a presentation that he describes as a "new comedy show in drag" will be performed at Nashville's Bongo After Hours Theatre on Thursday, March 31. Curtain's at 8 p.m. for the acclaimed performer's newest onstage effort. Unlike his other artistic ventures, for this show Thornton is in full drag makeup. "It's a character I've developed named Cupcake Hawthorne," he explains. "It's super weird for sure. Very influenced by Pee Wee's Playhouse and Divine." Tickets are $10 in advance/$15 at the door for The Quest for Cupcake: A One Woman Show at Bongo After Hours, 2007 Belmont Boulevard, in Nashville. Tickets are available at www.cupcakehawthorne.com.

Opening March 31

Tennessee State University Theatre and the TSU Music Program, Nashville, at TSU's Performing Arts Center's Lewis Theatre: West Side Story, running through April 3. Directed by William Crimm.

Opening April 4

Music City Theatre Company at Darkhorse Theater, Nashville: 4000 Miles, running through April 9. www.mctc.ticketleap.com Bradley Moore directs Taylor Novak, Britt Byrd and Linda Speir in Amy Herzong's play.

Opening April 8

Lipscomb Department of Theatre, at Collins Alumni Auditorium, Nashville: You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, running through April 15 www.theatre.lipscomb.edu An average day in the life of Charlie Brown: A day made up of little moments picked from all the days in Charlie Brown's young life, from Valentine's Day to the baseball season, from wild optimism to utter despair, all mixed up with the lives of his friends and dog and strung together on the string of single day, from bright, uncertain morning to hopeful, starlit evening. In the end, Charlie Brown reminds us "Happiness is anything and anyone that's loved by you."

Pull-Tight Players, Franklin: Rabbit Hole, running through April 23 www.pull-tight.com Celebrated author David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning play explores the various ways a family copes with unexpected and tragic death, with a deft balance of humor, pathos and hope. Whether or not you have seen the acclaimed Oscar-nominated film adaptation, you won't want to miss this exciting addition to the season.

Springhouse Theatre Company, Smyrna: Tom Sawyer, running through April 24 www.springhousetheatre.com Join master storyteller Mark Twain as he leads us into the world of his most famous character -Tom Sawyer. Tom's adventures never fail to remind us of why great storytelling never grows old.

Opening April 14

Nashville Children's Theatre, Nashville: A Year With Frog and Toad, running through May 15 www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org A hit on Broadway, A Year With Frog And Toad was nominated for three Tony Awards - including Best Musical. Based on Arnold Lobel's well-loved books and featuring a hummable score by Robert and Willie Reale,this whimsical musical follows two great friends - the cheerful, popular Frog and the rather grumpy Toad - through four, fun-filled seasons. Waking from hibernation in the spring, Frog and Toad plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, go sledding, and learn life lessons along the way. The two best friends celebrate and rejoice in their differences that make them unique and special. The jazzy, upbeat score bubbles with melody and wit, making A Year With Frog and Toad an inventive, exuberant, and enchanting musical for the whole family.

The Larry Keeton Theatre, Donelson/Nashville: The Miss Firecracker Contest, running through April 30 www.thelarrykeetontheatre.org BWW Nashville senior contributing editor and founder/executive director of The First Night Honors Jeffrey Ellis directs the popular Beth Henley southern gothic comedy, the first play to be presented at The Keeton in several years. Britt Byrd, Katherine Morgan, Michael Adcock, Amber Boyer, Kurt Jarvis and Rebekah Stogner bring Henley's show to life.

Opening April 15

Actors Bridge Ensemble, in collaboration with Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance, at Belmont's Black Box Theatre, Nashville: The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Nashville premiere), running through April 23. Directed by Leah Lowe, Actors Bridge board member and chair of the Theatre Department at Vanderbilt University, it will be performed in Belmont's Black Box Theatre, April 15-23. Once upon a time-in 2005-a twenty-year-old girl named Annie returned to her native Russia to brush up on the language and lose her American accent. Underneath a glamorous Post-Soviet Moscow studded with dangerously high heels, designer bags, and luxe fur coats, she discovers an enchanted motherland teeming with evil stepmothers, wicked witches, and ravenous bears. Annie must learn how to become the heroine of a story more mysterious and treacherous than any childhood fairy tale: her own. This subversive story haunts the audience, and carries a powerful message for young women living in a world where not everything ends up happily ever after.

