Rachel Simone Webb and the company of the North American Tour of & Juliet (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
The Orpheum Theatre Group has announced its 2025-2026 Broadway season, kicking off this October with A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. In total, the season includes eight shows.
“I really am excited about this season because — everybody always says there’s something for everyone — but this season really does have something for everybody. Each show is different,” says Brett Batterson, president and CEO of the Orpheum.
A Beautiful Noise, a jukebox musical, is based on the rock icon Neil Diamond’s life. “[The Orpheum] invested in the Broadway production of a Beautiful Noise, and then we also invested in the tour,” Batterson adds. “So, we have a little piece of ownership.”
In addition to A Beautiful Noise, four other shows will make their Memphis premieres this season: The Notebook: The Musical (October 28th-November 2nd), adapted from the Nicholas Sparks’ novel that inspired the romantic film; & Juliet (November 25th-30th), which flips the script on Shakespeare’s classic; The Outsiders (January 20th-25th), based on the S.E. Hinton novel; and Back to the Future: The Musical, adapted from the beloved cinematic classic.
Returning this year to the Orpheum’s stage are The Sound of Music (February 17th-22nd) and Six (April 21st-26th) about the six wives of Henry VIII. Disney’s 30th anniversary production of Beauty and the Beast will conclude the season on June 2nd to 7th. “Beauty and the Beast has been here five times, but this is a new production that Disney has produced, new staging, new costumes, new scenery, that kind of thing,” Batterson says.
“I’m just really glad to bring this season and have people come and enjoy themselves with the Orpheum because I think they’ll enjoy every single show on the lineup this year.”
Current season ticket holders can renew now. Ticket packages for new season ticket holders will be available starting Friday, May 2nd. Those interested in becoming a season ticket holder can join a special priority list starting now until April 25th to secure access to a 48-hour presale ahead of the public on sale. More information can be found at orpheum-memphis.com/season. The public sale for individual shows and group tickets will be announced later.
Lena Wallace Black and Anne Marie Caskey (Photo: Tony Isbell)
Tonight, Quark Theatre will open its production of Lee Blessing’s A Body of Water in First Congo’s theater space. The play has not been performed before in Memphis, as far as director and Quark co-founder Tony Isbell is aware.
“This is a play where I really don’t want to give away too much of what happens,” Isbell says. “The less you know about it going in, the better.”
The playwright himself has even said, “While it’s hard to talk about the play before seeing it, it’s hard not to talk about the play after seeing it.”
Without giving too much away, Blessing’s play opens with a man and woman waking up one morning in an isolated house with no memories — not knowing who they are, how they got there, or how they know each other. Then another woman arrives. “She seems to have some answers for them,” Isbell says, “but the question is, are they the right answers, and do they want to believe what she’s telling them?”
For the show, Quark’s programs won’t even list the names of these characters, played by Anne Marie Caskey, Barclay Roberts, and Lena Wallace Black, all of whom are Ostrander-winning actors.
Barclay Roberts and Lena Wallace Black (Photo: Tony Isbell)
The play, originally published in 2005, is “a great piece for actors,” Isbell adds. “In a review I read, the reviewer said the play is like if Neil Simon and Franz Kafka had collaborated. And that’s accurate. Some of it is silly, funny, and some of it is strange and mystifying. It’s full of twists and turns. I’ve been describing it as a darkly comic, existential thriller, existential mystery, because you will keep guessing about what’s going on until the very — I mean, the very — last seconds of the play.”
Interestingly, A Body of Water’s ending has changed a few times since its debut. “[Blessing’s] now settled on the ending that we’re using, which, as far as I know, is going to be his final ending. And it’s really the best,” Isbell says. “It’s very intriguing and there’s a mystery to be solved, and whether or not it’s ever solved will be up to each person who is seeing it.”
At about 90 minutes and with no intermission, A Body of Water will run on select dates through March 9th. “If you’re a fan of the work of David Lynch or the plays of Harold Pinter or The Twilight Zone, you would probably like this show.”
