Review: The Queens of SIX The Musical Enchant Their Nashville Audience On Opening NightFebruary 22, 2023Make no mistake about it: SIX, the Tony Award-winning musical about six women historically tethered to one another by a common – but not “a commoner” – ex-husband, is raucously funny one moment, remarkably heartfelt the next, with plenty of history punctuating the moments in between. SIX, the high-spirited and energetic take on the lives of Henry VIII’s half-dozen wives, is also totally unlike any musical theater offering that has come before it.
'Engaging, Inspiring, Fascinating' Irma Herrera Brings Her One-Woman Show to TPAC This WeekendFebruary 6, 2023Engaging in conversation with Irma Herrera – even if it’s via Zoom in the middle of a busy day during which a remodeling project on her San Francisco home is under way, with the sounds of construction in the background as proof – is one of the most delightful ways to spend a scant hour on a sunny afternoon: talking about the importance of showing respect to another human being by pronouncing their name as they do, and discussing the intersectionality of immigrant’s rights, human rights, women’s rights, LGBTQIA rights, worker’s rights and the rights of the poor.
MOMIX's ALICE! Inaugurates TPAC's 2022-23 International Dance Series This WeekendJanuary 26, 2023Moses Pendleton, the founder and artistic director of MOMIX – the celebrated dance company that inaugurates Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s 2022-23 International Dance Series this weekend – readily admits that he’s had a lifelong affinity for Lewis Carroll and his fanciful tale of a young girl whose unexpected journey to Wonderland provides the inspiration for the company’s Alice! which will transport audiences from the James K. Polk Theatre on their own wondrously captivating journey.
Review: HADESTOWN 'Mesmerizes and Captivates' During Weeklong Stand at Nashville's TPACNovember 2, 2022Mesmerizing and captivating are just two of the words that might best describe Hadestown, the Tony Award-winning best musical of the truncated 2019-20 Broadway season, which is now commanding ovations of rapturous applause from adoring fans at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center during an eight-performance run through Sunday, November 6.
Review: Lauren Shouse's Sublime Direction of THE CAKE Provides Much Food for ThoughtOctober 28, 2022Lauren Shouse’s directorial resume is quite the impressive one and over the years she’s helmed productions for Nashville Repertory Theatre that have been justifiably acclaimed both by audiences and critics alike. But despite the notoriety that seems to always accompany a “Lauren Shouse-directed production,” perhaps none is more deserved than the accolades that follow in the wake of The Cake, the latest entry on her already stellar list of shows.
Interview: Award-winning Author Lewis Kempfer On The Publication of 120 SEATS IN A BOILER ROOMOctober 10, 2022Tomorrow – October 11, 2022 – marks yet another momentous day in the history of Boiler Room Theatre, the late and lamented theater company that originally brought professional theater to The Factory at Franklin. 120 Seats in a Boiler Room: The Creation of a Courageous Professional Theater, the latest book by BRT co-founder Lewis Kempfer (who is an award-winning author in addition to his multi-hyphenate theater titles as director-producer-actor-designer), will be released by Amazon.
Review: Belmont University Musical Theatre's Inspiring and Astonishing SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIMOctober 9, 2022Since 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.
Review: Watershed Public Theatre's 'Nostalgic and Sentimental' LITTLE WOMEN THE MUSICALOctober 8, 2022With a stellar cast under the direction of Cammy Harris, Watershed Public Theatre’s version of Little Women The Musical ends its two-weekend run at Columbia State Community College’s Cherry Theatre on Sunday, October 9, with an endearing production that proves once more the timelessness of Alcott’s source material and the relevance of her memorable characters and provides an ideal diversion from the rigors of the real world of the 21st century.
Review: Studio Tenn Collaborates with TPAC for 2022-23 Season Opener of AIDA IN CONCERT at Polk TheatreOctober 1, 2022Studio Tenn – the Franklin-based professional theater company – launches its 2022-23 season in collaboration with Tennessee Performing Arts Center for a concert staging of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, playing for just two nights at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theatre September 30 and October 1. Under the direction of Studio Tenn artistic director Patrick Cassidy (who shares duties with co-director and choreographer Gerry McIntyre), Aida features a starry cast of actors with Broadway pedigrees (Jackie Burns and Rex Smith), along with some of Music City’s most beloved stage veterans (Bakari Jamal King and Mark Cabus) and featuring the stunning triumph of a young woman who audiences have watched grow up on Nashville stages (Maya Riley) in the title role.
