• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

StageCritic.com

Evans Donnell, a once and future critic

  • Articles
  • About Me
  • Contact Me

Theater

Broadway At TPAC Delivers Sparkling ‘Into The Woods’ Tour

May 25, 2023 by Evans Donnell

Stephanie J. Block (Baker’s Wife) and Sebastian Arcelus (Baker)

Tennessee Performing Arts Center has had many touring companies on Jackson Hall’s stage since 1980. Having attended more shows there than I can numerically recall, there have certainly been performances where a touring company’s “straight from Broadway” billing wasn’t justified in terms of the actors on that stage. This week’s sparkling visit from the “Into the Woods” revival troupe does deserve that paramount promotion, however – it is a high-quality delight from start to finish.

The 1987 Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics)/James Lapine (book) post-modern take on European fairy tales has its fun but grows, well, a little grimmer in its pursuit of the point that happy endings depend on when the story stops – and that we are all responsible for one another. It’s a good thing that “Into the Woods” doesn’t end with its first act, for the poignant emotions stirred by such Act II songs as “No More,” “No One Is Alone,” and “Children Will Listen” are truly a rewarding coda.

Montego Glover (Witch)

Two acts and a 20-minute intermission make this production a three-hour experience, but the time flies by thanks to the quality of the cast, the compassionate vision of director Lear deBessonnet (who helmed this 2022 revival for New York City Center’s “Encores!” concert series and on Broadway), the entertaining choreography of Lorin Latarro, and the onstage top-tier mix of 16 touring or local musicians conducted by music director John Bell.

If you saw this show before it closed on Broadway in January you’d have essentially seen the performers assembled for this 10-city engagement tour. And in the case of Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning actor Gavin Creel (whose tremendous talents are on full display as the Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince),  David Patrick Kelly (absolutely on-point as the Narrator and the Mysterious Man), and Kennedy Kanagawa (Milky White’s wonderfully demonstrative actor/puppeteer) you’d have seen performers who appeared in “Into the Woods” at both New York City Center and the St. James Theatre.

Katy Geraghty (Little Red Ridinghood)

Real-life wife and husband Stephanie J. Block (a Tony winner for “The Cher Show“) and Sebastian Arcelus bring their personal chemistry and superb professional singing and acting talents to the roles of the Baker and his wife: “It Takes Two,” indeed. Katy Geraghty is a real hoot as Little Red Ridinghood, and her Broadway Belt is as good as her comic timing. Cole Thompson makes your heart ache as sweet, simple Jack; Aymee Garcia as Jack’s long-suffering mother pulls at those heartstrings too. And Montego Glover‘s Witch? Her acting and singing are so powerful you’ll truly believe her magic from start to finish. “Children Will Listen” and so should we all to this superlative player.

Every other member of this cast deserves praise as well. Diane Phelan’s compassionate Cinderella; Nancy Opel’s not-so-nice Stepmother; Ta’Nika Gibson and Brooke Ishibashi’s spoiled Lucinda and Florinda; Jim Stanek’s stolid Steward; the “Agony” of Jason Forbach as Rapunzel’s Prince; Alysia Velez as his towered damsel in distress Rapunzel; Felicia Curry’s tasty triple as Granny/Giant/Cinderella’s Mother; and Josh Breckenridge’s animated turns as a puppeteering flock of birds and as Cinderella’s Father.

Jason Forbach (Rapunzel’s Prince) and Gavin Creel (Cinderella’s Prince)

Bountiful birch trees line David Rockwell’s enchanting set while Tyler Micoleau’s lighting ably shifts us from the lighter to darker shades of this performance. So happy with the sound designs of Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann: making essential amplification that calls no attention to itself is a true art. Other artisans for this production – including costume designer Andrea Hood; hair, wigs, and makeup designer Cookie Jordan; and puppet designer James Ortiz – bring their plentiful talents to bear on aspects of this show that add more grace, charm and vitality to this splendid tour.

If there’s any chance you can go to this “Into the Woods” before it leaves Nashville I strongly encourage you to do so. It will be a pleasant memory for all that see it “Ever After.”

Aymee Garcia (Jack’s Mother), Cole Thompson (Jack), and Kennedy Kanagawa (Milky White)
Nancy Opel (Cinderella’s Stepmother), Diane Phelan (Cinderella), Brooke Ishibashi (Florinda), Ta’Nika Gibson (Lucinda), and Gavin Creel (Cinderella’s Prince)

The national tour of “Into the Woods” continues in TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, May 28. For times and tickets please click here.

(All photos courtesy TPAC and the “Into the Woods” tour. Photos by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.)

Filed Under: Arts, Reviews, Theater

‘Be Brave’ With Nashville Rep’s ’23-’24 Season Offerings

March 31, 2023 by Staff Reports

Courtesy Nashville Repertory Theatre

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville Repertory Theatre is thrilled to unveil their 23/24 Mainstage Season, featuring a lineup of musicals, plays, and a brand new holiday spectacle. As the company celebrates the 39th annual season, it invites you to explore the idea of courage and bravery in everyday life.

“We’re so excited about the upcoming year,” says Micah-Shane Brewer, Artistic Director of Nashville Rep. “Our theme surrounding the season is ‘Be Brave.’ All of our productions in the 39th season tell stories of brave and courageous people and celebrate resiliency, ambition, and life. I’m inspired by the artists and staff at the Rep and look forward to creating memorable work in the upcoming season.”

Nashville Rep will kick off the season in style with a musical production of Dolly Parton’s beloved comedy, 9 to 5. Based on the hit film, 9 to 5 follows three working women who take revenge on their sexist, lying, hypocritical, egotistical, bigoted boss. In a hilarious turn of events, Doralee, Violet and Judy live out their wildest fantasy of taking control of their lives! With an energetic score by Nashville’s own Dolly Parton, this high-energy musical celebrates female empowerment and equality in the workplace. With such songs as “Shine Like the Sun,” “Backwoods Barbie,” and the title song “9 to 5,” the show promises to be a rip-roarin’, toe-tappin’ good time! 9 to 5 will be performed September 8 – 17, 2023 in TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater.

For the next production audiences will experience the magic of the holiday season like never before! Nashville Repertory Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of a brand-new adaptation of the timeless classic, A Christmas Carol. In this new, heartwarming, and spectacular production, Artistic Director Micah-Shane Brewer brings Charles Dickens’s classic story to life on stage. Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly prosperous curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Through these encounters, Scrooge learns the true meaning of Christmas and the importance of kindness and generosity. The production features stunning sets and costumes that transport the audience to Victorian England, and the timeless story is sure to be loved by audiences of all ages. A Christmas Carol will be performed December 1 – 17, 2023 in TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater. In addition, this production is also presented in partnership with TPAC’s Theatre for Young Audiences Series presenting several daytime matinees for local area schools.

The third production of the season is the Nashville Premiere of Indecent, a breathtaking play by Paula Vogel. Indecent is a powerful and poignant play inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance—a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent follows the journey of the play’s cast and crew as they navigate the challenges of artistic expression and the repression of their voices. It explores the impact of censorship on art and is a moving tribute to the resilience of artists and the power of art to transcend borders and time. Indecent will be performed February 2 – 11, 2024 in TPAC’s Andrew Johnson Theater.