A Body of Water, TheatreSouth at First Congo, 1000 South Cooper, Friday-Saturday, February 21-22, 8 p.m. | Sunday, February 23, 2 p.m. | Friday-Saturday, February 28-March 1, 8 p.m. | Sunday, March 2, 7 p.m. | Friday-Saturday, March 7-8, 8 p.m. | Sunday, March 9, 2 p.m., $20.
A.D. Weaver as George Washington in Hamilton (Photo: Joan Marcus)
A crash course in historical irony was on hand last night, as my son and I trundled into the Orpheum to see Hamilton: An American Musical. While the cast of the celebrated musical sang and rapped their way through the circumstances and ideals upon which this country was founded, a shadowy Trump administration and its unelected advisor, Elon Musk, had just frozen funds for the National Endowment for Democracy in direct violation of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act (which mandates that funds appropriated by Congress be distributed to their proper recipients). Meanwhile, the United States apparently abandoned all commitments to erstwhile ally Ukraine. Authoritarian states like China and Russia were delighted by both moves. And, with characteristic hubris, Trump tweeted “LONG LIVE THE KING,” referring to himself. Welcome to another day in Upside-Down World, where a supine Republican Congress continues to give the executive branch free rein.
Meanwhile, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) diverted all funding originally targeting underserved communities only two weeks ago. Instead, those monies shall now go to projects honoring the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. That, perhaps, is the most chilling irony: the NEA celebrating a revered historical document as a kind of fetish while caving in to principles that defy its very intent.
It was not always thus. As Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda told CBS News in 2017, without the NEA he might never have had a career at all.
“My first musical was workshopped at the O’Neill Musical Theatre Center, which is partly funded by the NEA,” he said. “But that’s not even the real story. The real story is the NEA funds things in all 50 states. They are the supplement when arts programs get cut. They fund reading programs between parents and young children in Kentucky. They fund, you know, educational initiatives all over the state, all over the United States. So, when we talk about the NEA, we’re talking about a very small amount of money that does get an enormous return on its investment in terms of what it gets out of our citizens.”
How could one not imagine President Trump’s royal ambitions whenever Hamilton‘s farcical character of King George III (Justin Matthew Sargent) appeared, full of imperious condescension, the perfect foil for the musical’s American patriots? It was enough to give this audience member chills, a bracing reminder of this country’s origins.
The Orpheum has always championed Miranda’s 2015 musical, having been the first theater to bring Hamilton to Tennessee in 2019, then again in 2021. And while those touring productions were stellar, the new touring production, at the Orpheum until March 2nd, hits differently. Suddenly, it seems more necessary than ever.
From the beginning, Hamilton was a shot across the bow for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Its central conceit was to recast the country’s white, propertied “Founding Fathers” as multi-ethnic players fired with the grit and grind of hip hop culture and the soaring emotions of an R&B ballad. And, as Miranda told the New York Times after its opening, “Our cast looks like America looks now, and that’s certainly intentional. It’s a way of pulling you into the story and allowing you to leave whatever cultural baggage you have about the founding fathers at the door.”
Indeed, the musical’s staunchly pro-immigrant ethos is a heartening reminder that Trump is not our king. This was abundantly clear last night, when, during the “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” scene, after the Marquis de Lafayette (Jared Howelton) says the word “immigrants,” and Hamilton (Michael Natt) joins him in saying, “We get the job done,” there were enthusiastic cheers and whoops in the audience. Clearly, I was not the only one who’s spirits were bolstered.
Natt, as a person of color, perfectly embodied the idealism and the drive of his character, delivering the rhymes and raps — sometimes derived from actual historical texts — with understated aplomb, as did his more aggressive foil, Jimmie “JJ” Jeter as Aaron Burr. Lauren Mariasoosay, of South Asian ancestry, masterfully inhabited the unique mix of Colonial-era decorum and emotionalism of Eliza Hamilton, especially in the anguish she conveys at the show’s final moment, just before the house goes dark. And perhaps none captured the play’s inclusive spirit more than the regal A.D. Weaver as George Washington, who expressed all the gravitas that the role demands.