Review: Roxy Regional Theatre's 2022 Revival of INTO THE WOODS May Mark Another Turning Point For The CompanySeptember 30, 2022In 2010, the Clarksville-based Roxy Regional Theatre staged a production of Stephen Sondheim and James LaPine’s “exquisitely off-kilter and melodiously rapturous musical Into the Woods” which remains firmly ensconced in my memory for its many attributes, not the least of which were the actors (Sarah Levine, Rachael Fogle, Josh Bernaski, Gregory Pember, Jackie Ostick and current artistic director Ryan Bowie) who brought the show so vividly to life and whose performances remain among some of the best we’ve seen at the venue in its 40 years. In fact, we often cite that 2010 Into the Woods (after another fondly remembered production some 15 years even before that) as a turning point, of sorts, in the history of The Roxy.
Review: PRETTY WOMAN THE MUSICAL Plays Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center Through Sunday, 10/02September 28, 2022Pretty Woman The Musical – the latest offering in the 2022-23 Broadway at TPAC Series – is one of those shows that almost defies explanation and proves even more difficult to review. (Case in point: I’ve rewritten that sentence 758 times in the past 22 hours and it’s still not “singing,” is it?) Pretty Woman The Musical is a pleasant enough diversion, entertaining even, but there is little in the show’s first act to convince most people that the 1990 rom com, which starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, needed to be transformed into a glitzy and glittering Broadway musical (a term we use loosely in this case), with Olivia Valli and Adam Pascal in the leading roles.
Review: Nashville Story Garden's U.S. Premiere of Lucy Kirkwood's THE WELKIN Will Have Audiences TalkingSeptember 24, 2022Nothing engages the theaterati in Nashville and the surrounding provinces as the production of an eagerly anticipated new play no one’s done before in these parts, but about which we’ve read glowing reviews. The very promise of something new to energize the cultural zeitgeist – particularly under the aegis of Nashville Story Garden (a creative collective whose work always generates major buzz); something new and unseen from across the pond which will provide a showcase for the remarkable talents of some of the region’s most respected actors – is virtually guaranteed to be a “must-see” for a theater-going public more accustomed to titles with which they are already quite often overly familiar.
LeLand Gantt Brings RHAPSODY IN BLACK to TPAC This Weekend for Three PerformancesSeptember 23, 2022As with most intelligent and clever actors struggling to find paying work during difficult times, LeLand Gantt readily admits that he was inspired to create Rhapsody in Black, which has been described as “a powerful personal narrative on racism, identity, and self-image” to provide some work for himself, allowing him to “stay in town to do more tv and film.” Now, however, as acclaim for his one-man show continues to grow, he’s finding himself “out of town” – he's based in New York – to give theater-goers all over the country a chance to see his the result of his creativity on his personal journey to transcene racism in America.
Review: Nashville Repertory Theatre's 38th Season Opens With RENT At TPAC'S Polk Theatre Through 9/25September 21, 2022Thanks to the rousing performances of director Micah-Shane Brewer’s talented company who have brought the show to vivid life for Nashville audiences, Rent provides a noteworthy opening to the company’s 38th season. Performed with commitment and sharp focus by a cast of young performers, this revival of Rent proves the show’s timelessness, the score’s resonance and the story’s relevance well into the 21st century.
Review: World Premiere of New DIARY OF ANNE FRANK Adaptation at Nashville Children's TheatreSeptember 21, 2022Wendy Kesselman’s new adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank – which is based upon the acclaimed 1955 play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and is an update of her 1997 script which has been widely produced since – is given a superb world premiere production by Nashville Children’s Theatre, which adds luster to the original work and makes it more accessible to contemporary audiences in director Ernie Nolan’s new iteration onstage through October 2.
Review: Roxy Regional Theatre's THE COLOR PURPLE is 'Emphatically, Beautifully, Electrifyingly Sung'August 15, 2022The production of The Color Purple, now onstage at the Roxy, is without doubt the most emphatically, beautifully and electrifyingly sung musical I’ve seen at the historic theatre on the corner of First and Franklin in downtown Clarksville over the past three decades. Directed with confidence by Broadway veteran/Belmont University alumnus/Austin Peay State University professor Deonte Warren, with the spirited choreography of Ebone Amos and one of the finest, most talented casts ever to grace the stage, The Color Purple clearly ranks as one of the best shows in the company’s 39-season history (number 40 gets under way next month).
Interview: Liz Callaway Promises 'A Great Evening' As She Reunites with Jason Graae in NashvilleAugust 14, 2022It’s been a while since Liz Callaway last performed on a Nashville stage – it was a performance of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra – and longer still since the time she auditioned for Opryland USA while still a high school student (she wasn’t cast, but more about that later…), so sharing the stage of Andrew Jackson Hall with her longtime pal and confidant Jason Graae on Saturday, August 20, is something she eagerly anticipates.