Kim Bretton News

Kim Bretton directs the Nashville premiere of Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still, presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre, tonight May 11 through May 20.

Gina D'Arco interviews Nashville actor Bryan Schlanger about the process of bringing Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still to the stage under the direction of Kim Bretton.

Kim Bretton directs the Nashville premiere of Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still, presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre, May 11-20. Her cast includes Actors Bridge cofounders Vali Forrister and Bill Feehely, together onstage again for the first time in several years. They are joined in the four-character piece by Jillian Gottlieb and Bryan Schlanger.

Mike Eldred, renowned vocalist known for his appearances on Broadway as "Jean Valjean" in Les Miserables, his performance as "Tony" in the Nashville Symphony's recording of West Side Story on NAXOS Records, and starring in the national touring production of The Civil War, has been invited by Desmond Child and Marcus Hummon to star in their fundraiser production of Broadway Babies! The Broadway Songbooks of Desmond Child & Marcus Hummon in Nashville on April 11th. The sold-out evening will benefit Thistle Farms, a social enterprise run by women who have survived prostitution, trafficking, addiction, and life on the streets. The production also features Kim Bretton, Nick Duckart, Tabitha Fair, Michelle Nicolo Prentice and Chris Roberts.

Playwright Nate Eppler, Mas Nashville's FIVE, the Boiler Room Theatre, Lipscomb University's Hairspray, ACT 1's American Buffalo and the national touring company of Memphis, the Musical were the top winners at Sunday night's Midwinter's First Night at Nashville's Keeton Theatre, which also featured the presentation of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville and Tennessee theatre awards.

Restaging Studio Tenn's A Christmas Carol for the company's new home at the lavishly restored historic Franklin Theatre, director/designer Matt Logan manages to give new and invigorated life to the time-honored tale while interpreting it in a manner that is tremendously appealing and accessible, adding an almost cinematic flow to the proceedings. A revival of Studio Tenn's 2010 A Christmas Carol, Logan's staging is altered somewhat to accommodate the confines of the new venue, as well as to capitalize on the strengths of his cast, which includes an artful blending of new and returning players.

Directed by the company's producing artistic director Vali Forrister, Becky's New Car is a perfect choice for Actors Bridge, providing a showcase for a group of talented actors so charming and so engaging that you might find yourself falling a little bit in love with the whole lot. In fact, I'd probably drink the bathwater of the entire cast, so completely believable are they in this sharply written, inventively staged production. Take my advice: You best go look under the hood of Becky's New Car before its run ends on August 7.

Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? That's the question posed by playwright Steven Dietz in his play Becky's New Play, opening at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre on Friday, July 29, in a new production from Actors Bridge Ensemble, directed by the company's own Vali Forrister.

Josiah Gibbs (Chris) and CJ Tucker (Ginger) discuss Steven Deitz's BECKY'S NEW CAR, directed by Vali Forrister for Nashville's Actors Bridge Ensemble, playing July 29 through Aug 7 at Belmont's Black Box Theater.

Mining the depths and heights of their own life experiences to bring to life onstage a plethora of challening and compelling characters, dramatic actresses in Nashville were at the pinnacle of their talents in 2010. Thoroughly captivating their audiences night after night, they put their tremendous talents on display with no-holds-barred performances that have raised the bar for actresses who follow in their wake in the coming seasons. And these ten women gave what we considered to be the most noteworthy performances of the 2010 season...

Nashville actors displayed an astonishing range in 2010, playing some of the most coveted roles in theater with imagination and creativity and exhibiting new stage personas for characters making their initial debuts in new, original works. It was a memorable year, to say the least, and Nashville men stepped up to the plate with vigor and conviction, showing greater promise for the new season now under way in 2011. These ten actors led the way for their peers during the season just past and we're proud to recognize their onstage achievements...

Nashville theater audiences were treated to a wide range of dramatic offerings in 2010, with the revival of some of the best-known American plays of the past half-century, along with productions of some amazing original works by a group of talented homegrown playwrights, whose subjects ranged from what goes on in the intimate confines of the ladies' room to a murder mystery comedy with a film noir ambience. Clearly, if 2010 is any indication, the new 2011 season now under way is going to be filled with even more surprises and delights.

One of this season's most beautifully acted productions, Vincent in Brixton is moving and emotional, funny and evocative. Thanks to Feehely's wealth of experience and his discerning eye, it is a lively affair, completely engaging the audience in the tale being told onstage. By turns immensely entertaining and thoroughly inspiring, Vincent in Brixton is also heart-wrenching in its candor and honesty and the multi-layered performances of Feehely's talented cast only gives the play deeper meaning and resonance.

Wright's play focuses on the time that Vincent Van Gogh spent in London and Brixton in the 1870s - a period before he drew his first sketch and one that changed him completely. The play depicts Van Gogh as a young man, someone full of life yet struggling to find his way and to walk the artist's path. Vincent develops a rapport with a widow twice his age, which blossoms into a full-blown love affair, only to be cruelly curtailed by the arrival of his fiercely puritan younger sister.

Wright's play focuses on the time that Vincent Van Gogh spent in London and Brixton in the 1870s - a period before he drew his first sketch and one that changed him completely. The play depicts Van Gogh as a young man, someone full of life yet struggling to find his way and to walk the artist's path. Vincent develops a rapport with a widow twice his age, which blossoms into a full-blown love affair, only to be cruelly curtailed by the arrival of his fiercely puritan younger sister.