Lane Wright News

The Boiler Room Theatre (in The Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Road, Bldg Six, Franklin) continues its 10th Anniversary season with the romantic and charming musical 'The Fantasticks.'

If, indeed, 'it takes a village,' and if, as the poets say, 'no man is an island,' then perhaps no art form is more collaborative than live theatre. With a village of artists backstage and offstage assuring that each production is mounted, then coming to life during each performance, the collaborative effort is renewed. And what audiences see onstage is the collaboration of artists, the people who comprise the acting ensemble, the folks who bring the stagebound script to life, sending it soaring into our imaginations.

Nashville native Lane Wright has long been a mainstay on local stages, performing for virtually every Music City-based theatre company in a wide variety of roles. During this holiday season, he's been entertaining audiences at the Darkhorse Theatre as one of playwright/director Bob O'Connell's cowboys in Christmas on the Pecos, concluding its world premiere run this weekend. Coming fresh off his run as a communist spy in the Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre production of See How They Run, which came right after his performance in Boiler Room Theatre's production of Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile - it's clear that he's one Nashville actor who always seems to be working.

Burr's even-handed direction and his unerring eye and ear for what is truly funny ensure that King's circa 1940s script is winningly interpreted and offers further proof that good farce, no matter its age, remains highly entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny. With Burr's expertly cast ensemble enacting the ridiculously absurd situations, you have a winning combination that will delight audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

See How They Run is described as a 'hilarious 1940s slapstick farce that takes place in a quaint English vicarage.' The vicar's wife is a former actress--vicar plus stage diva can only equal hijinks and mayhem, of course--and she's joined by four men dressed like priests (two of whom are imposters). The vicar's wife is pretending to be married to one who not her real husband, there's a bishop clad in pajamas, a nosy neighbor hiding in the coat closet and a silent maid, all of whom are being interrogated by a British army sergeant who's looking for an escaped POW.

See How They Run is described as a 'hilarious 1940s slapstick farce that takes place in a quaint English vicarage.' The vicar's wife is a former actress--vicar plus stage diva can only equal hijinks and mayhem, of course--and she's joined by four men dressed like priests (two of whom are imposters). The vicar's wife is pretending to be married to one who not her real husband, there's a bishop clad in pajamas, a nosy neighbor hiding in the coat closet and a silent maid, all of whom are being interrogated by a British army sergeant who's looking for an escaped POW.

Since returning to the world of theatre via BroadwayWorld.com about a month ago, after an almost seven year absence, I've had the invaluable opportunity of reconnecting with a number of old acquaintances and renewing long-dormant friendships and relationships with people connected to the theatre scene in Nashville and throughout Tennesseee.

Take one of east Nashville's hottest hot spots, mix in a couple hundred theatre enthusiasts, add a dollop of Vegas-style entertainment and a whole slew of gaming tables and you have the second annual fundraiser for Street Theatre Company: It's Vegas, Baby! Held Thursday, August 13, at Limelight, 201 Woodland Street, just across from LP Field, the event attracted a large sampling of Nashville's theatre community and socialites.

You have to hand it to the creative minds at Boiler Room Theatre: year after year they mount seasons filled with ambitious offerings, they attract some of the most talented actors, directors and theatre technicians to be found and, most compellingly, they draw loyal, involved audiences