Latest Stories
Theater review: Studio Tenn’s ‘My Fair Lady’ Flawless until Finale
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Nearly all of Studio Tenn’s My Fair Lady is wonderful (or “loverly” in the show’s lingo). But I have strong negative thoughts and feelings about the way the terrific troupe ends the final scene of this great Golden Age musical. The Alan Jay Lerner – Frederick Loewe adaptation that used George Bernard Shaw’s [...]
Nashville Ballet’s Macbeth: Something wicked good this way comes
Nashville Ballet has been lavishing attention on William Shakespeare of late. Last month, the company presented a radiant rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Now it’s Macbeth’s turn. This weekend, Shakespeare’s murderous Scot is the focus of a new ballet featuring the choreography of Nashville Ballet artistic director Paul Vasterling and the music of contemporary American [...]
Luhrmann v. Fitzgerald, or There Oughta Be a Law
We interrupt this theater-oriented column to talk about a book and a movie. At first, you’d think they’re the same: The Great Gatsby. They’re not. They’re F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, and Baz Luhrmann’s anti-masterpiece, The Great Gatsby, wherein he treats the April 10, 1925, novel as if it were the blueprint for a bungalow that [...]
‘Shakespeare: The King’s Man’ Doc Connects Us with Bard’s Words
Like many whose introduction to William Shakespeare has come through the dry instruction of an English class James Shapiro was no fan of the Bard while growing up. “I was turned off by it in junior high and high school and I never took a college course on Shakespeare so I came to it late [...]
Theater review: ‘Spring Awakening’ Teen Turmoil is Ecstasy at STC
Watching a musical at Street Theatre Company is typically a pleasurable experience. Watching their production of Spring Awakening, one of the best musicals in recent years, is sheer ecstasy. Director Martha Wilkinson, Musical Director Rollie Mains, Choreographer Holly Shepherd and the performing artists presenting their version of the 2006 winner of eight Tony Awards have [...]
Nashville Symphony storms the heavens with Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’
Mendelssohn’s Elijah is widely regarded as one of the pillars of the choral repertoire, yet performances of this Victorian-era masterpiece are exceedingly rare. This weekend, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus is giving its first ever performance of Mendelssohn’s monumental oratorio. Friday night’s rendition will not soon be forgotten. That’s because the NSO has brought to [...]
Theater review: ‘Disney’s The Lion King’ Opens to Roar of Approval
Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall welcomed a pride of patrons Thursday to Nashville’s second Disney’s The Lion King opening. The current outing, dubbed the “Gazelle Tour” by the fine folks at Disney Theatrical Productions, is a worthy inheritor of the King’s crown: It offers audiences a majestic and whimsical spectacle that has no fear of [...]
Gateway Chamber Orchestra: Giving Mahler his due in Nashville
The Clarksville-based Gateway Chamber Orchestra gave its first-ever performance in Nashville on Monday night at Second Presbyterian Church of Green Hills. Naturally, the ensemble hoped to make a good first impression. It actually came close to achieving transcendence. For its debut, Gateway and its conductor, Gregory Wolynec, presented a chamber arrangement of Gustav Mahler’s Das [...]
Good News: New Chances Through Words and Music to ‘Ponder Anew’
Lieutenant Herschel Doyle Ponder was unquestionably one of the millions of American heroes who fought so bravely and selflessly in World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with Clusters for his service as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bomber pilot in the US Army Air Forces (aka Army Air [...]
Music City Baroque: Playing New World music with Old World grace
You’d expect to hear the music of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi at a period-instrument concert – but Fernandes, Jerusalem and Zumaya? Music City Baroque was stretching its programmatic wings on Sunday afternoon, presenting a concert devoted entirely to early music from the Spanish New World. The performance at Vanderbilt University’s Benton Chapel featured a variety [...]
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