Nashville: Where New Musicals Come To Life

"Musical Theatre" - those may still be dirty words over on Music Row, but for the growing community of amazing artists who fuel Nashville's increasingly exciting musical theatre scene, it probably comes as no surprise that our town is taking it's well deserved place as a serious contender in the future of the American musical.

In a front page, above the fold (in fact, right under the banner) article in yesterday's Tennessean (Wednesday, April 4th, 2012), the residents of Music City learned that the creative team of producer/director Jerry Lewis, composer Marvin Hamlisch and award winning playwright Rupert Holmes have chosen Nashville as the city in which to launch the Broadway bound stage musical version of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. Previews begin July 23 at The Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) and will offer Nashville audiences 4 weeks of 8 performances a week to be a part of this important Broadway venture. According to the article, casting, costumes and set building will all come out of the local talent base.

The article also quotes TPAC president Kathleen O'Brien describing Nashville as "... a community of people that has the infrastructure and advantages that Broadway producers would look at for their projects." The key word here is "infrastructure" because that's what it takes. Certainly over the past 150 years, New York City has established itself as one of the most vital cities in history as far as having the fundamental infrastructure for supporting, creating and marketing the art and the business of musical theatre, but in that same sweep of history, musicals have taken their place as a great American art form which is passionately and widely embraced and cherished by theatre artists across our nation. And while many talented artists choose to move to New York and stay there, at this point in time cities across the rest of the US can boast many artists in their communities who have paid their dues in the Big Apple and moved on to other locations and other challenges. Broadway is no longer a location; it's a state of mind.

As local evidence of that, one only needs to look at The Boiler Room Theatre in our neighboring city of Franklin, Tennessee, which only a couple of weeks ago initiated their own "American Idol-esque" new musicals competition, from which three local projects were chosen as finalists based on 30 minute presentations. Those three projects will return in September to present complete staged readings at the theatre and the winner will receive a full production at The Boiler Room in 2013. The three finalists are UMBRELLA by Steve Leslie and Len Cohen, CITY OF LIGHT by Mike McFaden (playwright/lyricist) and Terry Woods (arranger), based on the music of Sir Author Sullivan, and HAPPILY EVER AFTER (NOT) by Janet McMahan.

These finalists join a growing list of other fine musicals which have been emerging from the mists of the Cumberland over the past few years, including Parrish Stanton's ONE KISS CAFE, Sue Fabisch's MOTHERHOOD: THE MUSICAL, Randi Michael Block's GUESS WHO'S COMING TO SEDER, Jesse Goldberg's IT'S A RUFF LIFE, Ted Swindley's BECOMING KINKY and Carolyn German's Steampunk musical THE AIRSHIP AT VAPOR STATION.

Personally I think this is just the tip of an iceberg of potentially titanic proportions.

To learn more about what's happening at TPAC, please click the post's title.

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

Jaz Dorsey
AAPEX Dramaturg
The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

AAPEX Interview: Max Désir

Max Désir

Picture by Stanley Louis from www.3imagespro.com

Interview with Max Désir by Jaz Dorsey

The Foreign Language Acting Group is proud to recognize Haitian born multi-talented and mulit-lingual actor/singer/model Max Désir as our Artist of the Year for 2012. Max joins the cast of Circle Players production of TITANIC in the role of Joseph Laroche, which runs at TPAC April 5th - 8th.

I asked Max to tell us about himself and his work, and here is what he has to say:

What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?
Growing up in my childhood church in Haiti, theater and the arts were dormant in my life due to the fact that I was taught that I couldn’t be a Godly man and an entertainer at the same time. I was taught the two were opposites, so I suppressed my innate ability to create a reality that alters life through possibly one of the most transforming apparatuses on earth, the arts. I remember watching movies as a child and reiterating lines and facial expressions of actors as I got to the parts I really liked. As an adolescent, the mirror became my best friend not because I was practicing modeling faces, which became part of my career, but because I wanted to see how convincing and mesmerizing I can be as an actor. Interestingly enough, I still practice in the mirror nowadays

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.
After years of suppressing my ability as an actor, in 2005 my university (Medgar Evers College CUNY) held auditions for a short film featuring Danny Glover and I landed my first supporting role. Landing that role gave me the confidence and the audacity that I needed to embark on my journey an actor. From that point on, I took continuous classes, workshops and voice lessons. I partook in a lot of student and Independent films, theatrical works, commercials, voiceovers, modeling in different cities.