The fourth production of the season is the musical The Color Purple. The Color Purple is a stirring and soulful musical that tells the story of Celie, a young woman who endures years of abuse and hardship at the hands of the men in her life. Along the way, Celie forms close bonds with other women, including the vibrant and independent Shug Avery and the strong and fierce Sofia. Through the power of sisterhood and self-discovery, Celie finds her voice and breaks free from the chains of oppression. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the hit 1985 movie, The Color Purple has an unforgettable score mixed with gospel, blues, and jazz. The Color Purple is a moving and inspiring story of hope and a celebration of life and the human spirit. The Color Purple will be performed March 24 – April 2, 2023, in TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater.

For the finale of the season, Nashville Rep is proud to present the regional premiere of Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. The roof is about to blow off of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When the President of the United States spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven women he relies on must risk everything to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble. This fiercely feminist farce will have audiences rolling in the aisles! POTUS is a biting satire that highlights the challenges faced by women in positions of power and the absurdity of contemporary politics. POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive will be performed May 10 – 19, 2023 in TPAC’s Andrew Johnson Theater.

“After two record-breaking seasons, we are thrilled to announce this exciting lineup of shows for 2023/2024,” says Drew Ogle, Executive Director of Nashville Rep. “With beloved classic titles and contemporary work fresh from Broadway, musicals, non-musicals, and a new adaptation of one of the world’s most popular Christmas stories, Nashville Rep is excited to offer a little something for everybody in our upcoming season!”

Season tickets go on sale in May with single tickets available for all five shows in July. Tickets can be purchased at www.nashvillerep.org or www.tpac.org. To stay up to date on ticket releases and Nashville Rep news, follow us on all social platforms and sign up for the mailing list on the website.

The Nashville Rep has been named Best Professional Theatre by the Nashville Scene, Best Local Theatre by The Tennessean, Largest Arts Organization by Nashville Business Journal, and recognized by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for 35 years of service to the community. The Rep’s shows, actors, directors, and designers have been honored by Nfocus, Nashville Scene, The Tennessean, and the First Night Awards. For more information, visit www.nashvillerep.org or www.tpac.org.

NASHVILLE REP SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS:
Website: nashvillerep.org
Facebook: @nashrep
Twitter: @nashrep
Instagram: @nashrep

ABOUT NASHVILLE REP
Since 1985, Nashville Repertory Theatre has been Nashville’s premier regional theater, entertaining and inspiring audiences by creating exceptional theatre exploring the diversity of human experience. Nashville Rep produces work designed, built, and rehearsed in Nashville, by highly skilled actors, designers, directors, and technicians, creating the highest quality professional productions and serving as a cultural, educational, and economic resource in Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. Nashville Rep is committed to bringing classic and contemporary theatre to Nashville that inspires empathy and prods intellectual and emotional engagement in audiences.

Filed Under: Arts, Features, Theater

An Appreciation: Tennessee Playwrights Studio Reveals Humanity Beyond Headlines In ‘That Woman’ Presentations

July 19, 2022 by Evans Donnell

Photo by Beth Gwinn

Sixty years ago politicians’ private lives were basically off-limits as far as most of the press was concerned. The 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was a handsome, charismatic figure with a beautiful and cultured wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and two adorable children named Caroline and John. Their family image, molded and preserved by Mrs. Kennedy and others, and that of his short-lived administration, would soon be simply referenced using the name of JFK’s favorite musical — “Camelot” — in the aftermath of his Nov. 22, 1963, assassination.

Sixty years ago Betty Friedan was putting the finishing touches to a manuscript that became the best-selling 1963 book “The Feminine Mystique,” arguably launching what later became known as the “second wave” of American feminism. One of the quotes from that book is as follows: “The only way for a woman, as for a man, to find herself, to know herself as a person, is by creative work of her own.”

Such creative work was on powerful, persuasive display in June during performances of “That Woman: The Monologue Show” and “That Woman: The Dance Show” at Darkhorse Theater and (for the monologue show only) The East Room courtesy of Tennessee Playwrights Studio and co-producer Angela Gimlin. Several of Nashville’s finest creatives conceptualized, wrote, produced, directed, designed, stage managed, crafted and performed pieces that reach beyond decades of headlines, books and broadcast documentaries regarding President Kennedy’s extramarital affairs for the humanity, and individuality, of the women either revealed or alleged to have been involved with him as well as his wife of 10 years.

I didn’t have the privilege of seeing the shows in person, but TPS made video recordings of the monologue show in both venues and the dance show at Darkhorse. That allowed me to watch, and enjoy, some wonderful performances, where the words became a “Spoon River Anthology” of selected women in JFK’s life, and the dances became vibrant expressions of 20th Century events and lives that have fascinated many over the past six decades.

That Woman: The Monologue Show

Darkhorse Theater Cast (Photo by Rick Malkin)
The East Room Cast (Photo by Rick Malkin)

In the monologue show (skillfully overseen by director Stephanie Houghton, founder of Nashville’s Gadabout Theater Company) the artisans working with director and cast included Rachel Agee (Script Editor), Renee Brank (Stage Manager), Bethany Dinkel (Costumer), Kristen DuBois (Lighting Designer), Alexis LaVon (Sound Designer), and Lauren Wilson (Graphic Designer).  

All this show’s performances represented the characters in their complex and complicated humanity: There were no impersonations, just evocations. Most of those performing had written their words from researching the people their characters were based on, but even those who hadn’t written the words played their parts with great commitment to emotional truth. 

Conveying each character as they sat or stood onstage obviously isn’t possible here, but some lines from the monologues may give readers a taste of what was so realistically conveyed to the audience. Those lines are accompanied by the names of those who wrote and brought the characters to life:

Inga Arvad: “Listening is truly a dying art. The need to be heard often outweighs the desire to understand. I know this to be true. I lived my life listening more than I talked.” {written by April Hardcastle-Miles; performed during the run by her and Silva Riganelli}

Ellen Rometsch: “Take it to the grave. That’s what I’ll do. There is no reason for you to ring my phone or knock on my door. I’ll never talk. What’s past is past and it will stay that way.” {written by Mary McCallum; performed during the run by her and Audrey Venable}

Blaze Starr: “Loving powerful men might have been part of my life, but it wasn’t my life. It wasn’t who I am. I was art. I was fantasy. I was furs and satin and sequins. I was boobs and booze and flashes of red hair.” {written and performed by Angela Gimlin}

Mimi Alford: “I said this in my memoir, and I will say it to you: ‘I am Mimi Alford, and I do not regret what I did. I was young and swept away and I can’t change that fact….This book represents a private story, but one that happens to have a public face. And I do not want the public face of this story — the one where I will be remembered solely as a presidential plaything – to define me.'” {written and performed by Molly Breen}

Priscilla “Fiddle” Wear: “I’m no fool. I knew I was never going to be his wife or advisor but that’s not how power works, is it? Those aren’t the only ways to influence history.” {written by Nettie Kraft; performed during the run by Ibby Cizmar and Karla Dansereau}

