Paul Gatrell News

Developed with the aid of a creation grant from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission, Outside Paradise-playwright Bill Feehely's stage treatment of the life and love of literary lions Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald-debuts at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre on November 9, running for two weekends and starring Jennifer Richmond and Clay Steakley as the sta-rcrossed lovers.

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.

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.

Members of the 2012 First Night Honors' Class of Honorees will be revealed to the public tonight, July 23, during the First Night Preview Party, which will be held at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, 8204 Highway 100 in Nashville.

Members of the 2012 First Night Honors' Class of Honorees will be revealed to the public Monday night, July 23, during the First Night Preview Party, which will be held at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, 8204 Highway 100 in Nashville.

Superbly performed by a cast of eight exceptional student actors in the Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance, under the direction of Bill Feehely (co-founder of Nashville's acclaimed Actors Bridge Ensemble), Dancing at Lughnasa opens the 2011-2012 season with theater of the highest order, delivering a sumptuously appointed physical production that soars because of the wonderfully nuanced portrayals of the actors.

Six of the leading lights of the theater world in Tennessee will be recognized as members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees August 27-September 4 as First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors hosts a series of theatrical events to celebrate their achievements and accomplishments.

First Night: The Honors Gala is set for Sunday, September 4, at the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with the Red Carpet Event, hosted by Jennifer Richmond and Trey Palmer, with fashion commentary by Cary Street, Joshua Waldrep and Lisa Garner Harrison. Impresario Johnny Delarocco (aka John Pyka) will produce a special Red Carpet performance by his company just for First Night.

Five of the six honorees - Brewer, Hoff, Proctor, Sasser and Shute-Pettaway - gathered on the East Bank of the Cumberland River on Wednesday, August 3, to have their official First Night photographs taken by acclaimed Nashville photographer Barry A. Noland. Atha is out of town until month's end, when she returns for all the First Night festivities.

Six of the leading lights of the theater world in Tennessee will be recognized as members of the 2011 Class of First Night Honorees August 27-September 4 as First Night, the Nashville Theatre Honors hosts a series of theatrical events to celebrate their achievements and accomplishments.

Darkly comic and deathly serious - with moments of lyrical, poetic power intermingled with the jarring realities of missed opportunities and regret - John Patrick Shanley's Sailor's Song is given an artfully mounted, superbly acted and inspiringly directed production from Actors Bridge Ensemble, continuing through June 12 at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre.

Don Griffiths directs a cast of the region's finest actors in the Nashville premiere of John Patrick Shanley's Sailor's Song, running June 3-12 at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre, as Actors Bridge Ensemble - named First Night's Outstanding Theatre Company for 2010 - continues its 2011 season.

The eight theater visionaries feted during First Night Week in Nashville were the guests of honors at a dinner on Thursday, September 16, at Germantown Cafe, during which they were presented with their medals which help to designate them as members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees.

A cast of more than 125 performers took to the stage of the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University to fete the eight members of the 2010 Class of First Night Honorees in a production that featured the best of the best of Nashville theater and included a surprise appearance by Joseph Mahowald, winner of a 1989 First Night Award, now playing the role of Franklin Hart Jr. in the national tour of 9 to 5: The Musical, which opened in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, September 21.

With a cast of 125 performers, a seven-member band, the show's running crew and a smattering of other people holding forth, the backstage scene at last Sunday night's First Night Nashville Theatre Honors was a virtual stage show in itself with all the hustle and bustle amid the hushed tones associated with the backstage area of a huge theatrical production.

Nashville theater's past, present and future was the topic of discussion on Monday night, September 13, as seven of the eight 2010 First Night Honorees gathered for the First Night Symposium. Held at Belmont University's Black Box Theatre, the event attracted an audience of about 75 and was moderated by First Night founder/executive producer Jeffrey Ellis.

Photographer Stacy Battles, one of Nashville's best known celebrity photographers, was on hand to shoot the red carpet arrivals that heralded the return of First Night, after an absence of some 14 years. First Night is presented by Jeffrey Ellis, who covers Nashville theater for BroadwayWorld.com, and who is the founder of the awards celebration that was first held on September 17, 1989.

The glitterati of Nashville's theater community took to the red carpet Sunday night, September 19, prior to the start of the First Night Nashville Theatre Honors. Held at the Troutt Theatre at Belmont University, the First Night Honors recognized eight leaders of the Nashville theater community for their lifetime achievements and contributions to the art form.