Washington’s repudiation of demands that he become the young nation’s new king, insisting instead on mounting an election for his successor, was a compelling beacon of hope in these dark times, when an American president dares call himself king and jokes about never needing elections again. In matter-of-factly expressing, with new urgency, what once seemed to be this nation’s imperfectly executed yet fundamental principles — a respect for diversity, the peaceful transfer of power, and the rule of law — Hamilton preserves the ideals that we’ve thus far taken for granted and offers the possibility that they haven’t been forgotten.
Back in 2016, newly elected Vice President Mike Pence attended a performance of Hamilton that caused quite a stir when Brandon Dixon, the actor playing Burr, stepped out to share some thoughts with the audience and Pence after the curtain call. If those words rang true then, they are even more critical today, as all of the first Trump administration’s excesses are amplified beyond belief. See Hamilton if you can, take your sons and daughters, and when you do, remember Dixon’s reminder to Pence:
We, sir, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents — or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us.
Young thespians conjure up that Sunday morning feeling. (Photo: Juan Self)
Sunday mornings have always held special meaning in the fabric of Black culture. They’re filled with the hustle and bustle of getting ready — women waiting for curling irons to heat to the perfect temperature while men both young and old perfect the knots of their ties.
Congregations then begin to file into church pews as ushers greet them with white gloves. Church mothers fill the front rows dressed as elegantly as the grace they exude. The angelic choir voices sing songs of hope, faith, and praise before a sermon the pastor has mused to echo those sentiments.
“We all know Sunday morning,” Sabrina Norwood, executive director of the Young Actors Guild (YAG), says. “When you think about Sunday morning, that’s you getting up and getting dressed and coming to be rejuvenated. There’s a lot of hand clapping, a lot of foot stomping, and beautiful music that will not only connect you but will reinvigorate you.”
While images of these mornings may be different through the years, themes of hope mixed with the spirit of congregation remain. It’s an important scene to capture, one that YAG is working to encapsulate in their performance, aptly titled Sunday Morning: Dance to Freedom, on February 23rd at the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, located at 620 Parkrose Road in Memphis, TN.
The performance is timely — the organization celebrates Black History Month and its own 34th anniversary this February — but it also reflects the empowerment needed during this political climate.
“I think we’re all operating in uncertainty,” Norwood says. “One thing that stays true is the arts, and love for the arts, and everybody can relate to it. We hope it’s both healing and reflective to others.”
Community has been a mainstay for the organization since its inception. Founder and creative director Chrysti Chandler recalls coming back to Memphis in 1991 after seeing there were many children who didn’t participate in after-school activities. She was shocked to find out it was because students couldn’t afford it.
“Many of the young people we serve are from underrepresented populations,” Norwood says. “Those students are able to attend our program for little to no cost because we believe arts should be accessible for all.”
Norwood says through Chandler’s vision, more than 41,000 young people have come through their doors. YAG houses a performing arts academy that operates year-round with students ages 8 to 17. And Norwood says being in the Orange Mound community allows young people a platform they haven’t typically had. They are able to showcase their talent and creativity while also giving a voice to their generation.
Norwood says this age group is known for an outspoken and unconventional approach to social justice, and these themes are interwoven through Sunday Morning intentionally.
“This performance is all about a dance to freedom,” Norwood says. “About them finding ways to create their own avenues to bring justice, equality, accessibility to their community, and to create sustainability. This production will provide an opportunity to not only unify our young people but unify our community.”
As she reflects on YAG’s students, she says they’re a generation who will move mountains, and art gives them the opportunity to advocate on their behalf while celebrating how far their heritage has come. To amplify this, the production will include a performance from Orange Mound-founded band Black Cream. Gospel artist Deborah Manning Thomas — whom Norwood calls a “vocal powerhouse” — will also join. Rooted Souls, a group that developed from parents of YAG, will perform. And Sharonda Mcfield will come in from North Carolina to join the production, along with Kevin Davidson.
“Gospel music certainly is healing,” Norwood says. “We all know that. Just walking through that Sunday morning of getting there and sometimes feeling so burdened down, but leaving feeling like you can take over the world. That’s the experience we want to be able to create, and hopefully it’ll revive us with the climate we’re in. We really want this to be an amazing presentation of revival.”