Jill “Faddle” Cowan: “We were close. I cared for him deeply. I accepted him as a human. How do you help a president through depression? You listen. You encourage. And eventually…he helps himself.” {written by Alicia Haymer and performed by Sofia Hernández Morales}

Marilyn Monroe: “I’ve always been comfortable in my own skin, regardless of what anybody says. They say plenty, naturally. They think it too. You’re thinking it right now.” {written and performed by Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva}

Mary Pinchot Meyer: “I just wanted to help. I wanted to be in the room. I longed to be in the know. I dreaded being another boring, stupid housewife. I am smart and thoughtful and kind.” {written and performed by Dianne DeWald}

Judith Exner: “You don’t have to like me, you don’t have to approve of me. But when you make your judgment, you have to know the truth about me.” {written and performed by Elizabeth Turner}

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: “I am a passionate woman, my dear. I’m more passionate than anyone will ever know. In fact, I am sometimes overcome by my ability to feel despite my best efforts not to. Perhaps that’s why I appreciate art so much. And history. It’s safe to feel passionate about these things.” {written by Ang-Madeline Johnson; performed during the run by her and Madison Gunn}.

As the cast took their bows following the 90-minute show Helen Reddy’s clarion call “I Am Woman” accompanied the cheers and applause. How appropriate: “That Woman: The Monologue Show” had indeed roared.

That Woman: The Dance Show

In the dance show, choreographers included Molly Breen, Caitlin Del Casino, Brandon Johnson, Thea Jones, Cornell Kennedy, Jodie Mowrey (who also served as Director of Choreography), Schuyler Phoenix, Rachel Simons, Brittany Stewart, and Emma Williams. Breen directed the show, working alongside such creatives as Caitlin Del Casino (Costumer), Kristen DuBois (Lighting Designer), Alexis LaVon (Sound/Projection Designer), Shannon J. Spencer (Stage Manager), and Lauren Wilson (Graphic Designer).

It featured a wide array of classic and modern movements with an equally broad range of musical accompaniment highlighted by contributions from such Nashville talents as Noah Rice, Mickey Rose, Jen Bostick, Melanie Bresnan, Heidi Burson, David Curtis and Jonell Mosser.

The dancers were a very diverse group of performers that included Breen as Marlene Dietrich, Caitlin Del Casino as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Thea Jones as Ellen Rometsch, Jodie Mowrey as Mary Pinchot Meyer, Schuyler Phoenix as Blaze Starr, Rachel Simons as Inga Arvad, Nikki Staggs as Tempest Storm, Brittany Stewart at Judith Exner, Autumn Wegner as Marilyn Monroe, Emma Williams as Inga Arvad, Brandon Johnson, Preston Weaver and Shawn Whitsell as JFK/ensemble with Jim Manning as Joseph Kennedy/J. Edgar Hoover.

So many different experience levels for the performers, so many different dance and music styles, different moods shifting not just from section to section but often beat to beat — among several highlights there was the tragic grace of Emma Williams’ “Marilyn,” the satirical silliness of the “Hoover Interlude” sequences from Jodie Mowrey and Jim Manning, the sweeping tumult of Williams’ “November 22, 1963,” complete with projections of Walter Cronkite’s dramatic assassination coverage, and last, but certainly not least, the power of Breen’s affirmative coda, “You Know Who You Are.”

Filmmakers like to speak of their work as collaborative, but of course they’re not the only ones whose outputs are the labor of many hands. What astonishes (but given the talent level doesn’t surprise) is “That Woman: The Dance Show” was seamlessly woven together in terms of the choreography and performances. There was no “dip” in either quality or energy throughout the 100-minute, two-act piece. It was moving, entertaining, thrilling, stunning and beautiful to watch.

A Thankful Wish

If you didn’t see these shows in their inaugural productions here’s hoping these two creative, thought-provoking, emotionally complex, entertaining shows will return to the stage soon. How lucky we are to have so many gifted artists and artisans in our community giving us works such as these.

And Some Extras…

Some photos from the monologue show:

Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin
Photo by Rick Malkin

A taste of the movement in “That Woman — The Dance Show” is available through the video below that was shot to preview the piece online:

Some pictures from the dance show:

Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Photo by Beth Gwinn
Logo courtesy Tennessee Playwrights Studio

Filed Under: Arts, Dance, Features, Reviews, Theater

Nashville Playwright Cynthia C. Harris’ ‘The Calling Is In The Body’ Among 2022 Actors Bridge Ensemble Selections

November 19, 2021 by Staff Reports

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Actors Bridge Ensemble (ABE) has today announced its 2022 Season which will include THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES by Eve Ensler, TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS by Nia Vardalos based on the bestselling book by Cheryl Strayed, ACT LIKE A GRRRL 2022 and the world premiere of THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY by Nashville’s Cynthia C. Harris, plus their monthly storytelling series, FIRST TIME STORIES.

The professional troupe’s COVID Safety Protocols have allowed ABE to return to in-person programming while caring first and foremost for the well-being of actors, designers and audiences, according to a press release. Consultation with medical advisors has given the company confidence that it can proceed with producing plays again in 2022.

“Our last in-person production was THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES at City Winery in February 2020. It feels fitting that our return is with this Actors Bridge classic, which Nashville keeps saying they still love to hear,” says Vali Forrister, ABE Producing Artistic Director. “We first produced THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES in 2000. While it’s not as controversial as it used to be, it continues to inspire and change people’s lives when they experience it.”

The proceeds from THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES will help support Act Like a GRRRL and offer teenage girls in financial need the tools to find their voices, speak their truths and develop the confidence to stand up for themselves and their beliefs.

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS was slated to be part of ABE’s 2020 season that was canceled due to COVID-19. Variety calls it a “theatrical hug for turbulent times” – exactly what Nashville needs right now.

Forrister will return to the stage for the first time in seven years (since ABE’s production of THE NETHER) to play the role of “Sugar.” Founding board member and program committee chair Pierre Johnson explains, “Vali spends so much time teaching, producing and administrating for Actors Bridge that she rarely gets time to be onstage. We think it is important for our students to see her in action.

“I remember the first time I saw her perform. It was in TALLEY’S FOLLY (by Lanford Wilson, which ABE presented in its 1996-97 season). I had been studying Meisner for a while, but it was in seeing Vali act that I finally understood what the technique was really all about. Some moments are burned in your memory. That’s one for me.”

ACT LIKE A GRRRL will perform at the end of June as the GRRRLS do every summer. ABE will wrap up its 2022 Season with the World Premiere of Cynthia Harris’ new play THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY which was initially sparked by a conversation between Cynthia and Vali exactly seven years ago.

“With this season, we are continuing to dig deep into the power of stories to make us feel less alone and help us feel more deeply known,” says Vali. “Our mission is to tell the stories Nashville needs to hear.

“Right now, those are stories of hope and belonging.”

Actors Bridge is both a professional theater company and Nashville’s longest-running acting school. It trains actors in the Meisner Technique and supplements that training with other courses. Beginning in March 2022, ABE will partner with the René Millan Acting Studio to provide classes in the Suzuki Method and Acting for the Camera.