What brought you to Nashville and what are your "Nashville" objectives?
In 2006, I went to Las Vegas to compete in a nationwide acting/modeling/singing competition called Talent Rock founded by Lou Pearlman. I won in some categories, and received a few offers from agencies. One of these offers came from a Nashville agent. Ever since then, I have been moving between New York and Nashville looking for gigs. Nashville has been very good to my career and has built my resume in more ways than one. I hope to continue to grow as an actor in Nashville whether it is in theater or film and hope to create a triangular relationship between Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. I am also looking forward to working together with my fellow actor, business partner, and friend Stanley Louis as we periodically merge my production company, S.T.A.R. Productions, which stands for Spiritually Renewed And Trained Productions with his all inclusive videography/photography company, imagesProductions to put together independent films, commercials, and original stage plays within the community and abroad.

What are your thoughts on Circle Players and the work they do?
I became familiar and active with Circle Players back in October 2010 when I landed my audition with them for the role of George in “Raisin in the Sun.” From that point forward, it has been an exciting ride working with them. Being the oldest community theater in Nashville, Circle Players stands on its own as a pivotal force in the community. As now a proud member of the board of directors, I count it an honor to be part of an organization that keeps on reaching new heights. As I learn about the history of Circle Players, I have noticed that it is becoming stronger and better than ever before under the leadership of its President Tim Larson and Vice President LaTonya Turner, who exemplify the caliber of the board as a whole. Each board member brings their own artistic historical background that contributes toward the steps forward that Circle Players is taking. And now we are daring enough to embark on this current audacious journey where we are having a Broadway quality production of “Titanic, the Musical” at TPAC April 5th through the 8th for the one weekend only. It is also worth mentioning that Circle Players will make history as they feature the
only black passenger on the Titanic (Joseph Laroche) whom I will have the honor of playing. The Laroche family has quite a fascinating story and the director and producer of the show thought it was worth featuring in the musical. Circle Players also reaches out to the youth in our community by having workshops that focus on refining their abilities as young performers.

Career wise, what's on your to do list now?
I have quite a few things on my list due to the eccentricity of abilities I’ve been blessed with in my life. The more immediate ones happen this summer 2012; I have a few short film projects lined up and am shooting potential commercial ideas on dvd to submit to big corporations. I hope to hit a music studio by end of summer to start working on a Worship CD in Creole/French and English. I’m working on finishing my first motivational/inspirational book “Just Like a Tree” by the beginning of 2013 and last but certainly not least I will start traveling the country again on certain weekends to churches and other organizations as a traveling evangelist and a motivational/inspirational speaker. I’m just going to stay busy and prepare myself in and out for bigger things.

Don't miss Max and the other fine actors of the cast of Circle Players TITANIC at TPAC April 5 - 8.

To learn more about the Circle Players, please click the post's title.

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

Jaz Dorsey
The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

Disney Musicals in Schools (Nashville)

Industry overview by Jaz Dorsey

Nashville has been chosen as the first city outside of New York to participate in Disney Theatrical Group's "Disney Musicals in Schools" program and here's how it happened.

As a presenter of Broadway tours, TPAC works with The Broadway League and this year, at the Broadway League's Spring Road Conference, Disney announced that they were looking to take this program, after 2 years in NYC, "on the road" to other cities across the country.

TPAC Executive Vice President for Education and Outreach, Roberta Ciuffo-West, threw TPAC's hat in to the ring. For those of you who do not know her, Roberta is a native of Long Island, an NYU grad twice and a former Director of Education and Outreach for Juilliard, among other amazing accomplishments.

It turned out that Nashville was the ideal proving ground for the program.

For one thing, two of Disney's key players on the project now call Nashville home: Bryan Louiselle, who has adapted, arranged and orchestrated the music for the 30 minute KIDS versions of the Disney musicals used in the program, and Lori Casteel, who is the vocal coach for the accompaniment and guide vocal CDs which are included among the support materials for each title.

In addition to that, the TPAC ArtSmart program, which is around 30 years old, was developed from a program started at Lincoln Center and, again, Nashville was the first city to take that concept beyond NYC.

So this spring, 5 Nashville elementary schools will participate in "Disney Musicals in Schools. The schools are:

Glengary Elementary School
Hattie Cotton STEM Magnet Elementary
Hull-Jackson Montressori Magnet School
Kirkpatrick Elementary Enhanced Option
Percy Priest Elementary School

This will involve 5 teams of 2 teaching artists from TPAC working with teams of teachers at each school. They will train the teachers in the elements of production, the teachers will then produce the shows with input from the teaching artists teams with casts of 3rd & 4th graders, and, on May 17, 2012, the city of Nashville will have the awesome experience of a freeperformance by this first crop of young Nashville actors in TAPC's Jackson Hall. www.tpac.org

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

Jaz Dorsey
The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

Jazmn47
jazmn47@aol.com

BLAST is a blast at TPAC (Nashville)

Review of BLAST by Jaz Dorsey

I go to the theatre to see and review plays. Last night I went to see BLAST.

BLAST is not a play. There is no way I can "review" it except with regard to how much I enjoyed it. It is an extraordinary show.

And it does have characters and those characters are the amazing array of instruments from the Tuba to the Marimba and the wonderful young artists who not only can play them, but dance, sing and act with them as well.

Add to that an almost hallucinogenic light show, brilliant choreography from many eras and cultures, smart costumes and the wonderful wonderful music and BLAST gives you the kind of thrills and chills that make it unforgettable.

BLAST runs through this Sunday, October 2 and the 411 is at www.tpac.org

The Working Theatre: Broadway at TPAC (Nashville)

The Working Theatre: Broadway at TPAC

When I'm dancing at the Shubert Theatre

I'm dancing on Broadway

And when I'm singing at the Shubert Theatre

I'm singing on Broadway

But when I'm dancing on Deaderick Street

I'm still dancing on my Broadway feet -

We're doing Broadway

Where ever we go!

Lyrics from "WE CAN DO BROADWAY" by Jaz Dorsey

Nashville is fortunate to be one among those US cities which hosts national touring companies of Broadway plays. For the cost of 2 tickets to a Broadway show (one if you're going to see SPIDERMAN!), the TPAC Broadway series offers six of the most popular shows of recent seasons.

The 2011 - 2012 season is especially exciting, opening with the Tony award winning BLAST (September 27 - October 2) - a tribute to the marching brass band. Next is another Tony winner which hits close to home - MEMPHIS (November 15 - 20) - a story of the power of music set in the 1950s.

For those of us born way back in the last millennium, the rest of the season should provide as much nostalgia as entertainment.

In January, those of us who grew up in the golden age of television can really bond with our grand kids when THE ADAMS FAMILY (January 3 - 8 ) comes to town. And then, from the golden age of Broadway, the enchanting Rodgers & Hammerstein musical SOUTH PACIFIC (February 7 - 12).

The season ends with two more fantastic family shows - MARY POPPINS (March 20 - 25) and RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES. Thanks to Nashville's own homegrown group THE WANNABEATLES, we've been getting our appetites whetted around here for as much Beatles music as we can get.

In addition to the regular season, two special Tony award winners are headed back to TPAC - just in time for Halloween, WICKED (October 19 - November 6) and in January, when you could use a good laugh, SPAMALOT based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The Broadway tours perform in TPAC's fabulous Jackson Hall, easily comparable to any theatre on the Great White Way. At the helm on performance nights is House Manager Rebecca Nichols, who tells me that Jackson Hall has a maximum seating capacity of 2,472 and that the average staff for a performance includes 2 floor managers, 19 ushers and 12 volunteers to greet audiences and get them to their seats.

From 1990 - 1997 I was fortunate enough to work as production manager for an NYC based touring theatre company, which has left me with a great respect for all those theatre workers who take shows on the road. I think that knowing what the touring actors life is like would add greatly to everyone's appreciation of these shows. As it just so happens, my friend, actress/dramaturg Debra Cardona, is out with the national touring company of MARY POPPINS, so I asked her to fill us in and this is what she had to say:

"Load in day is never attended by the actors. It is crew only. All of the MARY POPPINS show — and that includes sets, lights, costumes, wigs, makeup, and merchandise — take up 15 trucks. Load-out takes all night, and once the trucks arrive at the new theater, load-in takes about 24 hours. It is an incredible endeavor by our crew, and I marvel how they get through it every time and still have the strength to run the show that evening. There is a great video on YouTube put out by Clark Transfer, the major theatrical trucking company in the United States.



Before we open at each venue, we have a four-hour tech rehearsal, going over set moves and quick changes with the new local crews, as well as doing a sound check with the orchestra. We don't get through the whole show, only parts of it. So the first performance is a new experience for everyone involved. We are all getting used to the new theater, the new orchestra, as well as the new crew and dressers — and they are all getting used to working with us. After about 2 or 3 shows, everyone settles into a performance rhythm and things go fairly smoothly.

I personally departed on the tour on March 15, 2010. The show itself went into rehearsals in January of 2009. This is its third year on the road, and I have been with it for just about a year and four months.

Including the 4 children (there are two sets that play Jane and Michael Banks), there are about 36 other actors, 4 stage managers, 2 company managers, 2 wig stylists, 2 wardrobe supervisors, 1 makeup artist, 6 musicians that travel with us (the rest of the orchestra are hired locally at each venue), a tutor and a child wrangler, and approximately 10 traveling crew members (the rest, like the orchestra, are hired locally at each venue). Additional hair and wardrobe personnel are hired at each venue. Also, each child travels with a parent or guardian. And I haven't even counted the dogs that travel with their owners on tour!"

Thanks, Debra!

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

To order tickets, please click the post's title.

Jaz Dorsey
Dramaturg
F.L.A.G. - AAPEX
Nashville, Tennessee