Bastard, orphan, son of a whore, and a Scotsman, he grew up to be a hero and a scholar. Who else could I be talking about but everyone’s favorite $10-bill Founding Father, the one and only Alexander Hamilton, star of the revolutionary Broadway musical Hamilton. With 16 performances on the schedule from Tuesday, February 18th, to Sunday, March 2nd, Hamilton is making its way to the Orpheum Theatre. To coincide with the show’s run here, producer Jeffrey Seller and the Orpheum Theatre Group have announced the Ham4Ham digital lottery, offering 40 tickets for $10 for every performance.
The lottery opened on Friday, February 7th, and will close at noon on Thursday, February 13th, for tickets to performances February 18th to 23rd. Subsequent lotteries will open each Friday and close the following Thursday for the upcoming week’s performances. Winners will be notified Thursday between 1 and 4 p.m. via email and mobile push notification, and winners may purchase up to two tickets.
Photo: Joan Marcus
To enter, download the official Hamilton app (here) via the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Patrons must be 18 or older and have a valid photo ID. Only one entry per person will be allowed, and repeat entries and disposable email addresses will be discarded. Tickets are nontransferable and void if resold.
For the full schedule of Hamilton performances at the Orpheum, visit here. The Orpheum will also host a Kids Night on Broadway on Thursday, February 27th, with pre-show interactive activities, photo booth opportunities, and more for the youngest audience members, starting at 6:30 p.m. For that night, if you buy an adult ticket, you can get a free ticket for a child under 18 by calling 901-525-3000, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Availability is limited.)
Hamilton is recommended for ages 10-plus due its strong language.
Surely, you’ve heard of Joseph Stalin, the controversial leader of the Soviet Union, but have you ever heard of Alexei Dikiy or Felix Dadaev? These are the two characters, based on real people, in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, a play following the lives of the two actors who are preparing for the riskiest roles of their careers: Stalin’s body doubles.
“Dianne Nora, who’s the playwright, has taken very interesting historical facts, which is the fact of Joseph Stalin’s body doubles during World War II, and created this entire world of what could have been — the training that one of those body doubles ended up experiencing,” says Savannah Miller, director of Playhouse on the Square’s NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition that Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin won. The NewWorks competition allows six plays to be entered and examined by judges, but only two can be selected as the winners. (The other winner of this season was Coco Queens, which was performed last summer.)
Of Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, Miller says, “It speaks to our current moment, with a new and old president coming into office. It speaks to critically evaluating our world leaders and what they are asking you to do. In this case, in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, they’re asking you to put your life on the line and you need to know exactly what you’re standing up for.”
The play, directed by Tony Isbell, encourages audiences to be more aware of what occurred in the past and how it affected people — not to mention how the past can easily become the present. “I hope that it makes them question a little bit more the world around them. And I hope ultimately that it just starts a dialogue. I think it’s a very, very timely piece,” says Miller.
The production is 90 minutes with no intermission, and it will run from this week until the week of the 26th. For more information about this newest production and Playhouse’s upcoming season as well as where to purchase tickets, visit playhouseonthesquare.org/season-2024—2025.
Brooke Papritz leads the cast as Junie B. Jones. (Photo: Megan Christoferson)
It’s easy to forget, as adults, just how much of our time as children is spent worrying about our teeth coming out. I haven’t given it a thought in probably 20 years, but my son is now at the age when this is a Very Legitimate Concern. He asks me questions like, “When you were a kid, did you pull your teeth out or just let them fall out?” And I inevitably scramble to remember, how did I feel about the whole thing? It does cross my mind that this isn’t something we completely leave behind as we pass through adolescence. A quick Google search tells me that dreaming of your teeth falling out is fairly common, affecting around 39 percent of people, although I’ve never had it myself. I will confess that if my son hadn’t recently begun to lose his teeth, it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me to attend The Circuit Playhouse’s production of Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder. Thankfully, however, the stars aligned, because it would have been to my detriment to miss it. My 7-year-old son accompanied me, and it’s a performance we both loved.