Actors Bridge Ensemble 2022 Season

First Time Stories
Third Friday of the month, 6-8 p.m.

Dec 17
Jan 21
Feb 18
Mar 18
Apr 15
May 20

Venue: Actors Bridge Studio (4610 Charlotte Ave) Tickets: $5
Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/FTS-12-19-21

First kiss, first heartbreak, first bike ride, first time you broke the rules. The firsts in our
lives form compelling and touching moments of real-life theater. And, we all have an endless
supply. Now in its 10th year, FIRST TIME STORIES is a great way to meet new people, connect across shared experiences and radical differences. You may come in knowing no one, but you will leave with a room full of friends. That’s the power of stories.

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES
by Eve Ensler
A benefit for Act Like a GRRRL

Director: Vali Forrister

Date: Wednesday, Feb 9 at 7 p.m.
Venue: City Winery Nashville (609 Lafayette St) Tickets: $25-40

Ticket link: https://bit.ly/TheVaginaMonologues2-9-22

Twenty years ago Actors Bridge Ensemble was the first to bring THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES to town in what has become known as a “very high-profile annual communal event in Nashville ” (Nashville Scene). The play introduces a wildly divergent gathering of female-identifying voices including a six-year-old girl, a 70-something New Yorker, a vagina workshop participant, a woman who witnesses the birth of her granddaughter, a Bosnian survivor of rape, and a feminist, happy to have found a man who “liked to look at it.” All proceeds benefit Act Like a GRRRL, a writing and performance program that inspires teenage girls to find their voice and speak their truths on stage and in life.

Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Based on the Book by Cheryl Strayed Adapted for the Stage by Nia Vardalos
Co-Conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, and Nia Vardalos

Director: Leah Lowe

Dates: April 1-3 and 6-10, 2022 Venue: Actors Bridge Studio Tickets: $25-30
Ticket Link: https://bit.ly/ABE-TBT

Based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed (author of WILD), TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS follows the relationships between an anonymous advice columnist named Sugar and the many real-life readers who pour out their hearts to her. Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) adapts Strayed’s book into an enrapturing and uplifting play rich with humor, insight, and compassion. TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS is about reaching when you’re stuck, recovering when you’re broken, and finding the courage to ask the questions that are hardest to answer. Contains adult content.

Presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.

Act Like a GRRRL 2022 By the GRRRLS

Director: Vali Forrister

Dates: June 24-25 Tickets: $10-15

Celebrating our 18th year, Act Like a GRRRL is a devised theater piece created by a group of teenage girls who come together to tell the stories of their lives. Join us for wit, wisdom and inspiration from the cusp of adulthood.

About Act Like a GRRRL:
Created and developed by Vali Forrister in 2004, Act Like a GRRRL (ALAG) is an autobiographical
writing and performance program that empowers teenage girls to write about their lives, and
transform their thoughts into monologues, dances, and songs for public performance. As GRRRLS find their voice and speak their truths on stage, they develop the self-confidence and leadership skills to live more empowered lives. Participants report a significant increase in self-respect, academic excellence, improved relationships with family / friends, intolerance for bullying and hope for the future. Now accepting applications for ALAG 2022. Click here to learn more.

THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY
by Cynthia C. Harris

Director: Cynthia C. Harris

Dates: July 2022 (exact dates and venue to be announced in the spring) Tickets: $25-30

THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY is an exploration of memory, purpose, community and environment. Local playwright Cynthia Harris (HOW TO CATCH A FLYING WOMAN) again combines her passion for art and public health, as she explores a foundational relationship with early local HIV educator and radical trouble maker, the late and beloved Deidre Williams. THE CALLING IS IN THE BODY is part of Ms. Harris’ forthcoming THE MAGNOLIA TRILOGY. Ms. Harris is a member of our Directors Inclusion Initiative.

Filed Under: Arts, Theater

Theater Preview: Pipeline-Collective Joins With NECAT For Live Theatrical Event That Offers 12 Hours ‘Outside Of Here’

September 22, 2021 by Evans Donnell

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Imagine a live theatrical broadcast/online experience that offers 32 of Nashville’s finest actors with a “Groundhog Day“-like twist on the COVID age. Pipeline-Collective Producing Artistic Directors David Ian Lee and Karen Sternberg have imagined such an event and it becomes reality on Saturday, Oct. 2 from 10 AM Central to 10 PM Central on NECAT (Comcast channel 9, ATT U-verse channel 100), Nashville’s Education, Community and Arts Television Network, as well as live streams.

“What we are attempting to achieve through this world-premiere work by Claudia Barnett is unlike anything else that’s being produced at a national level,” Lee recently emailed Stage Critic as he, Sternberg, Lee’s co-director Melinda Sewak, and rest of their “Outside Of Here” creative team prepared for the unique and ambitious offering. “It will be a straight 12-hour performance, with Karen on set throughout. In that time, she’ll perform the same two-person scene with dozens of scene partners.

“Claudia has written a piece designed to be replayed as a time loop, so each viewer’s experience will be different. An earlier viewing will be different from a viewing late in the day, and someone who sticks around for multiple iterations of the scene will appreciate the subtleties and the overall arc of the piece,” Lee explained. “This has been a logistical puzzle to assemble at every level – we’ve been developing the play since the spring, we’re working in a new medium (television and livestream), we’re bringing together 32 performers, we’re assembling an agile technical team, and we’re doing it all while implementing stringent Covid safety protocols. Because of the livestream, the piece can be viewed from anywhere with wifi!”

In addition to the Nashville broadcast viewers can access the livestream from anywhere through Pipeline-Collective’s Facebook page or NECAT’s livestream. The performance is free to watch though donations will be shared among the artists working on the piece. Click here to support the “Outside Of Here” artists.

Joining Sternberg in the cast are Rebekah Alexander, Matthew Benenson Cruz, Rona Carter, Joel Diggs, Rosemary Fossee, Galen Fott, Diego Gomez, Denice Hicks, Josh Inocalla, Jonah Jackson, Josh Kiev, Ang Madaline-Johnson, Leslie Marberry, Mary McCallum, Kate McGunagle, Nat McIntyre, René Millán, Sabrina Moore, Beth Anne Musiker, Gerold Oliver, Eric Pasto-Crosby, Eve Petty, Taryn Pray, Natalie Rankin, Elliott Robinson, J.R. Robles (also the show’s technical director), Jordan Scott, Tamiko Robinson Steele, Shawn Whitsell, Garris Wimmer, and Sarah Zanotti. NECAT’s technical team consists of Samantha Burns, Alex Keenum, and Will Ybarra; Phillip Franck is production design consultant; Eric Franzen is costume designer; Eli Van Sickel is sound designer; production support is provided by Alex Drinnen and David Johnson; Sejal Mehta, M.D. is COVID Protocols Consultant and Lee is the production’s certified COVID compliance officer.

Those working on it said inspiration for “Outside Of Here” came not only from life in the COVID era but from such pre-pandemic works as the 1993 Bill Murray hit film mentioned earlier; Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame,” with its characters apparently trapped at world’s end (and which includes the line “Outside of here it’s death” from which the play’s title is drawn); and the masterful absurdist repetitions of Eugène Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano.”

