Blog
Blackbird Honored in Scene’s “Best of Nashville”
October 06 2011
We’re thrilled and honored by the acclaim given in this week’s Nashville Scene “Best of Nashville” issue to Blackbird Theater as well as some of our friends and collaborators.
For starters, our production of Arcadia was named Best Ensemble Performance. Martin Brady writes, “After quickly establishing itself as a theater company of note in 2010, Blackbird Theater served up a ‘wow’ 2011 production of Tom Stoppard’s three-hour masterwork, with director Ted Swindley supervising a marvelously synchronized cast of poised players. . . .” Blackbird leading man David Compton was selected Best Actor: “A familiar figure to Nashville theater audiences, Compton’s achieved a lot in his long local career. Yet his involvement with two fine Blackbird Theater productions — Arcadia and Magic — have jump-started his mojo this season and put him in front of some different and very appreciative audiences.” Arcadia costumer June Kingsbury was selected as Best Costume Designer. And Scene writer Jim Ridley offered this piece, which we at Blackbird really appreciate:
BEST TREND IN LOCAL THEATER: FRESH MATERIAL
Goodbye, Tennessee Williams and Neil Simon; hello, Steven Dietz and Tracy Letts. Not only are an encouraging number of local theater companies exploring less-performed scripts — Blackbird Theater Company with G.K. Chesterton’s Magic and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, Actors Bridge with John Patrick Shanley’s Sailor’s Song and Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, Tennessee Rep’s “REPaloud” readings — several are forging ahead with original works, most notably the participating troupes of the Shades of Black Theatre Festival. Three upcoming shows we’re particularly psyched about: Husky Jackal’s original Terminator the Second — story by James Cameron, dialogue by William Shakespeare — at Nashville School of the Arts Oct. 14-17; gutsy Murfreesboro troupe Out Front on Main slinging the viscera of Evil Dead: The Musical Nov. 3-20; and Blackbird’s staging of Stephen Sondheim’s seldom-produced 1976 musical Pacific Overtures next February.
Check out the full list of honorees here.