Junie B. Jones — she wouldn’t have us leave out the “B,” reminiscent of Anne “with an ‘e’” — is a character most people would describe as “precocious.” To me, she was fabulous — a refreshingly powerful female character and inspiration to all. A line in the show stood out: Junie B. looks at her reflection after she finally does — spoiler alert — lose her tooth. In that moment, she regains her briefly lost confidence, but she doesn’t make a reference at all to beauty. What she says is, “I think I look fascinating.” To that I say HELL YES, Junie B.! Would that we all could celebrate ourselves with such honesty. Brooke Papritz nailed that moment and, for that matter, this role. Watching an adult play a child can be an extremely unpleasant experience, especially if it’s obvious that the performer has lost connection with their own childlike wonder. Papritz, along with all the cast members playing children onstage, gave Junie B. and her classmates all the spunk and pizzazz an audience could hope for.
Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder reminds us that when children are facing problems every molehill can look and feel like a mountain. This is certainly true for Junie B., a schemer who has a wiggly front tooth, with all the subsequent Tooth-Fairy-related worries that come with it, on top of being the only one who isn’t invited to her classmate’s birthday party. Junie B. is an over-the-top dramatic kind of girl, which is perfect for the theater and also for reminding us that even the loudest, most hyperbolic behavior can sometimes represent very real, raw feelings. This is a theme that seems to be getting more and more traction in today’s entertainment for kids, which I love to see. Junie B.’s “what if” soliloquies remind me of Pixar’s Inside Out 2’s character Anxiety, who was popular with adult audiences.
Regardless of the emotional poignancy present in this play, it remains resolutely a comedy. Walking back to our car after the show, my son went through a list of his favorite moments. “And my fourth favorite part was …” It’s a good sign for any performance to garner one or two stand-out moments, let alone four. I laughed out loud several times in the show and appreciated how often timing was a punch line all on its own.
This play may be a simple, hour-long production with a target audience of young children, but it nevertheless has every component necessary for great theater. Humor, drama, and superb storytelling (the callback to recycling is top-notch writing) make this a show worth anyone’s time. If my son’s reaction was anything to go by, your kids will love it. They may consistently call it a “movie” afterward when trying to puzzle out if the actor playing Junie B. actually lost her tooth, but they’ll still love it.
Junie B. Jones: Toothless Wonder runs at The Circuit Playhouse through December 22nd.
Longtime Memphis thespian Bruce Huffman saw his directorial debut last weekend with the opening of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Theatre Memphis. Anyone familiar with Christie’s work will understand why this play is a fitting choice for October. Macabre and suspenseful, The Mousetrap is a multi-faceted character study with an array of roles any actor would die for — which is apt, as this play is also, of course, a good old-fashioned whodunit murder mystery.
The Mousetrap opens as so many of Christie’s great works do, with establishing a setting where a group of eccentric strangers are inevitably thrown together with no escape in sight. In this case, the story takes place in the out-of-the-way Monkswell Manor, just opened by newlyweds Mollie and Giles Ralston, played by Taylor Ragan and Kinon Keplinger, respectively. The manor’s grand opening is thrown off by several unexpected arrivals, first of a snowstorm, and then of a man who embodies the very definition of “eccentric,” one Mr. Paravacini, played by Tony Isbell. The other guests come in one by one, and as the audience is introduced to the colorful cast, it quickly becomes evident that every one of them has something to hide.
It is revealed that a murder has taken place, that of one unfortunate Maureen Lyon, and as the play goes on, we realize the mysterious Ms. Lyon was connected to several of Monkswell Manor’s guests. Almost immediately it becomes clear that the audience shouldn’t just be trying to puzzle out who the murderer is — we’re also meant to figure out who the next victims are. Theatrical history buffs may know that Christie was always rather annoyed with theater critics who revealed the endings of her plays; therefore, in honor of her memory I will attempt to not give too much away. This play is one that, in typical Christie fashion, turns the mystery inside out and on its head before the curtain falls.