Tuesday, April 19

MAS Nashville at Jamison Hall, The Factory at Franklin: SuperMAS www.masnashville.com Following up their super-fun, super-wild, super-packed performance last October at The Belcourt, MAS is back with a brand new show in a brand new venue! Cori Laemmel, Erin Parker, Laura Matula, Megan Murphy Chambers and Melodie Madden Adams bring you SuperMAS on Studio Tenn's stage in Jamison Theatre at The Factory. In SuperMAS, their ninth original production, the MAS gals will embrace their inner super-heroines; when they're not fighting crime and leaping tall buildings, they're delivering all of what audiences have come to love and expect: fantastic harmonies, glitter, high heels and humor in the polished-yet-irreverent way that only MAS can.

Opening April 22

Nashville Ballet at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall, Nashville: Carmina Burana, running through April 24 www.nashvilleballet.com

Murfreesboro Little Theatre: Lend Me a Tenor, running through www.mltarts.org

Opening April 26

Broadway at TPAC, Nashville: Mamma Mia!, running through May 1 www.tpac.org

Opening May 6

ACT 1, at Darkhorse Theater, Nashville: Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, running through May 21, www.act1online.com

Murfreesboro Little Theatre: Backyard Bard: Romeo & Juliet, running through www.mltarts.org

Opening May 10

Broadway at TPAC, Nashville: The Bridges of Madison County, running through May 15 www.tpac.org

Opening May 31

Broadway at TPAC, Nashville: Disney's Beauty and the Beast, running through June 5 www.tpac.org

Opening June 2

Music City Theatre Company at Darkhorse Theatre, Nashville: Psycho Beach Party, running through June 11. www.mctc.ticketleap.com Bradley Moore directs a revival of Charles Busch's Psycho Beach Party, starring Elizabeth Ayres Turner and Taylor Novak.

Opening June 3

Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury: Always, Patsy Cline, running through June 18 www.artscenterofcc.com

Circle Players, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, Nashville: Disney's The Little Mermaid, running through June 19. www.circleplayers.net In a magical kingdom beneath the sea, the beautiful young mermaid Ariel longs to leave her ocean home to live in the world above. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's beloved stories and the classic animated film, Disney's The Little Mermaid is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages. Directed by Brittany Blaire Anderson.

Studio Tenn, Franklin, at Schermerhorn Symphony Center: West Side Story, running through June 4, www.studiotenn.com

Pull-Tight Players, Franklin: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, running through June 18 www.pull-tight.com Trust us - your elementary school spelling bee was never like this! Take a group of neurotic, over-achieving grade schoolers with a dictionary in their hands and hope in their hearts, add a group of equally wacky moderators and stir for a delightful and sharply funny comedy that will have you rolling in the aisles. But don't get too comfy on the floor - you might just be picked to join the bee!

Opening June 7

Broadway at TPAC, Nashville: If/Then, running through June 7 www.tpac.org

Opening June 9

The Larry Keeton Theatre, Donelson/Nashville: Thoroughly Modern Millie, running through June 25 www.thelarrykeetontheatre.org

Opening June 10

Murfreesboro Little Theatre: Butterflies Are Free, running through www.mltarts.org

Opening July 8

Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury: The Little Mermaid, running through July 23 www.artscenterofcc.com

Murfreesboro Little Theatre: Next to Normal, running through www.mltarts.org

Opening August 12

Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury: Rock of Ages, running through August 27 www.artscenterofcc.com

Opening September 30

Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury: The Odd Couple, running through October 15 www.artscenterofcc.com

Opening November 4

Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury: Chitty Chitty Bang Band, running through November 19 www.artscenterofcc.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.