I’m excited to announce two projects that I am directing in the next few months:

First is Disney’s Tarzan for the National Association for Music Education at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (Polk Theatre).  This will be a staged concert for a one-night-only performance as part of the association’s conference.  The venue seats about 1,000 patrons.  The production will feature professional musicians, singers, and actors as well as student performers.  The goal of this work is to encourage music educators (band, choir, and orchestra) to see musical theatre as a powerful means to unite their disciplines and put on an entertaining show.  In these difficult financial times, many drama programs are being cut from schools — we believe that there is still opportunity for musical theatre.  We hope this production encourages and inspires new ideas.

Second is George Bernard Shaw’s Man & Superman for Nashville’s Blackbird Theatre.  This is an exciting opportunity to work with Nashville actors on an intense yet brilliantly fun play.  The show will open in January in Shamblin Theatre.  Don’t worry!  We are cutting this masterpiece (5 hours total) into a streamlined little powerhouse.  Here’s an excerpt from Blackbird’s website:

“Blackbird will begin their season with Shaw’s rarely staged Man and Superman, bringing this legendary play to Nashville for the first time. A forceful comedy of ideas, mixing social satire with Shaw’s profound philosophical vision, Man and Superman follows the romantic interplay of political firebrand and confirmed bachelor John Tanner and Ann Whitefield, the charming and scheming woman who intends to marry him.

“It’s a romantic comedy told on an epic scale,” says Managing Director Greg Greene. “It moves from a comedy of manners in an Edwardian manor to a dramatic debate set in Hell, with Don Juan and the Devil arguing about the ultimate purpose of mankind. It’s a brilliant blend of light comedy and weighty convictions.” Full article: Blackbird Theatre 2013 Season

I am grateful for these opportunities and am already in pre-production mode.  I keep falling more and more in love with each script every time I read it.  It’s going to be a great year!