Erica Aubrey

Kornfeld, Bogart, and More Set for Theatre Aspen's 2024 Summer Season

Theatre Aspen has announced the complete casts for Theatre Aspen's 41st summer season, including Steel Magnolias, Legally Blonde The Musical, and Come From Away.

Belmont University Musical Theatre's WORKING: A MUSICAL Offers Audiences a Heartfelt, Emotional Tribute to American Workers

Over the past three-and-a-half decades, I have had the privilege of seeing some remarkably talented and gifted young actors on every stage on the Belmont campus and never have I ever left a performance there without feeling inspired, absolutely certain that the future of theater as we know it is pre-ordained and so very hopeful.

Review: Belmont University Musical Theatre's Inspiring and Astonishing SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM

Since his death in 2021, Stephen Sondheim and his canon of work have justifiably been on the hearts and minds of theater people from around the world, with revivals, retrospectives and remembrances filling the calendars of an amazing range of companies paying homage to the master of contemporary musical theater. Just in time for a new season of productions highlighting the Nashville theater calendar, Belmont University Musical Theatre has chosen the aptly named musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim to launch a two-show semester that honors the genius of the master while showcasing the talents of its roster of musical theater majors who continue to add luster to the program’s reputation.

Photos: First Look at AMERICAN PROPHET: FREDERICK DOGLASS IN HIS OWN WORDS at Arena Stage

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is now presenting the world-premiere musical American Prophet: Frederick Douglass in His Own Words, which kicks off the historic theater’s “Surviving and Thriving”-themed 2022/23 Season. Check out photos here!

BWW Review: Belmont University Musical Theatre Comes Roaring Back With Fabulous URINETOWN THE MUSICAL

Anyone who’s been even the least bit concerned about the future of musical theater, in general, or the status of Belmont University Musical Theatre, in particular, need worry no more. The multi-talented triple threats studying on the Nashville campus, under the tutelage of program coordinator Nancy Allen and her team of top-flight educators, are proof that musical theater as we know it continues to flourish even in the darkest and most difficult of times.

BWW Review: Studio Tenn's 19-20 Season Opens With High-Spirited MAMMA MIA!

Directed with his signature creative flair, boundless imagination and penchant for fun by Benji Kern, Studio Tenn's interim artistic director, Mamma Mia! features a stellar cast of performers bringing the show to life with the expected verve and energy that the ABBA score virtually demands. Led by Erica Aubrey as Donna and Emily Urbanski as her daughter Sophie, Studio Tenn's production is vibrant, colorful and energetic, tapping into the universal appeal of the music thanks to music director/conductor Stephen Kummer and his seven member band who perform the score with consummate professionalism and more than a little Disco-era panache.

BWW Review: Belmont University Musical Theatre's Delightful and Entertaining THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

Anna Perry's energetic and period-perfect choreography - along with impressive performances from a cadre of university students destined for Broadway stardom - ensures that Belmont University Musical Theatre's Thoroughly Modern Millie is a complete and utter delight, featuring a memorable score wrapped up in a rather daft but engaging storyline that earns every bit of the resounding applause in a standing ovation that comes at show's end.

BWW Review: Belmont University Musical Theatre's Startling Revival of SIDE SHOW

Macy Medford and Arden Guice may only be college students, but their performances as Violet and Daisy Hilton, the heroines of Side Show - the iconic musical by Bill Russell, Henry Krieger and Bill Condon that debuted on Broadway some 20 years ago - in Belmont University Musical Theatre's production that runs for just one weekend, are nothing less than a professional triumph for each young woman. Thoroughly committed and startlingly focused, Medford and Guice perform an oftentimes tricky, always challenging, task in order that the two young women effectively become their characters, ensuring the musical packs an emotional wallop delivered straight to the collective heart of its audience, while showcasing the evolution of a musical theatre program at the Nashville university, which over the years has gained a national reputation as the training ground of the next generations of Broadway stars yet to be.

BWW Review: Starmaking Performances Lead Belmont University's Exhilarating ON THE TOWN

There's really nothing better than a musical theater-inspired epiphany: On opening night of Belmont University Musical Theatre's altogether invigorating and exhilarating On The Town (which plays Belmont's Troutt Theatre through this Sunday, March 25) I was struck by the similarities - both structurally and musically - to the Gershwin masterpiece An American in Paris.