The project also gave Pipeline-Collective a chance to build on relationships and virtual storytelling techniques developed in The Salon, its new works program. “We moved The Salon online from the beginning (of the pandemic) and focused on local and national community-building with playwrights, directors, and actors,” Sternberg said in a press release. “It’s this community of more than 300 people that inspires us, that pushes us creatively, and that provides us more support than we can ever return. Being able to realize this massive yet safe project with dozens of local performers and technicians after so much time physically apart is deeply gratifying. And working with Claudia Barnett, who’s one of the most poetic playwrights we know, has been the perfect fit for this project.”

Part of that emphasis on safety means no live audience at the NECAT studios. It also means the show’s fully vaccinated actors won’t share the same physical space until performance day. “That’s part of the magic, the unpredictable element. That’s where planning and inspiration collide and create something compelling,” Sternberg noted.

Pipeline-Collective has kept up with the latest safety guidelines issued by the CDC, Metro Nashville, and the performing artists’ unions such as SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity Association. In addition to everyone working on “Outside of Here” being fully vaccinated, every person in the building will be masked for the duration of the performance unless they’re on camera.

“Outside Of Here” is produced in collaboration with Cameron McCasland, who serves as the Director of Content and Member Relations for NECAT. “We’re so thrilled to partner with Cameron on this project,” said Sternberg. “He has an unwavering enthusiasm for unorthodox work, and we’re eager to branch out beyond conventional theatrical spaces. The PEG Studio at NECAT is literally the only place where we could make what we’re trying to make. We consider ourselves so fortunate to have found such a great creative partner.”

“Innovation is key to the work we do,” Lee concluded. “We believe in theatrical magic on a shoestring budget, and ‘Outside Of Here’ is stretching us in many ways. We’re a theatre company. We’ve never produced something that’s one-part theatre, one-part endurance art, one-part multicamera live television event. This is going to be wild.”

https://www.pipeline-collective.com/support-the-artists

Filed Under: Arts, Theater, TV

August Wilson’s ‘Jitney’ With Kamal Angelo Bolden & Brian Anthony Wilson Kicks Off 2021 Summer Shakespeare Festival

August 9, 2021 by Evans Donnell

The Nashville cast of August Wilson’s “Jitney” (Photo by Michael Gomez www.gomezphotography.com)

Nashville, Tenn. – August Wilson’s “Jitney” opens Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 2021 Summer Shakespeare Thursday with two well-known TV and film actors leading an accomplished cast, an award-winning and highly regarded director and a five-time Grammy winner providing original music.

Local Black-owned theater company Kennie Playhouse Theatre is collaborating with Nashville Shakes to produce the show, which runs Aug. 12-22 at oneC1TY in Nashville, and Sept. 16-17 at Williamson County Performing Arts Center at Academy Park in Franklin, Tenn.

The cast of “Jitney” – as the production’s press release notes, “an unflinching look into the stories and struggles of Black life in 1970’s Pittsburgh through the lens of a group of tight-knit, independent cab, or jitney, drivers” – includes Emmy-nominated Kamal Angelo Bolden of TV’s “The Resident”, “Chicago Fire”, and “Rosewood” playing Booster and Brian Anthony Wilson, a prolific TV and film actor widely known for his role on TV’s “The Wire”, playing the jitney station owner, Becker. The play will also feature Kyra Davis as Rena and Nashville-based professional actors Gerold Oliver, Clark Harris, Pierre Johnson, Elliot Winston Robinson, and Jarvis Bynum. Kenny Dozier, Artistic Director of Kennie Playhouse Theatre plays the role of Turnbo. Rashad Rayford and Ethan Jones will join the cast as Booster and Shealy respectively in Franklin. Fisk University instructor Persephone Felder Fentress completes the team as the stage manager.

Directing “Jitney” is the award-winning, veteran director Chuck Smith. He is a 30-year Resident Director at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, a Resident Director at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Fl., and a founding member of the Chicago Theatre Company. Smith has numerous directing credits across the nation and has won several awards over the decades including a Chicago Emmy and the African American Arts Alliance’s Lifetime Legacy Award.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning bassist Victor Wooten recently joined the creative team. Wooten, also a songwriter and record producer who was ranked among the Top 10 Bassists of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine, will compose original music for the show.

The creative team of “Jitney” also includes local set designer Shane Lowry, who is building the versatile set for both shows at the Summer Shakespeare Festival (their production of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” runs Aug. 26-Sept. 12 at oneC1ty and Sept. 18-19 at the Williamson County Performing Arts Center), costumes are designed by Hazel Robinson, lights by Janet Berka, props by Pixie Convertino, and fights choreographed by David Wilkerson.

“Jitney” and “Twelfth Night” mark the summer festival’s return after a one-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The festival has protocols in place to protect cast, crew and patrons during performances. NSF last presented a lovely production of “The Tempest” in 2019. Nashville Shakespeare also produced two wonderful educational films for students earlier this year adapted from “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

Summer Shakespeare Festival is free, but donations of $10 or more are strongly encouraged for the continued operation of the esteemed nonprofit professional company that began in 1988 with a TheateRevolution production of “As You Like It” in Centennial Park. Patrons can bring their own blanket or chairs, purchase reserved “Noble” seating for $40 or buy $100 VIP Royal Packages, which include reserved parking, comfortable reserved seating, and dinner catered by Bacon & Caviar Gourmet Catering.

Go to ticketsnashville.com to purchase those seats/packages. “Jitney” is rated MA for mature audiences. The Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s programs are funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission, Metro Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Filed Under: Arts, Theater

Theater Review: The Loving Grace of Good Art in Nashville Rep’s Relevant ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’

February 16, 2020 by Evans Donnell

Karen Sternberg as Blanche (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

“The world is violent and mercurial – it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love – love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.” Tennessee Williams to James Grissom (author of “Follies of God: Tennessee Williams and the Women of the Fog”), New Orleans, 1982

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9, New International Version

Eric D. Pasto-Crosby as Stanley and Karen Sternberg as Blanche (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

There may be nothing new under the sun, but the loving grace of good art creates the welcome illusion of originality. It’s welcome because that illusion encourages us to see and hear in ways we often don’t when confronted with something that feels familiar. (That familiarity simply breeds contempt, according to Geoffrey Chaucer and so many others down the centuries…)

Such loving grace is powerfully present as one watches Nashville Repertory Theatre’s current production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” That means it’s easy to forget you read the 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play in school, that you’ve seen stage presentations in the past or watched the altered shape it took as a 1951 film, as you watch the vibrant work now on searing display in Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Johnson Theater.

Karen Sternberg as Blanche, Eric D. Pasto-Crosby as Stanley and Tamiko Robinson Steele as Stella (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

Director Nat McIntyre clearly understands the challenge of bringing such a venerated 20th Century American drama to a 21st Century stage. “The trap that must be avoided is to present a masterpiece from the past as a piece of art hanging in a museum,” he writes in his play program note. “That lets us off the hook. And Tennessee Williams was certainly not interested in letting anyone off the hook.”

