Phil Perry News

The Boiler Room Theatre (BRT), Williamson County's original and longest-running professional theatre company, will celebrate this holiday season with not one, but two productions sure to delight audiences - the beloved children's classic A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD and Christopher Durang's loopy comedy MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE. The productions will both be performed through the holiday season, running from November 24th through December 23rd. It is all happening at the theatre's iconic namesake venue in the historic Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Rd., Building Six, in Franklin, Tennessee.

Fun-filled and light-hearted, Much Ado About Nothing-the latest Shakespeare-in-the-Park offering from Nashville Shakespeare Festival-offers its audiences a tuneful, sprightly way to celebrate late summer amid all the trappings of theatrical magic, brought to life by a confident, self-assured cast uttering the Bard's timeless words set to the tuneful music and lyrics of Janet McMahan and David Huntsinger.

Next weekend marks the annual return of Nashville Shakespeare Festival to Centennial Park for the company's 25th offering of some of the Bard's best-known and best-loved works. We're wondering what production is your favorite from among the 10 most recent offerings from the company?

Apparently, it is Elvis Week in Nashville (at least according to the fine folks at Loveless Cafe), so before we head out to the theater for a full weekend of show openings and the like, a trip to West Nashville for a slice of the Loveless' Elvis pie is in order (for the uninitiated, that's peanut butter, banana, bacon and homemade whipped cream-the four basic food groups, according to The King.), so before we slip into a diabetic coma, here's installment #7 of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print from onstage, offstage, backstage and beyond…

Nashville Shakespeare Festival will perform Much Ado About Nothing, an enduring audience favorite among the playwright's comedies, from August 16 through September 16 at Centennial Park. Noted Nashville photographer Jeff Frazier recently captured the spirit of the production in his quartet of promotional photos for the production.

It's supposed to be 108 degrees in the Nashville area by week's end, which means stepping outside will likely leave you melted, quite literally and figuratively. But if you do have to venture out of doors, perhaps a trip to the theater is a good idea…it'll be dark and cool (with any luck, the AC will be working-and you know which theaters we're talking about) and you'll be entertained, perhaps even transported to another world. Or not. In the meantime, we present you with installment number four of Music City Confidential-our continuing effort to create a sense of community and build up some enthusiasm and excitement for the live theater industry here in our alarmingly sweaty region. So, press on, gentle readers and catch up on the latest adventures of the theaterati…

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the theater once again, we welcome you to the debut installment of Music City Confidential, all the news that's fit to print (or not-depending on your perspective) from Nashville's ever-growing, ever-fascinating (okay, so we obviously don't have enough to occupy ourselves) live theater industry (we're trying that out-does it work? Let us know, theaterati!) Here amid the florid prose and flowery praise, you'll find all the stories that don't quite fit elsewhere, some of 'em kind of gossipy, some of 'em stone-cold serious, some of 'em just lists of names you need to know. You'll also find photos from our new "Intermission@" series, details about the latest cast parties and various and sundry minutiae-the veritable flotsam and jetsam-from backstage, onstage, offstage and beyond…

The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts (CCPA) commemorates its 20th anniversary in the 2012-2013 Season. Engelbert Humperdinck, who performed in the CCPAs first season, returns to kick-start the theaters 2012-2013 Season with concerts on August 18 and 19.

Robyn Berg directs the sold-out Nashville production of Dustin Lance Black's 8, a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company on Monday, May 7, at Darkhorse Theater.

In the play, 90-year-old Mabel Tidings Bigelow-the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to Franc -insists on celebrating her daughter and granddaughter's annual visit with a croquet party. As the game unfolds, she relives vignettes from the last 80 years, interweaving past and present to reveal the precise moment of opportunity gained and love rejected, the moment that defined her life.

Howe's rather fanciful memory play wears its heart on its crisp linen sleeve, offering audiences a glimpse into the life of Mabel Tidings Bigelow (played with such spirit by Allen that it's easy to fall just a little bit in love with both the actress and the beautifully written character she plays), a spirited 90-year-old former swimming champion who in her later years finds herself looking back over the multitude of events in her life that have shaped her and challenged her. As the story of Mabel's remarkable, though sometimes deceptively mundane and usual, life unfolds onstage before you, you are likely to find yourself thoroughly caught up in the minutiae of that life as the panoply of events and individuals move about-not unlike the ebb and flow of the tides that buffet the beaches of her hometown of Prides Crossing, Massachusetts, an upper crust enclave of Beverly, Mass.

In the play, 90-year-old Mabel Tidings Bigelow-the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to Franc -insists on celebrating her daughter and granddaughter's annual visit with a croquet party. As the game unfolds, she relives vignettes from the last 80 years, interweaving past and present to reveal the precise moment of opportunity gained and love rejected, the moment that defined her life.

Featuring a superstar lineup of R&B, funk and soul artists, the Las Vegas Soul Festival is coming to the Orleans Arena April 28 at 7 p.m.

Robyn Berg directs the upcoming Nashville production of Dustin Lance Black's 8, a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, presented by Rhubarb Theater Company on Monday, May 7, at Darkhorse Theater.

In the play, 90-year-old Mabel Tidings Bigelow-the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to Franc -insists on celebrating her daughter and granddaughter's annual visit with a croquet party. As the game unfolds, she relives vignettes from the last 80 years, interweaving past and present to reveal the precise moment of opportunity gained and love rejected, the moment that defined her life.

There's nobody who loves a tautly written thriller more than I - you know, the type of mystery where there's much conniving going on, one's baser desires are satiated, intelligence triumphs over the dull and commonplace. Unfortunately, despite having the requisite components, Writer's Block (the new play now onstage at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre) just doesn't measure up; it is neither thrilling nor is it tautly written.

John Chaffin's original comic mystery, Writer's Block, is onstage at Nashville's historic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre through October 15, in a production directed by the playwright himself.

Directed with a palpable sense of style and tongue-in-cheek respect for the musical's unique cast of characters by Brandy Austin, with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Boiler Room Theatre delivers yet another musical theater classic to the stage, reaffirming the company's dominance in that particular theatrical genre. You have a musical you want to see onstage? Tell the BRT folks and they'll deliver the kind of production you have dreamed about and longed for - and they'll do it with a cast of local performers who are guaranteed to knock your socks off! And with music direction by Jamey Green and choreography by Lauri Gregoire, both of whom are BRT resident artists, you'll be assured of a huge hit.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, August 14, 2011 - Sunday, August 14, 2011.

The Hollywood Bowl presents an evening of jazz with six-time Grammy nominee Dave Koz and friends featuring Bobby Caldwell, Sheila E., plus Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, Spyro Gyra and Phil Perry. The evening begins at 6pm on August 14.