Main Content
2009/2010
25th Anniversary Season Announced
Steel Magnolias
By Robert Harling
October 3–24, 2009
One of the most quotable works of the past twenty years, Steel Magnolias is set in Truvy's beauty salon in Chinquapin Parish, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are "anybody" come to have their hair done. The outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the curmudgeonly Ouiser ("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a bad mood for forty years"), the eccentric yet sensible Miss Clairee, and the respected and admired M'Lynn and her daughter Shelby, the prettiest girl in town. Filled with hilarious repartee and humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy. As the ladies come face to face with mortality, they draw on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality that makes them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
Copeland Says: “I have to confess a genuine personal thrill at the prospect of working on Steel Magnolias. It’s a show I’ve loved for a long time; I’ve always felt it was a genuine loving tribute to the resiliency of Southern women and it’s just plain funny. (Fun fact: Martha Wilkinson will play Truvy. A few years ago we did this show together with me playing Truvy and Martha playing Shelby.) But mostly I’m looking forward to being a part of the pairing of Marin Miller and her mother—Mary Jane Harvill—on stage together for the first time. Mary Jane and her husband, the late Myke Mueller, were legendary and integral parts of Tennessee Rep in its founding days, and of course Marin has been acting on the Tennessee Rep stage in recent years—our first second-generation professional actor. In getting to know and love Marin, l have loved hearing stories of her memories of her childhood in the Tennessee Rep family, and tales of her mom and dad. Naturally, it occurred to me that putting them together would be such a fitting tribute to Tennessee Rep’s history. When they agreed to play Shelby and M’Lynn to kick off the anniversary season, it just seemed so right.
Original Tennessee Rep Production: 1989/1990 Season
The Tennessee Rep production of Steel Magnolias will celebrate the history of Tennessee Repertory Theatre by bringing together two generations of Tennessee Rep actresses. Mary Jane Harvill and her daughter Marin Miller will appear together on stage for the first time, playing the roles of M’Lynn and Shelby.
A Christmas Story
By Phillip Grecian
Based on the motion picture A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, and Bob Clark
Novermber 21–December 19, 2009
Humorist Jean Shepherd's memoir of growing up in the Midwest in the 1940s follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his unflappable campaign to get Santa (or anyone else) to give him a Red Ryder carbine-action, 200 shot range-model air rifle. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself, at Goldblatt's Department Store. The consistent response: "You'll shoot your eye out." All the elements from the beloved motion picture are here, including the family's temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas, the school bully; the boys' experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie's father winning a lamp shaped like a woman's leg in a net stocking; Ralphie's fantasy scenarios and more. This irresistible piece of Americana is a cult classic and is guaranteed to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.
Copeland Says: “When we did It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play during the 2007–2008 season, I was intrigued by the success of a well-loved movie story being told in a theatrical way. It was great fun for us and for the audience; the holidays will always be a time we want to contribute to the fun of the season. I had been thinking about A Christmas Story, knowing it had been adapted into a theatre version. I am of course among those who watch the movie every year. I was born in small-town Indiana and have always felt a connection to it—the snow, the school building, the house. After The Santaland Diaries this season—which is dedicated to keeping us from getting TOO sentimental—it seemed appropriate to swing the other way and revisit a warm, funny story we all know and love. And I'm looking forward to bringing the story to the stage and in a way that only the theatre can do. You can watch the movie and have a great time, but you'll have a very difference experience of the story if you come see it as told by living actors, sharing the experience with fellow audience members. The energy in live theatre is so different from watching film because of the give and take between audience and actors in live theatre. Telling this story in such an intense, intimate way excites me!
Proof
By David Auburn
Awards: 2001 Tony Award for Best Play, 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2001 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play, New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play
February 6–20, 2010
On the eve of her 25th birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions, the arrival of her estranged sister Claire, and the attentions of Hal—one of her father’s former students. Hal hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that Catherine’s father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness—or genius—has she inherited?
Copeland Says: “Proof is the kind of play directors live to work on: a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner. When a play wins both awards you can figure that not only is it of excellent quality as a script, but it has also been successful at winning over audiences. I love a smart, moving play that is also highly entertaining. The structure of it is clever, and it is one of those plays with many layers. The characters are fascinating; the dialogue is brilliant; the story is rich. This is a play that I have wanted to direct, and I am just delighted that the circumstances of the 25th anniversary have given me the opportunity to bring it back!
Original Tennessee Rep Production: 2002/2003 Season
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Book by William Hauptman, Music and Lyrics by Roger Miller
Awards: Seven 1985 Tony Awards (including Best Musical, Best Book for Musical, and Best Original Score): 8 Drama Desk Awards.
March 20–April 10
Mark Twain’s timeless classic sweeps us down the mighty Mississippi as the irrepressible Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Their adventures along the way are hilarious, suspenseful and heartwarming, bringing to life favorite characters from the novel-the Widow Douglas and her stern sister, Miss Watson; the uproarious King and Duke, who may or may not be as harmless as they seem; Huck's partner in crime, Tom Sawyer, and their rowdy gang of pals; Huck's drunken father, the sinister Pap Finn; the lovely Mary Jane Wilkes and her trusting family. Propelled by an award-winning score from Roger Miller, the king of country music, this jaunty journey provides a brilliantly theatrical celebration of pure Americana.
Copeland Says: “When we did Sweeney Todd last fall, we got such artistic satisfaction in accomplishing that show in our own way— utilizing our space in an exciting way, making it compelling and resonant with the great talent we have for musicals. And our audience enjoyed it so much. Naturally, I was open to the idea of finding another musical that would lend itself to our “stamp.” Big River came up as an idea both because it was such a popular show from Tennessee Rep’s history, and because I was looking for a way for us to participate with the Nashville Public Library’s “One City, One Author” celebration of Mark Twain next season. This show satisfied both and is one that our wonderful designer Gary Hoff and I thought could be another exciting project for us to mount in the Johnson Theatre and make it uniquely our own. This show celebrates our history while giving us an opportunity to bring a wonderful American musical to life in a fresh way. And the music, by Nashville's Roger Miller, is as beautiful as any you'll ever hear—the melodies will send you humming out of the theatre.
Original Tennessee Rep Production: 1991/1992 Season
The Tennessee Rep production of Big River will be a companion piece to Nashville Children’s Theatre’s production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (fall 2009). Both productions are featured as a part of Nashville’s “One City, One Author” celebration of Mark Twain presented by the Nashville Public Library.