Whether it’s too easy to figure out or not isn’t really the point; the fun of this show is in watching the cast flesh out the campy, over-the-top characters. After all, if a dramatic period-piece murder mystery isn’t the place for outrageously hyperbolic caricatures, then what is? Franklin Koch’s performance as the outlandish, free-spirited Christopher Wren feels as comfortably threadbare as a favorite T-shirt. Koch obviously knows this character through and through, and you’ll feel like you do, too. Meanwhile, Susan Brindley’s depiction of Mrs. Boyle is just as familiar, but as a character we all love to hate. Anyone in the audience who’s worked in any kind of service industry will enjoy watching multiple characters clap back at this 1950s version of a “Karen.” The entire company seems to be working together with the precision of a well-oiled machine.
Snow is mentioned often enough to almost be considered another character altogether, and as is common in many suspense stories, it acts not only as a tangible way of keeping the players isolated, but also as a metaphor — they’re hemmed in, physically and mentally. The cold also implies a certain stasis. Many of these characters are frozen in mindset, kept in place by horrors of the past or by their inability, deliberate or not, to grow up. My one issue with this play is the somewhat dated use of mental illness as a scapegoat. The societal embrace of both true crime and mental health in recent years has, I think, made modern audiences more aware of the fact that millions of people suffer complex trauma or have mental health issues and don’t commit any crimes as a result, let alone murder. I’m aware I might be unfairly evaluating this 20th century work through a 21st century lens, but it would feel disingenuous not to at least point out such antiquated thinking.
Despite that, the play is undeniably entertaining. The Mousetrap has been staged almost uninterruptedly since the ’50s for a reason — it’s a classic. Whether you’re the type who enjoys trying to tease out twist endings as you watch or whether you’d rather be kept guessing, this murder mystery is filled with such quality performances as to keep anyone entertained.
The Mousetrap runs at Theatre Memphis through October 27th.
These retirees meet to spill the tea. (Photo: Marlinda Shorter | Unspeakable Joy Photography)
Ten years ago, my ex-husband and I lived with his grandfather, a 92-year-old patriarch of the family. He was routine-oriented, and for many years he made a habit of meeting up with friends once a week for coffee and breakfast at a local fast food joint, usually Hardee’s or McDonald’s. The setting of Hattiloo Theatre’s production of Coconut Cake couldn’t be more relatable, as it portrays a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of four retirees who meet every Monday at McDonald’s. Here’s the thing, though, these characters aren’t just meeting up to drink coffee — they’re here to spill the tea.
Coconut Cake is a (mostly) quiet, intimate look at the lives of three Black friends, plus the somewhat out-of-place white brother-in-law named Hank but nick-named “Republican,” played by Bart Mallard. The characters — all men — slowly reveal they are each going through hardships that end up driving them apart, despite the fact that their individual struggles could bring them closer. The event that throws their lives into disarray is the arrival in town of a mysterious woman, who, because of her beauty and sophistication, becomes the subject of fascination for the quartet. The other wild card in Coconut Cake is the unhoused man dubbed “Gotdamnit” because of his penchant for repeating the word. Played by Jesse L. Dunlap, Gotdamnit is the type of character who whirls in and steals the show. He is a source of comic relief, though there are moments of emotion and a struggle with mental health that are poignantly delivered.
While the characters may at first seem like stock characters, a theme becomes apparent as the show progresses: All people contain hidden depths. Mallard has been acting since high school and speaks to the process of the characterization of Hank: “My character is hiding some truths about himself from even those closest to him. So I am asking myself deeply and honestly, what do I keep hidden away … is there a truth that I have not allowed to be seen … is there a truth in my heart, soul, and gut that I need to or could benefit from shining a bright light onto?”
One notable aspect of the play is that, though it is comprised of an entirely male cast, the playwright Melda Beaty is a woman. Watching a play that is about the male experience, but depicted by a woman, was a fascinating experience. I’ve grown up inundated by female characters who are poorly and unrealistically dreamed up by men. The internet is full with memes criticizing how women are rendered by male writers, so I found it refreshing to see a play that flipped the script — pun intended. Beaty’s frank and honest portrayal of these men is what makes the play so gripping. Here is a place where they are allowed to be vulnerable, and it’s obvious how meaningful that refuge is. Symbolism is rife in Coconut Cake, from the sanctuary represented by the innocuous setting of McDonald’s, to the game of life portrayed in a chess board.
