Chris Clarke News

Dressed to the nines-despite forecasts of thunderstorms and a tornado watch that hung over the region-theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

We've been doing our part to prepare ye the way, watching the action onstage, taking some furtive peeks backstage, listening to all the offstage gossip and venturing beyond the confines of the theater to gain the informed knowledge to see more shows in the Volunteer State than you ever thought possible. So, good people of the theaterati, read on and get all the information you need to know in this, our latest installment of Music City Confidential. This is #6…

Eight individuals, whose names attest to the depth and breadth of live theatrical performance in Nashville, have been named as members of the 2012 Class of First Night Honorees and will be feted with a special tribute concert on Sunday, September 2, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre.

Danny Proctor, Helen Shute-Pettaway, Layne Sasser, Pam Atha, Dan Brewer and Gary Hoff were introduced Monday night as the six members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees during the First Night Preview Party, hosted by founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis at The Listening Room Cafe in downtown Nashville.

Thanks to Kathleen Clark's genuinely funny Secrets of a Soccer Mom, now onstage in an entertaining production from Maryanna Clarke and Tennessee Women's Theater Project, you get a glimpse at the 'real' reality of the lives of soccer moms, as opposed to the reality you may have been led to expect. Be forewarned: It's like looking behind the curtain to see what makes the Wizard the wizard and chances are you will never again look at the soccer mom in the next lane in the same way.

It seems as if Maryanna Clarke is always in motion: As the founding artistic director of the Nashville-based Tennessee Women's Theatre Project, she always has multiple irons in the fire. As the mom of college student Kate (upon whom she dotes -- and of whom she is justifiably proud), she has all the responsibilites of motherhood on her shoulders. And as the wife of Chris Clarke (her theatrical partner-in-crime aka producer), she's got the wife role down pat!

In just over an hour, Steele takes her rapt audience on an informative and entertaining, if too heart-breakingly real, tour through the 1957-58 school year at Little Rock's Central High School. As she becomes Melba Pattillo, one of nine African-American students chosen to challenge entrenched racial roles by integrating the public school 'where the wealthiest of Little Rock's citizens sent their children to be educated,' Steele ably educates her audience about our country's darker days. It's a moving experience that elicits both tears and laughter and results in new pictures of bravery and heroism etched upon your heart.