First, McIntyre has assembled a team of artisans to make the play’s world come alive in setting, costumes, lighting and more. Gary C. Hoff (in his 20th season at the Rep) gives us a richly detailed set for the humble Elysian Fields apartment where Stanley and Stella Kowalski live, love, laugh and fight; Matt Logan’s costumes are the perfect fit of fabrics, colors and contours from seven decades ago; Phillip Franck’s lighting design (particularly during the play’s climatic scene)  morosely illuminates the action without intruding on it; and Kyle Odum fits the syncopated sounds of “Streetcar” seamlessly into the piece. In mentioning those offering their talents to this show I’d be remiss to leave out Nettie Kraft, who oversees the fine dialect work for this production – good dialect work illuminates and engages, while bad distracts and destroys believability, so it’s vitally importance to the performance – and the very believable fight choreography of Carrie Brewer.

James Crawford as Mitch and Karen Sternberg as Blanche (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

Second, he’s cast well in all roles. James Crawford makes a heartbreakingly sensitive Mitch; Matthew Benenson Cruz’s energy as Pablo is perfect; James Randolph and Merrie Shearer give us complete characterizations as Steve and Eunice, the upstairs neighbors and landlords of the Kowalskis. Connor Weaver and Melinda Sewak ably appear in more than one guise during the proceedings, but most notably as the doctor and nurse in the final scene; and as the Young Collector, Brooks Bennett is the personification of pure youth.

The primary challenge to playing Stella Kowalski is that her husband Stanley and sister Blanche DuBois can easily suck all the air out of the room; to believe she can more than handle breathing that same air, to show the steel behind Stella’s smile, is no easy task. That’s why Tamiko Robinson Steele (no pun intended from that previous sentence) is just what Stella needs – a superb actor that shows every shade of Stella’s humanity and makes us understand why her character not only survives but thrives in a human hothouse.

Eric D. Pasto-Crosby as Stanley (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

Eric D. Pasto-Crosby brilliantly conveys the brutishness (down to his walk and stances) and tenderness in Stanley. We don’t condone much of what he says and does – including the abhorrent violence he inflicts on Stella and Blanche – but we understand his tremendously flawed humanity through the lens of Pasto-Crosby’s performance. His pain and rage is palpable, but so is his love and need for Stella.

The highest compliment this one-time actor can give players is that I don’t see them in the role. That is most certainly true of the utterly incredible Pipeline-Collective Co-Producing Artistic Director Karen Sternberg in her Nashville Rep main stage debut as Blanche; she dives so deeply into the troubled, crumbling psyche of her character that I forgot while watching that I’d ever seen her in anything else or even met her anywhere else. There’s so much to praise about her performance, but I think all well-deserved plaudits for her portrayal stem from the way she believably, patiently, excruciatingly builds Blanche’s fantasy-to-lunacy descent. Even those with just a passing “Streetcar” familiarity know what’s coming – “Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” – and yet, when it comes out of Sternberg’s mouth in a tone of self-aware, fatalistic resignation, the effect is a stunning thunderclap to our collective spirit.

Brooks Bennett as the Young Collector and Karen Sternberg as Blanche (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

In an essay published in The New York Times four days before “Streetcar” had its 1947 Broadway premiere (headlined “Tennessee Williams on a Streetcar Named Success”), Williams asked, “Then what is good? The obsessive interest in human affairs, plus a certain amount of compassion and moral conviction, that first made the experience of living something that must be translated into pigment or music or bodily movement or poetry or prose or anything that’s dynamic and expressive – that’s what’s good for you if you’re at all serious in your aims.” McIntyre and his Nashville Rep colleagues have made a very dynamic and expressive “Streetcar” that pays proper tribute to the masterful talent that wrote it while gracing us with their good and oh-so-humanely-relevant work.

Tamiko Robinson Steele as Stella and Eric D. Pasto-Crosby as Stanley (photo for Nashville Repertory Theatre by Michael Scott Evans)

In addition to those mentioned in the review the following are significant contributors to this production: assistant director Claire Hopkins; stage manager Teresa Driver; assistant stage manager Kristen Goodwin; production director Christopher L. Jones; props master Amanda Creech; scene shop foreman R. Preston Perrin; master carpenter Tucker Steinlage; costume manager Lori Gann-Smith; wardrobe supervisor Lakeland Gordon; costume technician Lauren Elizabeth Terry; rentals manager Emily Irene Peck; artistic associate Erica Jo Lloyd; Maggie Jackson and Karch Abramson, run crew.

Nashville Repertory Theatre’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” continues through Sunday. February 23 in Johnson Theater at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

Filed Under: Arts, Reviews, Theater

Theater Review: A Handsome ‘My Fair Lady’ Revival Tour

February 6, 2020 by Evans Donnell

Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle (on stairs) and Company in The Lincoln Center Theater tour production of Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” (Photo by Joan Marcus)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Center Theater national tour of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “loverly” classic “My Fair Lady” is in handsome residence at Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall this week. The revival helmed by acclaimed director Bartlett Sher has quite a bit to recommend it (including Michael Yeargan’s set design of colorful compositions and Catherine Zuber’s Tony Award-winning costumes).

Not every choice or moment is perfect – despite what some have written and said, this is no “perfect musical,” in any incarnation, since no human endeavor (including theater criticism) is without flaws. But those imperfections are not so great as to make Lerner and Loewe’s 1956 musical version of George Bernard Shaw’s brilliant “Pygmalion” Edwardian satire (aided or hindered, depending on one’s taste, by the 1938 Gabriel Pascal-produced film adaption of the play Shaw wrote in 1912) anything less than platinum from Broadway’s Golden Age.

How to handle (a slight nod to another Lerner and Loewe show) this “Lady?” In a recent National Public Radio interview Sher (who among other assignments directed a well-received revival of “South Pacific,” for which he won a Tony, and the recent Aaron Sorkin-adapted smash of “To Kill a Mockingbird”) said, “Whenever you do one of these musicals, you have to look at the immediate significance of the time you’re in and why are you doing it right now.” Sher’s take centers on the strength of Eliza’s character, very fitting for this (or any) age.

And who plays the indomitable Eliza in this tour? Shereen Ahmed, who understudied (and eventually played) the part at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre while working as an ensemble member, stars in that role now. She has a beautiful soprano voice that’s just as capable in pursuit of earthier low notes as it is soaring to hit the high ones. And she’s no one’s flower trod in the mud, conveying the inner strength that shines through Eliza whether she’s a Cockney on fire in “Just You Wait” or when she emerges exultant (“I Could Have Danced All Night”) from her run through Higgins’ tortuous educational gauntlet. I’d like to see what she’d make of a role created in a more modern vein (watching her I wondered what she’d make of Dina in “The Band’s Visit,” for instance – Katrina Lenk was stupendous but I think Ahmed could do that and many other roles justice as well).

Kevin Pariseau as Colonel Pickering, Laird Mackintosh as Professor Henry Higgins and Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle in The Lincoln Center Theater tour production of Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” (Photo by Joan Marcus)

Laird Mackintosh makes a decent Henry Higgins, and his voice when singing certainly has much more to recommend it than the “talk on the beat” performance Rex Harrison made famous in the original stage production and the 1964 Warner Bros. film – among other roles he’s been the lead character in the unstoppable “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, which is after all a sung-through experience. He’s quite good conveying Higgins’ passion for “the majesty and grandeur of the English language,” and the shrillness that accompanies petulant man-child moments (such as in “I’m an Ordinary Man” and “A Hymn to Him”) for his character is strong. But there are moments when I wanted to see the aspects of an imperious martinet more clearly in his characterization – among other things, that makes parts of “The Servants’ Chorus” even more ironically entertaining.

Adam Grupper is always believable and utterly entertaining as Alfred P. Doolittle. Whether he’s romping through “With a Little Bit of Luck,” the “Get Me to the Church on Time” number that spotlights Christopher Gattelli’s ingratiating choreography, or providing his character’s oh-so-original morality musings, Grupper’s energy, delivery, gestures and reactions fit every moment like the well-tailored morning suit rags-to-riches Alfie is ultimately doomed to don.

Other standouts in the ensemble include the engaging characterizations offered by Leslie Alexander as Mrs. Higgins and Wade McCollum as Professor Zoltan Karpathy – both obviously relish their roles and reinforce the notion that we’ll embrace characterizations when the actors thoroughly embrace their characters. There’s solid work from other supporting players, including Kevin Pariseau as Colonel Pickering, Sam Simahk as Freddy Eynsford-Hill (a pleasant rendition of “On the Street Where You Live”) and Gayton Scott as Mrs. Pearce. I also salute the ensemble’s delightfully droll “Ascot Gavotte” among their other moments onstage – the program says that ensemble includes Mark Aldrich, Rajeer Alford, Colin Anderson, Polly Baird, Mark Banik, Kaitlyn Frank, Henry Byalikov, Michael Biren, Shavey Brown, Anne Brummel, Mary Callanan, Jennifer Evans, Nicole Ferguson, Juliane Godfrey, Colleen Grate, Patrick Kerr, Brandon Leffler, Nathalie Marrable, William Michals, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, JoAnna Rhinehart, Sarah Quinn Taylor, Fana Tesfagiorgis, Michael Williams and John T. Wolfe.

Adam Grupper as Alfred P. Doolittle and Company in The Lincoln Center Theater tour production of Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” (Photo by Joan Marcus)

Music Director John Bell’s orchestra for the Nashville portion of the tour includes local musicians Amy Helman, Avery Bright, Paul Nelson, Patrick Atwater, Matt Davich, Robby Shankle, Randy Ford, Andrew Witherington, Andrew Golden, Garrett Faccone, Harry Ditzel, Tara Johnson, Bill Huber, Phyllis Sparks, Kelsi Fulton and Paul Ross. It’s tough to bring local and out-of-town musicians together for such a short run, but always worth it – “canned” music never sounds as good as actual playing in the pit.

Let’s also send thanks to associate set designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, lighting designer Donald Holder, sound designer Marc Salzberg. associate director Sari Ketter, associate choreographer Mark Myars, technical supervisor Larry Morley, company manager Jeff Mensch, production stage manager Donavan Dolan and any others connected to this show. It’s easy to forget that there are many gifted hands needed to present such large-scale productions.

(Warning: A finale spoiler follows. If you don’t want to know, stop reading now.)

There’s been plenty of debate about Lerner and Loewe’s ambiguous ending for “My Fair Lady.” As I’ve said in other reviews, I prefer that audience members make up their own minds whether Eliza stays with Higgins, becoming romantically involved with him, or merely comes to say goodbye, before either starting life with Freddy or on her own.

Over to you, Mr. Sher: “Shaw hated the idea that they will ever, ever end up together,” he told NPR. “He was anti rom-com of any kind. He was an incredible feminist, fought hard for all kinds of equality.”

JoAnna Rhinehart as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, Sam Simahk as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle, Kevin Pariseau as Colonel Pickering and Leslie Alexander as Mrs. Higgins in The Lincoln Center Theater tour production of Lerner & Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” (Photo by Joan Marcus)

Okay. I prefer that she doesn’t become Higgins’ lover. But as Sher stages it, after the final lines of the musical (and as Loewe’s score crescendos to its triumphant end), Eliza walks to Higgins, puts her hand on his chest, then turns, steps in front of him, and after a brief stop walks off the turntable set leaving Higgins with a rather “Aw, shucks” look on his face as the stage lights dim.

Sher’s staging of the finale isn’t ambiguous, but that would be alright if it wasn’t also an abandonment of the play’s world. I’m sure Sher and his colleagues have an answer, but watching that moment my instant reaction was “Why not leave the way she came?”

The Lincoln Center Theater national tour of “My Fair Lady” continues through Sunday (Feb. 9) at Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall. For more information on the tour click here; to buy tickets for the Nashville run click here.

The following video offers a look at the cast that’s playing in Nashville:

Filed Under: Arts, Reviews, Theater

Theater Review: The ‘Ravaged Wasteland’ of Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s Intriguing ‘Macbeth’

January 23, 2020 by Evans Donnell

Mariah Parris as Lady Macbeth and Sam Ashdown as Macbeth (Photo by Rick Malkin)

“What things in our lives tempt us to deny the humanity in others, and by doing so, throw away part of our own? Is what remains, in a post-civilization world where so much of our humanity has been lost, even more precious? What, in such a ravaged wasteland, could lead us to abandon those last cherished scraps of humanity? And what would be the consequences?” – Director David Wilkerson in a program note for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s “Winter Shakespeare” production of William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”

David Wilkerson and his Nashville Shakespeare Festival colleagues have stared into the post-apocalyptic abyss of a “Macbeth” where the title character’s “black and deep desires” play out in a ravaged wasteland brilliantly realized by set designer Jim Manning. It’s a world that intrigues, not least because it provokes the unsettling feeling this might possibly become our so-called civilization’s future.

Sam Ashdown as Macbeth and Jordan Gleaves as Banquo (Photo by Rick Malkin)

This bleak “cockpit” (to borrow from the Bard’s “Henry V”), first replicated on the Troutt Theater stage through Sunday (Jan. 26) before proceeding to venues in Franklin, Murfreesboro, Tullahoma and Clarksville, is the space where some gifted players remind us of Shakespeare’s imaginative power. In a play like “The Tempest” that imaginative power creates Prospero’s legacy; in “Macbeth” it virtually destroys a society.

When Nashville Shakes visited this work in 2013 under the direction of former Nashvillian Matt Chiorini it was an intoxicating brew of spellbinding imagery, music (including Nine Inch Nails tunes) and movement that stimulated the senses. Those senses still get a workout watching this production, but what was other-worldly then is very, very worldly now. Each age must have its Shakespeare, and other than the obvious light his work casts on unchanging human nature, the fact that such different takes on this familiar play by the same troupe can each succeed within the mere span of seven years reminds us the Bard is basically adaptable anytime, anywhere and in any way.

Elyse Dawson as Macduff and Mariah Parris as Lady Macbeth with Ensemble (Photo by Rick Malkin)

The Rick Malkin pictures that accompany this review convey a scorched earth set of human “progress”: its centerpiece is a tower of mankind’s cast-off follies, including a doorway of stripped plastic and a satellite dish that long ago ceased to receive any signals. Add Jocelyn Melechinsky’s inspired costumes – most notably the head-to-toe garb and gas masks worn by the witches (Delaney Keith, Natalie Rankin and Kit Bulla) – to that desolate backdrop and the vision of this “Macbeth” is instantly one of dissipation and desolation.

Sam Ashdown as Macbeth (Photo by Rick Malkin)

At the heart of this nightmarish vision stands the title character played by Sam Ashdown. Ashdown makes Shakespeare’s verse his own language, and never forgets that audience and actor are on a journey instead of merely meeting at a destination – in his performance the whisper of Macbeth’s tragic flaws clearly and believably builds to a roar by the time he has that fateful encounter with Macduff (every inch a great warrior in the talented hands of Elyse Dawson). Macbeth’s “dagger of the mind” seems all too real when Ashdown delivers it, a suitably startling shock to the system from which he and we never totally recover; his “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…” unfolds with such resigned despair that despite his blood-steeped sins we’re truly touched by its plaintive dispatch.

Mariah Parris as Lady Macbeth (Photo by Rick Malkin)

Mariah Parris is the perfect partner to Ashdown as Lady Macbeth, making her character’s arc from calculating resolve to sorrowful madness seem so palpable that we truly grieve when her husband says, “She should have died hereafter.” According to more than one scholar Lady Macbeth was based on Gruoch ingen Boite, the granddaughter of an ancient king and the mother of another, whose first husband was the King of Moray. That husband and allegedly her offspring, a King of the Scots, were murdered; in this production a scene of Lady Macbeth mourning the loss of an infant serves as a powerful preamble to her words, actions and possible motivations.

The Witches (Delaney Keith, Natalie Rankin, Kit Bulla) face Macbeth (Photo by Rick Malkin)

In this production’s viewpoint gender is by attributes, not physicality, so male and female actors play roles of different genders. That, as well as multiple roles assumed by several company members (for example, longtime Nashville Shakes performer Brian Russell has four roles, including the ill-fated Duncan), would be confusing without actors capable of committing to clear choices for each of their parts; the aforementioned performers along with others in the ensemble (Jordan Gleaves, Lucy Buchanan, Déyonté Jenkins, Jonathan Contreras, Joy Greenawalt-Lay, Micah Williams and Andrew Johnson) are quite good at making each role distinct. For instance, in addition to playing one of the decidedly disturbing witches, Keith offers us marvelous comic relief as the Porter; her bawdy explanation regarding three things drinking provokes is an hilarious gem.

Brian Russell as Duncan with Ensemble (Photo by Rick Malkin)

Among the other highly professional elements in this production are the appropriately off-kilter lighting design of the wonderful Anne Willingham, the excellent fight choreography by Wilkerson and Carrie Brewer, the throbbing sounds supplied by Evan Wilkerson, the wide array of props from Amanda Creech and the expert stage management of Daniel C. Brewer assisted by Kilby Yarbrough.

Harold Bloom, the critic/scholar who died last October after decades of analyzing and writing about Shakespeare’s work, opined that given the hold imagination has over this work, “The motto of Macbeth, both play and person, could well be: ‘And nothing is, but what is not.'” Wilkerson and his NSF colleagues have created and defined a particular world for their “Macbeth,” but their skills and commitment to the text insure this production intrigues us by never ceasing to work on our imaginations.

Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 2020 Winter Shakespeare production of “Macbeth” continues in various Middle Tennessee locations through Feb. 21. For more information on places, times and tickets please click here.

Filed Under: Arts, Reviews, Theater

#HAM4HAM Nashville Digital Lottery For Dec. 31-Jan. 19 TPAC ‘Hamilton’ Run Begins This Sunday: 40 $10 Tickets Per Show

December 28, 2019 by Staff Reports

The “Hamilton” national tour company (photo by Joan Marcus)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Producer Jeffrey Seller and Tennessee Performing Arts Center announce a digital lottery for “Hamilton” tickets will begin with the show’s first performance on Dec. 31 in Nashville at TPAC’s Jackson Hall.

Forty (40) tickets will be sold for every performance for $10 each. The digital lottery will open at 11 a.m. on Dec. 29 for tickets to the Tuesday, Dec. 31 performance. Subsequent digital lotteries will begin two days prior to each performance.

Regular-price tickets for “Hamilton” went on sale to the general public in November. Patrons are advised to check official channels and TPAC.org for late release seats which may become available at short notice.

How to Enter

• Use the official app for “Hamilton,” now available for all iOS and Android devices in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store (http://hamiltonmusical.com/app).

• You can also visit http://hamiltonmusical.com/lottery to register once the lottery begins for Nashville.

• The lottery will open at 11 a.m. two days prior to the performance date and will close for entry at 9 a.m. the day prior to the performance.

• Winner and non-winner notifications will be sent between Noon and 4 p.m. the day prior to the performance via email and SMS (if mobile number is provided).

• No purchase or payment necessary to enter or participate.

• Each winning entrant may purchase up to two (2) tickets.

• Only one entry per person. Repeat entries and disposable email addresses will be discarded.

• Tickets must be purchased online with a credit card by 4 p.m. the day prior to the performance using the purchase link and code in a customized notification email. Tickets not claimed by 4 p.m. the day prior to the performance are forfeited.

• Lottery tickets may be picked up at Will Call beginning two (2) hours prior to the performance with a valid photo ID. Lottery tickets void if resold.

• All times listed are in central time zone.

Additional Rules

Patrons must be 18 years or older and have a valid, non-expired photo ID that matches the name used to enter. Tickets are non-transferable. Ticket limits and prices displayed are at the sole discretion of the show and are subject to change without notice.

Lottery prices are not valid on prior purchases. Lottery ticket offer cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions. All sales final – no refunds or exchanges. Lottery may be revoked or modified at any time without notice. No purchase necessary to enter or win. A purchase will not improve the chances of winning.

ABOUT THE “HAMILTON” THEATRICAL PHENOMENON

“Hamilton” is the story of America then told by America now.  Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, “Hamilton” has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theatre—a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education.

With book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, and musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, “Hamilton” is based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography. It has won Tony®, Grammy®, and Olivier Awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and an unprecedented special citation from the Kennedy Center Honors.

The “Hamilton” creative team previously collaborated on the 2008 Tony Award ®-Winning Best Musical “In The Heights.”

“Hamilton” features scenic design by David Korins, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Nevin Steinberg, hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe, casting by Telsey + Company, Bethany Knox, CSA, and General Management by Baseline Theatrical.

The musical is produced by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman and The Public Theater.

The “Hamilton” Original Broadway Cast Recording is available everywhere nationwide.  The Hamilton recording received a 2016 Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album.

For more information, visit www.HamiltonMusical.com and follow “Hamilton” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

“Hamilton”
Dec. 31, 2019 – Jan. 19, 2020
TPAC’s Jackson Hall
505 Deaderick St.

https://stagecritic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/HAM_SF_Montage.mp4

Filed Under: Arts, Theater

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in