BWW Review: Fogelberg Score Soars in PART OF THE PLAN at TPAC

Singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg's music has provided the soundtrack for so many people's lives over the past 40 years that it should come as no surprise that his remarkable catalogue of music now provides the score for a new musical with its sights focused on a Broadway transfer. But does Part of the Plan have the legs for such a momentous leap of faith and a story that will sell tickets?

Photo Flash: PART OF THE PLAN Opens in Nashville

PART OF THE PLAN a new, original musical presented by K-Squared Entertainment and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), written by Kate Atkinson & Karen Harris and scored with the music and lyrics of celebrated singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, makes its world premiere at theJames K. Polk Theater (505 Deaderick St. Nashville, TN) opening officially on Sunday, September 10, 2017. The show began previews on Friday, September 8th.  The developmental production will run through Sunday, September 24, 2017.

The Day of the Show: PART OF THE PLAN Opens Tonight

With Nashville's theater/music/entertainment/arts communities now abuzz about the world premiere of Part of the Plan, a new musical by Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris that is inspired by the music of American troubadour Dan Fogelberg, and which features a score of songs from among the singer/songwriter's catalog of biggest hits.

Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris' PART OF THE PLAN Set to Debut at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center

Though it may not have started out that way - and it was never a part of their plan - Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris, the two women who are responsible for bringing the new musical Part of the Plan to life onstage, may be proof positive that women, indeed, are getting the job done.

PART OF THE PLAN: Why A New Dan Fogelberg Musical Has Its Roots Firmly Planted in Music City

With only days before the first preview performance of Part of the Plan (followed by a gala opening night on Sunday, September 10), the new musical drawing its score and inspiration from the catalog of troubadour Dan Fogelberg, the widely respected singer/songwriter who spent much of his early career in Nashville, attention should be paid to the motivating factors that led the producers to debut their show in Music City - with a look at the show's roots that are firmly planted in Tennessee.

For Leading Man Harley Jay It's All Just A PART OF THE PLAN

Talk to actor/singer Harley Jay about his current project - the new musical Part of the Plan that draws from the catalogue of singer/songwriter and troubadour Dan Fogelberg - and you'll soon notice how enthusiastic he is about the show. In fact, if you don't leave that conversation feeling just as excited about POTP as he is, you may need to get yourself checked out.

Photo Coverage: Dan Fogelberg Musical PART OF THE PLAN Preps for Nashville Opening 9/8

Part of the Plan - a new musical featuring 20 iconic songs from the catalogue of acclaimed singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg - celebrates its world premiere and its possible trek toward Broadway with a 19-performance run at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center. The production opens Thursday, September 8 and continues through September 24 at TPAC's James K. Polk Theatre, with a gala red carpet event heralding the show's official opening night on Sunday, September 10.

Stars from NYC, LA and Nashville Set for Dan Fogelberg's New Musical PART OF THE PLAN at TPAC; Cast, Creatives Announced!

K-Squared Entertainment and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) are thrilled to announce the complete cast and creative team for the world premiere of PART OF THE PLAN, a new, original musical written by Kate Atkinson & Karen Harris and scored with the music and lyrics of celebrated singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. 

Hatty King, Nathan Keffer Head to Jimmy Awards After Spotlight Award Wins

Hatty King of Lipscomb Academy in Nashville and Nathan Keffer of Ravenwood High School in Brentwood took home top honors at the 2017 Spotlight Awards - held Saturday night at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall - winning "Best Actress" and "Best Actor" awards respectively. The two travel to New York next month to compete nationally in the Jimmy Awards on June 26.

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI for May 11, 2017 #TheatreThursday

GOOD MORNING, THEATERATI! It's Thursday, May 11, 2017 (aka #TheatreThursday, y'all!) and we're just dying to ask the musical question: What shows will you be seeing this weekend? We hope you'll live life dramatically and make it to at least one production - but multiples are even better!

2017 Spotlight Award Nominees Announced

As Tony Award nominations were being revealed on Tuesday to honor productions and performances during the 2016-17 season, organizers of The 2017 Spotlight Awards - honoring the best in high school musical theater throughout Middle Tennessee -  were tallying scores and assembling all the names of nominees for the awards presentation to be held Saturday, May 13, at Andrew Johnson Hall at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center.