John Bragg News

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

Tara Winton directs, as Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County presents Peter and the Starcatcher by Rick Elice, based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, with music by Wayne Barker. Opening Friday night, June 2, it runs through June 11.

Feeling the urge to let your imagination run wild, your spirit to soar or to just leave the world in which you live and go on an adventure? Sounds like a trip to the theater is in order! Luckily, companies all over the Volunteer State have been hard at work, creating new productions to transform and to transport, shows that will entertain you this summer. That's where THE NASHVILLE THEATER CALENDAR comes in handy: Peruse our listings every week to find out what shows you should see!

We managed to corner Vickie and three of her actors - Drew Sanford, Tabby Ragland and Mandy Ray-Jones - and convince them to answer our famous Friday 5 (+1) questions, giving us some insight into why they do what they do (and how they do it), as well as to offer up some suggestions about why you should make certain you don't miss their show…

The hilarity of the Futrelle clan and their own special brand of Southern Hospitality opens Friday night, March 24, running through April 8 at The Arts Center of Cannon County.

Families everywhere know the beloved holiday movie that inspired a new musical, and now they can meet Buddy the Elf and see him like they never have before, live onstage in The Arts Center of Cannon County's new production of ELF the Musical Jr., running December 9-11 in Woodbury. The one-act Young at Arts Series show runs approximately one hour.

Matt Smith and Ted Verbeten star in the iconic roles of Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar in Arts Center of Cannon County's new production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, opening tonight at the theater in Woodbury for a run through October 15.

Savannah Gannon and Mary Ellen Smith star in Arts Center of Cannon County's Always Patsy Cline, the award-winning play by Nashville's own Ted Swindley, opening tonight and running through June 18 in Woodbury. The show's a favorite among Tennessee theater-goers, and now's your chance to get to know director Matt Smith's two-woman cast who bring the show to life…

Savannah Gannon and Mary Ellen Smith star in Arts Center of Cannon County's Always Patsy Cline, the award-winning play by Nashville's own Ted Swindley, running June 3-18 in Woodbury.

Not a word has been touched or added to Dr. Seuss' classic, ensuring anyone who's read the story will find themselves transported into the world they've long remembered and always imagined as Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County presents The Cat in the Hat for two Saturdays in May.

Directors and producers throughout Middle Tennessee are seeking actors for upcoming productions of The Little Mermaid (directed by Brittany Blaire Anderson for Circle Players) and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, along with Nashville Shakespeare Festival's upcoming Shakespeare in the Park and Winter Shakespeare productions - and the folks from Disney are planning auditions coming up in April, so you know you want to put on your ears and welcome them to Music City... We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

Directors and producers throughout Middle Tennessee are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Verge Theater Company's Skinless, Legally Blonde, the Musical (at Columbia's Center for the Arts) and The Little Mermaid (directed by Brittany Blaire Anderson for Circle Players) - and the folks from Disney are planning auditions coming up in April, so you know you want to put on your ears and welcome them to Music City... We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

2015 First Night Honoree Darryl Deason directs Memphis: The Musical, the next offering at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County, starring Melinda Paul and Michael Adcock as Felicia Farrell and Huey Calhoun. Memphis: The Musical runs March 11-26, featuring choreography by Regina Wilkerson Ward, with music direction by Robert Hiers.

Directors and producers throughout Middle Tennessee are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Legally Blonde, the Musical (at Columbia's Center for the Arts) and The Little Mermaid (directed by Brittany Blaire Anderson for Circle Players) and Metro Parks and the Music City Theatre Collective team up for a series of special classes, including an audition workshop, for this spring, and producer Ken Bernstein presents a workshop to enable you to “Tell Your Story” at Bongo After Hours Theatre. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

2015 First Night Honoree Darryl Deason directs Memphis: The Musical, the next offering at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County, starring Melinda Paul and Michael Adcock as Felicia Farrell and Huey Calhoun. Memphis: The Musical runs March 11-26, featuring choreography by Regina Wilkerson Ward, with music direction by Robert Hiers.

Matt Smith and Mark Thomas star as 22 of Tuna, Texas' most illustrious citizens in A Tuna Christmas, playing at the Arts Center of Cannon County in Woodbury December 4-13. The holiday-themed sequel to Jason Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard's Greater Tuna theatrical juggernaut, A Tuna Christmas is directed by Vickie Bailey.

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of The Larry Keeton Theatre's upcoming production of Sunset Boulevard, Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts' Dreamgirls, Arts Center of Cannon County's Memphis the Musical and ACT 1's production of Will Enos' The Flu Season. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

Directors and producers in the Nashville region are seeking actors for upcoming productions of Will Enos' The Flu Season, Memphis the Musical and The Wiz. We've gathered the details together here to make your planning easier. So now you have no excuse: go follow your dream!

We're back! After an extended absence due to The Last Five Years (we directed it to boffo notices from our critical colleagues), The 2015 First Night Honors (which played to SRO crowds at Chaffin's Barn in September) and a sense of overwhelming malaise and ennui (we are ever so dramatic at times), BWW Nashville's Critic's Choice is back on the interwebs, offering you our insights and advice on the shows that are coming up and what you should try to find time to see - or to avoid at all costs, depending on our perspective.

The weekend is upon us and that means that tonight is opening night for a couple of new shows (with performances continuing through the weekend) and closing performances of several others, including Newsies (at TPAC), Circle Players' The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and the farewell production of GroundWorks Theatre's Starlite Waltz. Meanwhile, John Chaffin's Cliffhanger continues at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre and Cumberland County Playhouse continues its 50th anniversary season with a whole slate of terrific shows.