John Ray News

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.

There's the definite feeling of autumn in the air that makes you want to gut a pumpkin or at least have a pumpkin spice latte, chances are you are definitely going to need a sweater in the early morning hours, and it's past the perfect time for you to pick out a Halloween costume. Luckily, theater companies are well into their new seasons and there's plenty of shows to entertain you while you take time off from berating yourself for wearing that same tricked-out Star Wars costume you wore the past fwo-and-one-half years.

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.

Today, our Friday Five features focuses on the pair of actors portraying the scions of the Addams Family: daughter Wednesday and son Pugsley. Read all about the actors portraying the two iconic characters – Katie Callaway and 2014 First Night Most Promising Actor Will Lasley – then ring up the box office and secure your tickets to the show which promises to be one of Towne Centre's finest…

Sound Street Productions presents the first full-length recording of Show Choir! - The Musical with new orchestrations by Assaf Gleizner, and under the musical direction of Kenneth Gartman. Leading the studio cast is Kevin Duda (Beautiful, Book of Mormon /Broadway) and Tony nominee Christiane Noll (Ragtime, Jekyll & Hyde /Broadway) They are joined by additional cast members Bay Bryan (Growing Into My Beard,) John Raymond Barker (Vampire Drag Queen,) Taylor Coriell (Titanic National Tour,) Joshua Lance Dixon (2015 BISTRO Award,) Shira Elias (Turkuaz,) Julie Galorenzo (Show Choir! NYMF & FringeNYC,) Adam Glickman (Jimmy Nederlander Awards,) Carly Kincannon (NBC's Sing Off,) Mark Martin (Voca People,) Tegan Miller (Fancy Nancy National Tour) Michelle Millerick (Side Show/ Original Broadway Cast) Aubyn Peterson (Cabaret Showdown Champion) Tony Ponella (First Runner up, Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook) and Stuart Williams (Mind The Gap Theatre.) Casting by Wojcik/Seay Casting.

New York (September 15, 2015) — Distinguished comedians and musicians will unite for the ninth annual Stand Up for Heroes event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Tuesday, Nov. 10. Chris Botti, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Ray Romano, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, and other surprise guests will take the stage to perform for an audience that includes some of the brave military men and women who have served this country, to raise awareness and funds to support the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF).

?Adventure Theatre MTC is thrilled to bring OLIVER!, the musical by Lionel Bart, July 24- August 16, 2015 to Round House Theatre in Bethesda. 

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.

Can you believe that it's already time to celebrate Independence Day - aka The Fourth of July - with the biggest-in-the-country fireworks display right here in Music City USA? We know how to celebrate America's Independence right here in Nashville and we expect even more tourists (playwright/actor/director/producer/bon vivant Del Shores is in town, for example, to get a taste of a down-home good time) than normal to fill our city's streets over the four-day holiday weekend.

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.

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.

Looking for a way to beat the heat this weekend? What's better than sinking into a seat in a darkened auditorium and letting the talented actors onstage whisk you way to a whole different world from the world iin which you toil Monday through Friday? Theater companies throughout the midstate are ready to dazzle you with their latest productions and here are some of this weekend's best bets...

Looking for an early summer diversion? We're happy to suggest some theatrical offerings to occupy your time, to keep you out of the heat and humidity - which seems to have really descended upon us this past week - and place you smack in the middle of a darkened auditorium that's certain to cool you down while entertaining you in high style…

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 a new feature: 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.

It's already heating up in Nashville and it's not even summer yet! But Nashville area theater companies are hard at work to ensure that audiences have a lot to choose from in the way of live theater presented in cool, darkened theaters. Here are our suggestions for the most eagerly anticipated shows of the sultry summer season…

Today, June 2, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will release The John Wayne Westerns Film Collection - featuring five classic films on Digital HD and Blu-ray from the larger-than-life American hero - just in time for Father's Day.

Adventure Theatre MTC has announced the cast of this summer's OLIVER!, ATMTC's two-act steampunk reimagining of the musical by Lionel Bart.

On June 2, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will release The John Wayne Westerns Film Collection – featuring five classic films on Digital HD and Blu-ray from the larger-than-life American hero – just in time for Father's Day.

Show Choir! - The Musical is a melodious mockumentary about America's favorite teen pastime...with jazz hands. This original musical comedy by Mark McDaniels and Donald Garverick has been developing in New York City since 2006, including an award winning production at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival and a sold out run at the 2010 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Show Choir! also received acclaimed productions at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and The American Conservatory Theatre - San Francisco in 2012.

With a strong cast and surprising production values, KAT's THE ADDAMS FAMILY is a smile inducing, laugh-fest the brings cheese, heart, and a high-energy score to Kensington Town Center.