Though on the surface Coconut Cake is a simple dialogue-driven play, it is a piece of theater that should not be looked over. Accurately cutting out a slice of life that remains deeply entertaining without ever compromising its realism is no mean feat, but Beaty has managed to do so with success. This play comes with a message that audiences will be hard-pressed to miss, as Mallard puts it, “The deepest intention is to shine some light on the truth that the act of openly, truthfully, and patiently walking your path will allow for you to find your own truth and light and then to honestly stand in it … to take the stage.”
Coconut Cake runs at Hattiloo Theatre through September 8th.
Ostrander night entertainment included an energetic scene by the cast from Hattiloo Theatre's "Blues in the Night." Photo: Jon W. Sparks
A theatrical production may end its run, but it’s never really over until the awards are announced. That happened Monday night at the Orpheum as the 40th annual Memphis Ostrander Awards were held to celebrate the best in local theater.
No production ran off with all the recognition, but ones that did well included Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Theatre Memphis) with six trophies, and Your Arms Too Short to Box With God (Playhouse on the Square) and Silent Sky (Next Stage, Theatre Memphis) which both won five awards.
For Emily F. Chateau, it was especially sweet, as she walked away with two plaques, one for Supporting Actress in a Division I Musical — Cinderella at Theatre Memphis, and the other for Supporting Actress in a Division I Play — Silent Sky on the Next Stage at Theatre Memphis. Observing that the evening was stacked with top performers, she noted that “being on stage with such talent is a gift.”
Awards are given in a wide range of categories including acting, directing, and backstage contributions in the college, community and professional divisions. The awards ceremony included live performances of musical numbers from eight nominees for Outstanding Overall Production.
There was a special presentation for the Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, Michael Detroit, Executive Producer of Playhouse on the Square.
Originally referred to as the Memphis Theatre Awards, the name was changed in 2001 to the Ostranders in honor of beloved local actor Jim Ostrander.
2024 The Ostranders crowd in the lobby of the Orpheum Monday, August 26th.
The winners:
Props Design, Div II: Molly O’Connor, Amelie, Rhodes Theatre Guild
Props Design, Div I Play: Jack Netzel-Yates, Steel Magnolias, Theatre Memphis
Props Design, Div I Musical: Jack Netzel-Yates, Cinderella, Theatre Memphis
Scenic Design, Div II: Clare Kelly, Into the Woods, University of Memphis, and The Wasp, Quark Theatre
Scenic Design, Div I Play: J. David Galloway, The Lehman Trilogy, Circuit Playhouse
Scenic Design, Div I Musical: Jack Netzel-Yates, Cinderella, Theatre Memphis
Lighting Design, Div II: Melissa Andrews, Amelie, Rhodes Theatre Guild
Lighting Design, Div I Play: Nicole Northington, Silent Sky, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
Lighting Design, Div I Musical: Terry Eikleberry, Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, Playhouse on the Square
Sound Design, Div II: Ty Phillips, Out in the Woods: FOG Fairy Tales, Friends of George’s
Sound Design, Div I Play: Joe Johnson, A Monster Calls, New Moon Theatre
Sound Design, Div I Musical: Reyn Lehman, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Memphis
Hair/Wig/Makeup Design, Div II: Eula Ashbee, 9 to 5, Harrell Theatre, and Friends of George’s, Out in the Woods: FOG Fairy Tales, Friends of George’s
Hair, Wig, & Makeup Design, Div I Play: Barbara Sanders, Blithe Spirit, Theatre Memphis
Hair, Wig, & Makeup Design, Div I Musical: Buddy Hart, Cinderella, Theatre Memphis
Costume Design, Div II: Eula Ashbee, 9 to 5, Harrell Theatre
Costume Design, Div I Play: Amie Eoff, Silent Sky, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
Costume Design, Div I Musical: Amie Eoff, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Memphis, and Amie Eoff, Cinderella, Theatre Memphis
