Steeple Players Stage 'SchoolHouse Rock Live!' Through 9/27September 13, 2009SchoolHouse Rock Live!, the Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon series that taught history, grammar, math, science and politics through clever, tuneful songs, is now instructing a whole new generation to 'Unpack Your Adjectives' and 'Do the Circulations' in the theatre production now onstage at Hendersonville' Steeple Players Theatre through September 27.
'Dearly Beloved' Opens at Towne Centre Theatre 9/25September 13, 2009Towne Centre Theatre of Brentwood continues its 2009 season with its upcoming production of Dearly Beloved, by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. The comedy is set in a small Texas town and centers around a catastrophe-stricken wedding day.
'The Homecoming' Auditions Slated for Hendersonville's Steeple PlayersSeptember 13, 2009Auditions for the second production of Steeple Players' 16th season, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, based on the novel by Earl Hamner Jr. and adapted by Christopher Sergel, will be held Monday, September 21, and Tuesday, September 22, at Steeple Players Theatre, 260 West Main Street in Hendersonville.
Australia's Strange Fruit Launches 35th Anniversary Season of Great Performances at VanderbiltSeptember 13, 2009Four free performances by Australia's Strange Fruit, the international outdoor festival performers, will launch the 35th anniversary of Great Performances at Vanderbilt this week, with shows at Nashville's Centennial Park and on the Alumni Lawn on the Vanderbilt University campus. Other events in the 2009-2010 season include a radio documentary performance by L.A. Theatre Works and the social revolutionary group, Grupo Cultural AfroReggae with Anderson Sa himself on-site direct from Rio de Janeiro including among residency activities the screening of Favela Rising, recipient of 36 international film festival awards.
Street Theatre Company's 'Parallel Lives' Reprised for Weekend Run at Bongo Java 9/10 - 9/13September 13, 2009Fresh off a sold-out run in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Street Theatre Company reprises its critically acclaimed production of Parallel Lives for three performances Upstairs at Bongo Java, Thursday through Sunday, September 10-13. Starring Holly Allen and Cathy Sanborn Street, Parallel Lives is based on the comedy act of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, and is directed by Lauren Shouse.
REVIEW: Filthy Rich Premieres at Chaffin's BarnSeptember 10, 2009Eppler's richly textured script might best be described as a send-up of Anastasia meets Grey Gardens, with some Sleeping Beauty, Annie, You Can't Take it With You and The Grifters (and an affectionate nod to Fiddler on the Roof) thrown in for good measure, all presented in a farcical manner that works on every level. Kudos to director David Compton for keeping things moving at a good clip and coaxing some stellar performances from his cast of gifted players.
Street Theatre Company's 'Parallel Lives' Reprised for Weekend Run at Bongo Java 9/10 - 9/13September 10, 2009Fresh off a sold-out run in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Street Theatre Company reprises its critically acclaimed production of Parallel Lives for three performances Upstairs at Bongo Java, Thursday through Sunday, September 10-13. Starring Holly Allen and Cathy Sanborn Street, Parallel Lives is based on the comedy act of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, and is directed by Lauren Shouse.
'25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee' opens 9/18 at Roxy Regional TheatreSeptember 8, 2009'Combine the awkward trials of adolescence with incredible intelligence and obscure words and you have a recipe for a great night at the theatre,' according to Katherine Kolodzie, director of public relations and development for the Clarskville theatre company. 'Catchy tunes comically lamenting the woes of puberty and special onstage guests will leave audience members in stitches.'
Maryanna Clarke: Bringing 'Warriors Don't Cry' to the stage for TWTP's season openerSeptember 8, 2009Since that time, Maryanna's artistic focus has changed somewhat, and now she is artistic director for the Nashville-based Tennessee Women's Theatre Project, which is dedicated to 'presenting theatricial productions of the highest quality to Middle Tennessee audiences, to producing plays that express the human condition in the female voice; to providing acting, directing, design and management opportunities for women in professional theater; and to bringing live theater to new, underserved audiences.'
