Did you take the Tony to Sardi's?

For me, the annual Tony Awards are synonymous with the Seinfeld episode where Kramer – as a seat-filler – accidentally gets whisked onstage to accept an award. But I digress.

 

What’s the significance of the Tony Awards to people in Nashville?  Put it this way, it’s the Broadway equivalent of watching the NCAA basketball tournament to see who the top NBA draft picks will be. It’s a glimpse of what the future holds because the shows nominated and performing at the Tony Awards are often the ones that will soon be on stages across the country.

So with that in mind, watch the Tony’s on Sunday, June 10^th at 7 on CBS…and give us your scouting report.

Plus, you can enter our Tony Winner Guessing Contest to possibly win tickets to see The Nutty Professor this summer at TPAC.  Or you can visit the Tony’s site to check out plenty of the fun Tony Awards content.  Join us in celebrating the Tony Awards!

- Steve

Local girl makes great, Lindsey Bliven – Part 1

One of our favorite things is when a Broadway production comes to Nashville featuring homegrown talent. So when Mary Poppins rolled into town last March, we jumped at a chance to chat with local Lindsey Bliven to get her take on how an exposure to the performing arts (and performances at TPAC) when she was younger inspired her career and to hear what it’s like to return home as part of a Broadway blockbuster.

Below is Part 1 (of 3) of our conversation with Lindsey.

-Tony

Broadway (conference) and Back: the reviews are in

Some of the staff went to a Broadway conference recently.  We talked about what’s coming, what’s going, what’s selling or not, and tried to sort out the why’s and how’s.  Oh, and we got to see some celebrities and shows.  We know, it’s a tough gig.

To keep our reviews brief, we enforced an 145 character Twitter rule.  So here are a few thoughts.

ONCE - Successfully reliant on the talent of the performers & the strength of the script. So amazing I HAD to leave with the CD...and I never do that.    - Christi

ANYTHING GOES is just plain fun! My favorite was “You’re the Top”…hysterical.  It's just a good-time, goofy show...and the dancing/tap at the end of Act I is AMAZING!    - Jacquie

WAR HORSE – These are not puppets, these horses live, breathe & flick their tails!  A marvel to behold, and a touching reminder of the overlooked WWI.   The buzz is justified.    - Steve

TRACES – I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I got artistry, athleticism, and sheer guts.  Think Cirqué w/o pomp & circumstance.  An edgy show that keeps theater fresh & exciting.   - Akil

THE LION KING - 30 seconds into the show’s opening, I realized why so many love this engaging and (still) unique production… and why so many friends were shocked I hadn’t seen it. A must see. - Tony 

Catch us over a drink and we'll tell you about the other shows we saw: Ghost the Musical; Sister Act; Newsies; Peter and the Starcatcher; One Man, Two Guvnors; Jersey Boys and more.

Adventures in Flight

Earlier in May my husband and I had the chance to go out to The Great Tennessee Air Show at the Smyrna Airport. To be honest, it was a terrible day for an air show - pouring down rain the majority of the time we were there that morning. Not an ideal morning for the wife, standing in the rain looking at planes. However, to my surprise, rounding the corner to park for the show, I saw what could best be described as a graveyard for old airplanes...a smile immediately hit my face. Right before me was an old Pan Am 727 jet! Here in Smyrna, TN could possibly be one of the last remaining Pan Am jets - if not the last. I present the Pan Am Boeing 727 "Clipper Troubadour."

- A special thank you to Michael Davis Photography for providing the interior photo of the Pan Am 727.

To the ordinary person this may look like a big pile of rusting mess, but to me...what a piece of history and how exciting! Where had it been, what cities had it visited, who had ridden on it? Traveling recently I found myself looking around on the plane while we were waiting for take-off. There were so many other “stories” on that plane besides my own. Honeymoons, adventures, or just coming home to the ones you love. Coming back to this Smyrna gem, brings a sense of nostalgia that maybe one of its stories was Frank Abagnale’s.

Next year TPAC will be presenting Catch Me If You Can based on the movie by DreamWorks Pictures and Frank Abagnale’s true story that inspired it. For more info, click here.

The nuts and bolts of a Boeing 727:

-94 seats
-580 mph
-1700 mile range
-3 Pratt & Whitney JT8D Engines
-The Boeing 727 went into service February 1964. Pan Am ordered 25 B727 on February 1,1965 at roughly $4.1 million each. 

Happy flying,

Jacquie 

Need Something To Do?

If you need something to do this weekend, especially indoors since it will be pretty hot, I recommend checking out the John Mellencamp art exhibit at the TN State Museum. This museum is our neighbor in the James K. Polk building at 505 Deaderick St. What’s great is that you can bring the kids along to learn some cool stuff about TN, and simultaneously take in one of the best art exhibits in Nashville right now for free.

I had a chance to check out Mellencamp’s art last night. The faces of his work share details of his memories and experiences with those who look into their eyes. It’s nice to think that you are looking at the artist’s emotional connection to the people he chose to paint and, in turn, understanding the artist himself. This exhibit marks the first museum tour of Mellencamp’s work.

Nothing Like I Planned: The Art of John Mellencamp will be showing at the TN State Museum until June 10. For more information