Music Direction, Div II: Nathan Thomas, Into the Woods, University of Memphis
Music Direction, Div I Play: Gary Beard, Master Class, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
Music Direction, Div I Musical: Tammy Holt, Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, Playhouse on the Square
Choreography, Div II: Austin Wall, Into the Woods, University of Memphis
Choreography, Div I Play: Whitney Branan and Courtney Oliver, A Monster Calls, New Moon Theatre
Choreography, Div I Musical: Emma Crystal & Noelia Warnette-Jones, Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, Playhouse on the Square and Travis Bradley and Jordan Nichols, Cinderella, Theatre Memphis
Featured Performer, Div II Play: Cary Vaughn, The Western Park Album, Emerald Theatre Company
Featured Performer, Div I Play: Fatima L. Gray, A Raisin in the Sun, Theatre Memphis
Featured Performer, Div II Musical: Jasmine Gillenwaters, Erin McKee, & Madilyn Mobbs, Into the Woods, University of Memphis
Featured Performer, Div I Musical: Justin Asher and Stephen Garrett, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Memphis
Featured Dancer, Div I Musical: Karl Robinson, Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, Playhouse on the Square
Supporting Actor, Div II Play: Micah Winter-Cole aka “Goldie Dee Collins,” Out in the Woods: FOG Fairy Tales, Friends of George’s
Supporting Actress, Div II Play: Taylor Edwards, Silent Sky, University of Memphis
Supporting Actor, Div I Play: Eric Schultz, Silent Sky, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
Supporting Actress, Div I Play: Emily F. Chateau, Silent Sky, Next Stage, Theatre Memphis
Supporting Actor, Div II Musical: Aidan Saunders, Twelfth Night: The Musical, Harrell Theatre
Supporting Actress, Div II Musical: Cassie Thompson, Zanna, Don’t, Emerald Theatre Company
Supporting Actor, Div I Musical: Jonathan Christian, The Prom, Playhouse on the Square
Supporting Actress, Div I Musical: Emily F. Chateau, Cinderella, Theatre Memphis
Leading Actor, Div II Play: Taylor Roberts, The Sound Inside, Quark Theatre
Leading Actress, Div II Play: Mary Hollis Inboden, The Wasp, Quark Theatre, and Meghan L. Lewis, The Wasp, Quark Theatre
Leading Actor, Div I Play: John Maness, Kevar Maffitt, & Michael Gravois, The Lehman Trilogy, Circuit Playhouse
Leading Actress, Div I Play: Flo Roach, A Raisin in the Sun, Hattiloo Theatre
Leading Actor, Div II Musical: Steele Bowers, Murder Ballad, University of Memphis
Leading Actress, Div II Musical: Campbell Williams, 9 to 5, Harrell Theatre
Leading Actor, Div I Musical: Bentley Black, Catch Me If You Can, Playhouse on the Square
Leading Actress, Div I Musical: Cameron Crawford, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Memphis
Ensemble, Div II Play: Out in the Woods: FOG Fairy Tales, Friends of George’s
Ensemble, Div I Play: A Monster Calls, New Moon Theatre
Ensemble, Div II Musical: Amelie, Rhodes Theatre Guild
Ensemble, Div I Musical: Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, Playhouse on the Square
Original Script: Western Park Album, Howell Pearre, Emerald Theatre Company
Direction, Div II: Aliza Moran, Amelie, Rhodes Theatre Guild
Direction, Div I Play: Warner Crocker, The Lehman Trilogy, Circuit Playhouse
Direction, Div I Musical: Cecelia Wingate, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Memphis
Production, Div II: The Wasp, Quark Theatre, Director: Tony Isbell; Stage Manager: Leslie Lee
Production, Div I Play: The Lehman Trilogy, Circuit Playhouse; Director: Warner Crocker; Stage Manager: Emma White
Production, Div I Musical: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Theatre Memphis; Director: Cecelia Wingate; Stage Manager: Chelsea Robinson
The Otis Smith Dance Award: Courtney Oliver
Larry Riley Rising Star Award: Mac White
Janie McCrary Putting it Together Award: Terry Dean
Behind the Scenes Award: P.A. Bomani
For the 2023-2024 season, 14 organizations participated in the Ostrander Awards, submitting 63 productions for adjudication. The participating theaters are:
