Kevin Mead

Majestic Theatre presents Seasonal Allergies on November 11 - 13! Get ready to laugh away your throat tickle, and clear your sinuses with a healthy dose of Holiday Fun!

Brooklyn Film Festival's (BFF) 23rd edition: TURNING POINT, an online festival out of the norm with more than 140 films viewable for free from May 29 through June 7 at  www.brooklynfilmfestival.org, announces today its plans for its opening night program

You will not believe it! The last time we gave you a Music City Confidential (number seven), the London Olympics were winding up, LaToya Gardner and Kevin Mead were starring in Circle Players' Aida, Maggie Richardson and Cody Rutledge were headlining Xanadu at the Arts Center of Cannon County, and Music City was caught up in Nutty Professor fever! Today marks the return of Music City Confidential and we hope you'll be feeling particularly thankful for edition number 8.

The holiday season has started, and our local dinner theatres have three very different shows that cater to everyone's tastes in food and theatre alike

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Nashville in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

Directed with sharp focus by David Shamburger and featuring the expert musical direction of Jo Lynn Burks and the terrific, dance club-infused choreography of Emily Tello Speck, BUMT's Footloose seems far removed from the silly musical theater oddity that debuted on Broadway in 1998, another example of producers seeking to capitalize on a film's success by transferring it to the stage.

Theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors to pay tribute to a group of eight remarkable people who have made indelible marks on the theater scene throughout their storied careers. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored the eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Dressed to the nines-despite forecasts of thunderstorms and a tornado watch that hung over the region-theater people from throughout Tennessee gathered at Belmont University's Bill and Carole Troutt Theatre on Sunday night for the 2013 First Night Honors. Hosted by Holly Shepherd and Joel Diggs, the gala evening honored eight leading lights of Tennessee theater as they were recognized as members of the First Night Class of 2013 Honorees.

Featuring a triumvirate of capable, confident and consummately talented actors-LaToya Gardner, Kevin Mead and Lisa Graham-in the show's leading roles, it is a beautifully sung, interestingly staged and tremendously affecting musical that succeeds even despite the limitations of director Ralph Gabriel's sometimes questionable choices.

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…

Elton John's pop music influences will be readily apparent for audiences when they sit down at the Keeton Theatre for a performance of his Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical Aida, directed by Ralph Gabriel for Circle Players. Using Verdi's classic opera as a source, Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice have created an accessible musical inspired by Motown, dance music, reggae and gospel.

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…

Eight individuals, whose names attest to the depth and breadth of live theatrical performance in Nashville, have been named as members of the 2012 Class of First Night Honorees and will be feted with a special tribute concert on Sunday, September 2, at Belmont University's Troutt Theatre.

Samuel French Inc. Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival announces the 40 semi-finalists for its 37th annual season. Chosen from over nine hundred submissions by playwriting workshops, university theatre programs, and professional companies both in the U.S. and abroad, these 40 plays will be presented October 23rd-27th with finals on Sunday October 28th at the Beckett Theatre, Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street). Out of these plays, six finalists will be chosen by the Samuel French, Inc. editorial staff to receive publication and licensing contracts.

Elton John's pop music influences will be readily apparent for audiences when they sit down at the Keeton Theatre for a performance of his Tony-Award-winning Broadway musical Aida, directed by Ralph Gabriel for Circle Players. Using Verdi's classic opera as a source, Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice have created an accessible musical inspired by Motown, dance music, reggae and gospel.

Who's who in Tennessee theater? Sometimes, without a program in your hand, it's difficult to know who's playing whom-hence, our newest feature: Hey, Jef, Here's My Headshot...featuring some of the Volunteer State's best-known-or soon-to-be-known all over the freakin' world-thespians. And have you ever wondered who the amazing photographers are who make them look so damn good? We're gonna tell ya…Today's actor/subject/model is the handsome, talented and very busy Kevin Mead, photographed by Camille Blinn.

Shows are opening and closing all over Tennessee this summer and theater companies are offering up all manner of fun and games, which means there's all sorts of foolishness going on backstage during intermission. Among the best attended and best reviewed productions of 2012 is Boiler Room Theatre's next to normal (which closes tonight, June 16), directed by Jamey Green and featuring a cast that includes Megan Murphy Chambers, Mike Baum, Kevin Mead, Paige Brouillette, Jordan Ravellette and Ben Van Diepen.

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…