Bright Star is a musical set in the hills of North Carolina with a story that spans the decades from 1923 to post World War II 1946 and focuses on the life of Alice Murphy, the editor of a successful literary magazine based in Asheville.
In the not-so-distant future, a terrible water shortage caused by a 20-year drought leads to a government-forced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he’s had enough and leads the poor to rise up and fight for the freedom to go “wherever you like, whenever you like, for as long as you like, and with whomever you like!”
"Let me explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster."
"Trouble is, you can’t run away from yourself." Castle Crenshaw, a.k.a. Ghost, has been running his entire life, but for all the wrong reasons. Then one day he meets Coach, an Olympic medalist who sees his unique raw talent. Can Ghost achieve the speed he needs for success, or will his past finally catch up to him? A world premiere play based on the novel by Jason Reynolds and adapted by Idris Goodwin especially for Nashville Children’s Theatre.
“There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand.” Pushing the limits of science and morality in his search for love and purpose, Victor Frankenstein unleashes a creation that he cannot control. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel, join us for a heartfelt new stage adaptation by A.S. Peterson (The Battle of Franklin) that will leave you pondering your own sense of belonging long after the lights come up.
"Inspired by the sensational Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, this thrilling courtroom drama centers on the prosecution of a teacher who read about Darwin’s The Origin of Species to his science class from their biology book. The attention-grabbing trial becomes a boxing match for the two greatest legal giants of the century. The great storytelling of this classic is enhanced by its ties to actual historical characters, and this riveting drama rings with relevance to our culture’s struggle with the relationship between belief and science that continues to this day."
Take a world renowned Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, near the end of his career, and force him into a room with Norway’s favorite sculptor, Gustav Vigeland at the peak of his, whose ambitions require him to persuade a reluctant Ibsen to sit for him. Their battle begins. Debating what a person’s true legacy is – the work achieved during our life or how our loved ones remember us – unexpectedly teaches them something fundamental.
"Arnold’s potent performance adds to his heavyweight resume, his Willy [Loman] evoking and inducing pain with almost every phrase."
"Arnold and [Barry] Scott are justly admired actors who’ve both put four decades of their lives into their artistic work. Here they play with each other using vivid expression without visible artifice. Putting [playwright] Reyland’s marvelous words into the mouths of two such masterful performers provides entertainment that enlightens and enthralls."
"…Arnold has become something of a definitive Scrooge. But it’s more than mere skinflintery and ‘bah humbugs.’ Arnold has a wonderful way of revealing character, choosing just the right moments to remind us that Scrooge was once a man of nobler aspirations. Arnold delivers Dickens’ rich dialogue with zeal, but needs no words to communicate the anguish of a ruined man."