Music City Confidential

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MUSIC CITY CONFIDENTIAL #6: All The News from Onstage,
Offstage, Backstage and Beyond
Back to the Article
by Jeffrey Ellis
As summer
temperatures
continue to
hover near the
100-degree
mark, it’s as if
the theater
community
itself has
caught fire and
there’s more
interesting and
intriguing
theater going
on in Nashville than you can shake a stick at (if,
that is, you wanted to shake a stick at it—which
to me sounds like a futile gesture, since I’ve been shaking my stick at it for longer than I care to
admit). Yet, in all sincerity, there really is a lot going on in these parts this summer, and the
sense of excitement and anticipation is palpable.
We’ve been doing our part to prepare ye the way, watching the action onstage, taking some
furtive peeks backstage, listening to all the offstage gossip and venturing beyond the confines of
the theater to gain the informed knowledge to see more shows in the Volunteer State than you
ever thought possible. So, good people of the theaterati, read on and get all the information you
need to know in this, our latest installment of Music City Confidential. This is #6…
Dancers and dance aficionados all over Nashville had their chance to celebrate National Dance
Day on Saturday, July 28, with events hosted by both Dance Theatre of Tennessee and
Nashville Ballet. The celebrations started early at both DTT and Nashville Ballet, with company
members and students taking part along with members of the public in general and they
continued throughout the day. In fact, the cast of The Nutty Professor Musical, who had two
shows on Saturday, probably brought down the curtain on Music City's celebrations of National
Dance Day when the curtain rang down on their Saturday evening peformance of the new
musical!
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It’s that time of year again: the 2012 First Night Honors
season is under way in earnest in Music City, with the Preview
Party and Announcement of Honorees kicking off festivities on
Monday, July 23. Janie and John Chaffin, the owners of the
venerable Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre played host to about
85 of the theater community’s best and brightest last week to
witness the reveal of the 2012 Class of First Night Honorees,
the winners of the 2012 First Night Star Awards and the names
of this year’s Most Promising Actors. The Class of 2012 includes Maggi Bowden and Sue
Stinemetz, Maryanna and Chris Clarke, Mary Jane Harvill, Chambers Stevens, Jackie
Welch and Paul Vasterling. They will be honored during the upcoming First Night Honors Gala
on Sunday, September 2, at Belmont University’s Troutt Theatre.
The First Night Star Award winners—nine men who’ve
proven themselves leaders of the creative community—are
Matthew Carlton, Wes Driver, Greg Greene, Tim Larson,
Matt Logan, Jim Manning, Johnny Peppers, Eric Ventress
and Shawn Whitsell. They join last year’s Star Award winners
—eight extraordinary women including Maryanna Clarke,
Vali Forrister, Cathy Street, Melissa Bedinger Hade,
Denice Hicks, Mary McCallum, Trish Crist and Kate
Adams—to be singled out for this coveted award. Next year,
both women and men will be honored with Star Awards. Last year’s First Night Honors saluted
women (with a theme of Ladies, First!—thanks to Denice Hicks, we were able to retire our own
“Girls, Girls, Girls” idea), and this year we pay tribute to the theatrical contributions of men.
The 18 younger actors who are designated this year as Most Promising Actors are: Maya
Abram, Blair Allison, Christian Albright-Redden, Delaney Amatrudo, Tyler Ashley,
Douglas Corzine, Gina D’Arco, Spencer Dean, Katelyn Michelle Fiorini, Ryan Garrett,
Matt Hunter, Piper Jones, Stephen Michael Jones, Zane Jordan, Kevin Mead, Caleb
Reynolds, Whitney Vaughn and Luciano Vignola.
Everyone was in a very festive mood at the Preview Party
(which featured a sumptuous buffet prepared by John Chaffin
himself), including Katherine Sandoval Taylor and Stephen
Michael Jones who sang “Love Me As I Am” from Jekyll &
Hyde (they’re singing the lead roles in Jekyll & Hyde in
Concert, presented this coming weekend by Murfreesboro’s
new Stones River Theatre Company, under the direction of
Logan Huber), accompanied on the piano by Warren
Langworthy. Among the festive First Night revelers on hand:
Cary Street, Kate Adams, Suzanne Spooner-Faulk,
Jonathan Pinkerton, Aurora Daniels, Vickie Bailey, Nan
and Wayne Gurley, Angela Gimlin and Jeff Ward, Jennifer
Whitcomb-Oliva, Corrie Miller, Jeremy Maxwell, Neely
and Corbin Green, Lora Phillips Hortert, Sherry SundayBooth, Mel Roady, Francine Berk, Alice Raver, Sandra
and Matt Carlton, Greg Green, Michelle and Wes Driver,
Eric Ventress, Memory Strong, Tim Larson, Darin Richardson, Kevin Mead, Jim
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Manning, Will Butler, Jackie Welch and Mark Schicher, Mary Jane Harvill and Larry
Maxwell, Joy Tilley Perryman, Kim Thorton Nygren, Keith Covington, Erin Matthews
Richardson, Maggi and Lynn Bowden, Maryanna and Chris Clarke, Blair Allison,
Christian Albright-Redden, Delaney Amatrudo, Gina D’Arco, Spencer Dean, Ryan
Garrett, Matt Hunter, Brian Russell, John Silvestro, Luckie Westland and Ed Amatrudo,
Caryll Redden, Sandy Godsey, Robert Stone, Wesley Paine, Jennifer Richmond, Nate
Eppler, Randy Michaels, Beth Anne Musiker, Cat and David Arnold and2011 First Night
Honoree Layne Sasser, among others (my memory just ain’t what it used to be!).
First Night festivities continue this week with the
presentation of Love, Loss and What I Wore as part of the
Sideshow Fringe Festival. Directed by Beki Baker, the
performance is Saturday, August 4, at 8:30 p.m. at The Troutt
Theatre, and stars Bonnie Keen, Emily Landham, Shannon
McMinn Hoppe, 2010 Most Promising Actor Rosemary
Fossee and Helen Shute-Pettaway, a member of First
Night’s Class of 2011 Honorees. Beki Baker, the actress, also
joins in on the fun.
This is the second year for Sideshow Fringe Festival, which
bowed last year with a spectacular initial effort that promises
to be totally eclipsed by the overwhelming offerings of the
2012 edition. Created by Actors Bridge Ensemble to nurture
and to train a new generation of theater artists—offering
cross-training to give Sideshow members firmer footing and
more experience than is usually offered in local theater—it’s a burgeoning artistic and creative
collective that produced Boom, the critically acclaimed (that means I loved it) play presented
earlier this summer at Belmont’s Black Box Theatre.
“We seek to connect initiative with opportunity and to offer Nashville’s creative community a
space to come together in a showcase of their talents that celebrates diversity, encourages
creative dialogue, and stimulates the cultural economy,” says their mission statement.
Sideshow Fringe Festival is Nashville’s Progressive
Performing Arts Event, a four- day celebration featuring
theatre and related live presentations with a special emphasis
on original and innovative forms and formats. Dance, music,
puppetry, aerial arts, juggling, poetry, and more is showcased
in a multi-venue setting with special free outdoor events and
family friendly offerings. Tickets now available online! Don't
forget to add the festival button, which is required for entry!
Go to www.sideshowfringe.com for details, including the
amazing line-up of performances—you’ll be staggered when
you see the list of what’s coming your way!
The second annual festival will be housed in the Belmont Black
Box Theatre, Troutt Theatre, Belcourt Theatre, Bongo Java
After Hours Theatre, Belmont Little Theatre and a
neighborhood street venue. All Sideshow Fringe shows are 90
minutes or less. Fringe Buttons are required for admission, and
you can add them to your online order or purchase at the box
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office day of show.
Mark the date of August 12 on your calendar and make plans now for Street Theatre
Company’s annual It’s Vegas, Baby! Fundraiser at the theater’s venue at 1933 Elm Hill
Pike. From 6 to 10 p.m., STC is transformed into a Las Vegas hotspot, with entertainment and
gaming, food and libations—tickets are $25 general admission or $50 VIP. General admission
ticket prices include $30,000 worth of playing chips, fine hors d’oeuvres, complimentary wine
and beer, silent auction, a burlesque performance and a stellar cabaret featuring STC company
members. VIP tickets include an extra $30,000 worth of chips, free commemorative photo from
the event and other swag! And, at the end of the evening, whoever ends up with the most chips
will get some special prizes. The event also features a spectacular silent auction. Vegas attire is
preferred, but not required. Got to www.streettheatrecompany.org to book your spot for the big
night!
We have it on very good authority that Broadway (Catch Me If
You Can and next to normal) star Aaron Tveit (the handsome
man to the left, who very soon will be taking part in a planned
reading of the stage version of the Anastasia musical—Aaron
will play Dmitri) will be the headlining performer at TPAC’s
annual Fest De Ville Gala to be held on Saturday, August
25…details are sure to follow!
During my recent trip to Crossville, I got some bad news: the
planned pre-Broadway journey of Little House on the Prairie
won’t be kicking off this fall at Cumberland County
Playhouse after all. Earlier this year it was announced that
the musical’s creative team hope to use a planned
September/October production of the show to fine-tune it for a
possible transfer to Broadway. The show previously premiered
at the Guthrie Theatre, followed by an engagement at Paper
Mill Playhouse that ultimately led to a national tour that was
billed as a pre-Broadway journey for the company that was led
by TV’s Laura Ingalls Wilder herself, Melissa Gilbert
(co-starring with Broadway leading man Steve Blanchard and the star of Broadway’s current
Newsies, Kara Lindsay who played Laura in the musical). Rachel Sheinkin wrote the book,
Rachel Portman the music and Donna di Novelli provided the lyrics for the show. We’re told
the decision to forego the CCP production is due mainly to timing—or the lack of it—to get the
planned revisions done in time for an audience to see the product in early autumn.
Speaking of Steve Blanchard, there he is in the photo at left,
with Tony Award winner Beth Leavel, Molly Rushing, and
Tennessee’s own Broadway veteran Jeremy Benton (who
directed Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical, now
onstage through November 2 at Cumberland County
Playhouse) backstage during Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma’s
Call Me Madam, which closed last night (Saturday, July 28).
With The Nutty Professor Musical playing at TPAC’s James
K. Polk Theatre, we envisioned the promised production of
Little House on the Prairie—along with the planned musical
treatment of Loretta Lynn’s life story in Coal Miner’s
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Daughter, starring TV’s current “It” girl Zooey Deschanel—as a harbinger for Tennessee to
become a new breeding ground, a laboratory or a trying-out place for new musicals. Only time
will tell if our dream will actually come true.
And speaking of The Nutty Professor (we will see the show
for the first time on Tuesday, July 31, when the official opening
night red carpet rolls out down on Demonbreun Street), the
word on the street is that producers have a hit on their hands:
“We had a wonderful time at Nutty Professor,” reports Daron
Bruce. “Lots of laughs...great cast, musicians, and
choreography. Michael Andrew, Marissa McGowan and
KLea Blackhurst were incredible. After the final bows, Jerry
Lewis came on stage and thanked the audience for being
there and told a quick joke. The audience was just mesmerized
seeing the show biz icon on stage.” Ann Street-Kavanaugh,
who provided us with the photo of Jerry Lewis (and the Nutty
Professor company) talking to the audience after the curtain
call, agreed: “Really enjoyed The Nutty Professor! I think it
had possibly the best entrance of a character ever! It’s
Broadway-bound for sure!”
Ann and Daron are two people whose opinions I trust, so I can’t wait to see the show on
opening night and I am particularly anxious to see some of the company members I’ve gotten to
know thanks to my Nutty 5 interviews over the past few weeks including Blair Goldberg,
Ronnie Wilson, Patrick O’Neill, Sarah Marie Jenkins, KLea Blackhurst, Marissa
McGowan, Danny Young, Alex David, Jason Sparks, Kyle Vaughn, Carly Blake
Sebouhian and our “home girls” Allison Little, Meghan Glogower and Autumn Guzzardi
—along with our upcoming Nutty Fivers Christopher Spaulding, Dominique Plaisant and all
their uber-talented cohorts!
While in Crossville for the opening night of Backwards in
High Heels, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of
Playhouse volunteers, company members and sponsors at the
pre-show reception, hosted by Uplands Village. Thanks to my
pal Tracey Barnes for inviting me to take part; I had the
opportunity to wax poetic and nostalgic at the same time while
talking about theater across Tennessee, in general, and at
Cumberland County Playhouse, in particular. During the
reception (and during intermission and post-show), I had the
opportunity to talk (…smile and wave from a distance)to a lot
of people including some of my Playhouse favorites including
Jim Crabtree, Debra Barrett Graham, Lisa Garner
Harrison, Lauren Marshall and Ron Murphy, Carly
Amburn, Daniel Black, Michael Ruff, Porter Williams,
Quinn Cason, Chaz Sanders, Austin Price, Emily Woods,
Cat Brisson, Lindy and Greg Pendzick, Weslie Webster,
Britt Hancock, Sam Hahn, Ryan Haderlie, Ted Meeker,
Leila Nelson, Douglas Waterbury-Tieman, Chris Rayis,
Patti Payne, Carol and Butch Irvin and so many more. I
also got to see Jessica Wockenfuss, Jason Ross, Colin Cahill and John Dobbratz tapping
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their hearts out onstage—and finally got to meet Dale and Freddy Richardson—who were
there to cheer on recent Belmont University musical theatre grad Douglas Waterbury-Tieman
who made his Playhouse debut as Fred Astaire—accompanied by their daughter, Maggie
Richardson whom I’d already met during a performance of Legally Blonde the Musical in
Woodbury.
In the next couple of weeks, there are a lot of
shows opening in our corner of the world: Stones
River Theatre Company debuts with Jekyll &
Hyde in Concert down in Murfreesboro, with
Katherine Sandoval Taylor, Stephen Michael
Jones, Warren Langworthy and company;
Jamie Cutler’s original Angels Without Wings
opens at Darkhorse Theatre this weekend, starring
our favorites Britt Byrd, Halee Culicerto, Kyla
Lowder, Courtney McClellan and more;
Blandina Vergara-Cruz’s production of Bye Bye
Birdie takes the stage of Pull-Tight Theatre in
Franklin, featuring Johnny Peppers, Kandace
Williams Peppers, Ryan Garrett, Howard Snyder and a cast of thousands; next up at
Boiler Room Theatre is Steel Magnolias starring, among others, our favorites Kay Ayers,
Lynn Yates, Linda Speir and Keri Pisapia; Xanadu takes the stage at Woodbury’s Arts
Center of Cannon County, directed by Darryl Deason and starring Maggie Richardson and
Cody Rutledge; L.T. Kirk and JoNathan Burgess present Mysterious Skin at Darkhorse,
featuring Will Butler, Chuck Long, Francine Graver, Matt Smith, among others; and then
there is the plethora of offerings at Sideshow! Already we feel a spa day coming on…
Thanks to Michael Adcock for designing our Music City Confidential logo and the poster for
Love, Loss and What I Wore
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