Street Theatre Company's 'Parallel Lives' Reprised for Weekend Run at Bongo Java 9/10 - 9/13September 7, 2009Fresh off a sold-out run in Wilmington, North Carolina, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, Street Theatre Company reprises its critically acclaimed production of Parallel Lives for three performances Upstairs at Bongo Java, Thursday through Sunday, September 10-13. Starring Holly Allen and Cathy Sanborn Street, Parallel Lives is based on the comedy act of Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, and is directed by Lauren Shouse.
Patrick Waller is Tom Sawyer for Nashville Children's Theatre 9/22-10/11September 6, 2009Patrick Waller plays the title role in the Nashville Children's Theatre production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, running September 22-October 11. Part of Twain and Twang , Nashville's Citywide Celebration of Mark Twain, a year-long salute to the work of writer Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer is a companion piece to the Tennessee Repertory Theatre production of Big River, slated for a run in spring, 2010.
GroundWorks Theatre Sets Auditions for Two Upcoming ProductionsSeptember 6, 2009Eat the Runt, by Avery Crozier, is described as a comedy that toys with ideas of perception, political correctness, and societal and cultural norms, requires eight actors ages 30-50. Robert A. O'Connell's Christmas on the Pecos is a tale of two modern-day cowboys, a couple fleeing to a better life and a group of travelers lost in a snow storm; the script requires eight actors, ages 30-60, including one Latino couple in their 20s.
Circle Players Schedules Auditions For MAME 9/19 & 9/20September 4, 2009Director Macon Kimbrough will hold auditions at Circle Player's rehearsal space in Madison (801 N. Gallatin Pike, between Due West Avenue and Old Hickory Boulevard, behind Madison Square Shopping Center). Auditions are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, and from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 20. Callbacks are slated for Tuesday, September 22, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Tulip Street United Methodist Church, 522 Russell Street, in East Nashville. All times are CDT.
'WICKED' Opens at TPAC's Andrew Jackson HallSeptember 4, 2009Everything you've heard about Wicked is true; it's an awe-inspiring stage spectacle filled with special effects, gorgeous sets and lighting, exquisite costumes, an amazingly gifted cast, a glorious musical score and an immensely entertaining, yet slightly irreverent (and maybe even a little subversive) script. It also has plot points so broad that you could drive a freight train through them, but if you're willing to suspend disbelief and allow yourself to become totally immersed in the phenomenon, you can't help but walk away tremendously satisfied, humming those wonderful tunes and having a sort of 'which came first: the chicken or the egg' debate with your companions.
GroundWorks Theatre Sets Auditions for Two Upcoming ProductionsSeptember 3, 2009Eat the Runt, by Avery Crozier, is described as a comedy that toys with ideas of perception, political correctness, and societal and cultural norms, requires eight actors ages 30-50. Robert A. O'Connell's Christmas on the Pecos is a tale of two modern-day cowboys, a couple fleeing to a better life and a group of travelers lost in a snow storm; the script requires eight actors, ages 30-60, including one Latino couple in their 20s.
Photo Coverage: WICKED's First Night at TPACSeptember 3, 2009Wicked opened its run at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center Wednesday with a capacity crowd enjoying the performance by the Second National Touring Company in Andrew Jackson Hall. Opening night also featured the inaugural Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com First Night Theatre Event, with some 25 theatre devotees attending the show, with cocktails and hors d'oevres before curtain and a dessert/champagne reception afterward.
Nate Eppler's 'Filthy Rich' To Open At Chaffin's Barn On 9/08September 3, 2009Nate Eppler's original comedy Filthy Rich opens Tuesday, September 8, at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, directed by David Compton and starring a veritable who's who of Nashville comedy actors. Layne Sasser, Erin Parker, Dietz Osborne, and the playwright himself, Nate Eppler. Described as 'a bright farce full of crosses, double-crosses, false identities and fakery, Filthy Rich is hilarious, lunatic fun.'
Finding Inspiration On Tour With Colin Donnell Of 'WICKED'September 2, 2009Don't tell Marcie Dodd and Helene Yorke (Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in the second national company of Wicked), but during every performance Colin Donnell, aka Fiyero, has a ritual, 'a tradition' if you will, that he follows. He stands in the wings and watches his two leading ladies in a scene 'and everytime I do it, it gives me chills,' he says, 'it sort of reminds me what's going on with the show and why I'm doing it. They inspire me.'