“Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” opened at Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall on Tuesday, a show that spins like a disco ball in a flashy and fractured tribute to the Queen of Disco herself. “Summer” whirls across the stage in a feverishly chaotic yet highly danceable parade of events. In an intermissionless run time of one hour and 45 minutes, the show stuffs in 23 of Donna Summer’s groovy, sensual and subversive songs. Though the numbers are well-woven into m

The interactive, all-American play “What the Constitution Means to Me” will open at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, hauling its wave-making legacy to Music City for a strictly limited engagement. Originally starring playwright Heidi Schreck as herself, the production premiered off-Broadway in 2018 at New York Theatre Workshop before making its Broadway debut the following year. The play quickly garnered dazzling accolades for both its craft and cultural signi

A nostalgic family favorite will grace the modern stage as the curtain opens on “Peter and the Starcatcher” Friday, making it the first student-led drama to debut in the new Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. A prequel to “Peter Pan” by J.M. Barrie, this Broadway-run origin story follows an orphan boy with a painful past and the friends and enemies he encounters on their journey to find himself, find Neverland and never grow up. “One of the things that’s great about the p

The 2004 cult classic “Mean Girls” sprung to life on stage in TPAC’s Jackson Hall on Tuesday. Fans of the film will be delighted to discover the musical adaptation maintains much of the screenplay’s caustic wit, including the ultra-quotable quips that elevated it to its iconic status, echoing sarcastically down many high school halls over the last 18 years. Like the movie, the musical follows the sheltered heroine Cady Heron as she’s uprooted from her homeschooled life in Afr

Mount Olympus is here in Nashville — but only for a limited time. The regional debut of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” under the direction of Ernie Nolan was a hit at the Nashville Children’s Theatre Friday, and the all-Belmont cast received a standing ovation from an excited audience of kids and adults alike. Though the production was staged for young people, its symbolism was profoundly mature; it did not lack in authentic talent or authentic laughs, and a

“The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” is set to make its regional premiere at Nashville Children’s Theatre, featuring a cast from Belmont’s own musical theater department. The show, which opens Friday, is the story of “a young man who finds out that he is the son of a Greek god, and then goes on a journey of self-discovery with his two best friends … and really discovers more about himself and his talents, and then he’s ready to kind of tackle the world at the end,

Belmont’s thespians will take the stage at long last in the first full, in-person theater and dance program since the onset of COVID-19. Unlike last year, Belmont’s performing arts programs will be able to commence once again with live performances and full audiences. The full program includes historical dramas, satirical musicals, community theater collaboration and original productions written by students. To kick start the season, Kate Hamill’s “Little Women” will open in

Since the first day of classes, Belmont musical theater students have been “character building” as they rehearse for their fall production of “Oklahoma!” “The first step of developing a character is knowing the material,” said senior musical theater major Suzanna Champion. Champion has been acting since she was three and will be performing the lead role of Laurey in “Oklahoma!” “Even close to opening night there will always be a few people who still don’t know their lines, an

Relationships can be messy. Maybe none more so than the relationship between literary figure F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda as shown in “Outside Paradise,” a new play written and directed by Belmont theater professor Bill Feehely. Set in the jazz era, the play follows the couple as they build their renowned literary works and go through their often volatile relationship. Feehely, who is also the founding artistic director of Actors Bridge Ensemble, and the Department

Realistic moments in reality-breaking settings are the focal point of “Almost Maine,” the Belmont theater department’s first performance of the semester. The John Cariani-penned play revolves around a cold Friday night in the middle of winter in the mythical town of Almost, Maine. The different scenes each explore an aspect of the human experience of love. “The show is very symbolic and thematic,” said Brent Maddox, assistant professor of theater and director of the show. “Th

The lights of the Troutt Theater will illuminate an Irish cottage as Belmont’s theater department opens its season Sept. 30 with a 1990 drama, “Dancing at Lughnasa.” The setting for the play is the fictional Irish town of Ballybeg in August 1936, during the festival of Lughnasa, when harvest is welcomed. The play is told from the perspective of Michael Evans, who narrates events from that summer when he was 7 and lived in a cottage with his mother and her four sisters. It was

Bright lights, ornate stages, elaborate sets and over-the-top costumes all come with a pricey entrance fee. This intricate type of production has become synonymous with modern theater and its inaccessibility to the average viewer. Two Belmont theater professors are looking to change this fine arts cliché with the creation of a new production company, the Five Dollar Recession Theater Company, or the FDR, as the founders affectionately refer to it. Nettie Kraft and Jim Al-Sham

This week is a total blast. (That’s a pun. You’ll see.) We bring you Urban/Pop showcase results, the Ballad of Baby Doe, 33 Variations and Correspondent Cassidy Hodges finds herself a hubby in under 60 seconds. It’s The Week at Belmont! #PhiTau #TheWeekatBelmont #theater

Belmont’s musical theatre program presents Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” which will run from Nov. 18-21 in MPAC. The musical, which takes place in the 1920’s, debuted on Broadway in 1934. “We chose our seasons based on several factors,” said Director David Shamburger.  “One, of course, is the audience response and what we think the audience will respond to best.  We want to give them something that they will like, that is entertaining. Another important factor that goes into

“Anything Goes,” the fall production of Belmont’s musical theatre program, runs Nov. 18-21. Performances are in MPAC. Tickets are available at the Curb Box Office in advance and will be available at the door.  They are $10 for adults; $5 for senior citizens (65 and over), faculty, staff, and non-Belmont students; and free for Belmont students. #musical #theater