Events Search
398 total results
Essential Conversations
First Wednesday of every month
@ Scarritt-Bennett Center 1008 19th Ave. S. (map)
Nashville Belmont/ Edgehill/ Hillsboro Village
Community Events@ Scarritt-Bennett Center 1008 19th Ave. S. (map)
Nashville Belmont/ Edgehill/ Hillsboro Village
I'm not even religious, and still The Gospel of John fascinates me. It's just so weird. It starts: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God,” and gets more cryptic from there. I love that kind of symbolic, mystical wordplay, and apparently so did early Christians, and the Hebrew testament is filled with bizarre (to my modern mind, at least) ideas about words giving power to things. Moses wasn't even granted access to God's real name when he asked for it, and Adam had all sorts of dominion over animals because he was the one to name them all. Scarritt-Bennett's interfaith Wisdom Center is taking this idea and running with it — words are filled with spiritual potential, and they can grant power to those who use them well. Their Essential Conversations, a yearlong series that takes place on the first and third Wednesday of every month, begins today. Each segment of the series is built around a specific word — like “hospitality,” “justice,” “reverence” and “grace” — that serves as its theme. Lunch is served, and a discussion about the spiritual implications of that particular word unfolds. The conversations are hosted by Wisdom House director Rabbi Rami Shapiro, who says that his aim is “to ask hard questions about religion, spirituality and the meaning and purpose of life without insisting upon one right answer.” Shapiro hopes that, simply by putting the question into words, deeper knowledge will be granted.
Chris Walters Record Release Show
Sun., Feb. 12, 3 p.m.
@ Nashville Jazz Workshop 1319 Adams St. (map)
Nashville Germantown/ Jefferson St./ Fisk
Jazz@ Nashville Jazz Workshop 1319 Adams St. (map)
Nashville Germantown/ Jefferson St./ Fisk
Pianist and singer Chris Walters’ Yay! Everybody Yay! is one of the most enchanting albums to cross my desk in some time — and if you saw the Jenga-like towers of CDs strategically placed around my office like some sort of elaborate Jedi booby trap, you’d know that’s high praise. A sideman for years with various country, jazz and pop acts — he performed with J.D. Souther at Lincoln Center in New York last month — Walters released a strong solo effort in 2007 titled Cool Blue Swing. But Yay! ups the ante considerably, displaying astonishing stylistic breadth and compositional complexity. The haunting “Le Chanteuse Josephine” evokes a mid-century French jazz club (and features some exceptional playing by musical-saw master Natalia Paruz). “Bootsoles” and “Woman’s Greatest Weapon” are ambitious, whimsical dollops of world pop reminiscent of Paul Simon, while the instrumental title track is a playful blend of lounge exotica and hard bop. Though the compositions and arrangements are at the forefront, Walters’ piano work is fabulous throughout, particularly on opening track “He Ain’t Got You” and a gorgeous interpretation of Alberto Ginastera’s “Malambo” that sounds like a mash-up of Dave Brubeck and Vince Guaraldi. In the most entertaining liner notes I’ve read in years, area drummer Danny Coots writes, “It was as if with his solo he had successfully impregnated his lover through a hole he had made in her side. Hardly orthodox, but their consummation was complete and their child was beautiful.” If that sounds crazy, listen to the record — it’ll make perfect sense.
Free
Hunger in Paradise
Saturdays, Sundays. Continues through Feb. 12
@ Darkhorse Theater 4610 Charlotte Ave. (map)
Nashville Charlotte Pike/ Sylvan Park/ West Nashville
Opening@ Darkhorse Theater 4610 Charlotte Ave. (map)
Nashville Charlotte Pike/ Sylvan Park/ West Nashville
Mary McCallum may be a super-active performer and director, but nothing is more important to her than her work as a playwright. This workshop production offers another step in development for a McCallum script that was first seriously read and nurtured at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s Ingram New Works Program. As in her previous play Fly, Girl!, the playwright draws upon historical events, here setting her tale against the backdrop of the 1921 Tulsa riots — a shocking episode in which the wealthiest African-American community in the U.S., the Greenwood District, was burned to the ground, resulting in dozens killed and thousands left homeless. McCallum’s story tells of a black man who becomes involved with a white woman within that racially charged atmosphere. Performing alongside McCallum are Christina Kretchik, Rashad Rayford, Jason McGowan and Tamiko Robinson. Directed by Shawn Whitsell.
Nashville Ballet's Salsa Dreams
Fridays-Sundays. Continues through Feb. 12
@ TPAC Polk Theatre 505 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN (map)
Nashville Downtown
Dance@ TPAC Polk Theatre 505 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN (map)
Nashville Downtown
Nashville Ballet recently announced that its annual fundraising gala, Ballet Ball, scheduled for March 3 at the Schermerhorn, will feature musical performances from alt-rock visionary Ben Folds and chart-topping singer-songwriters The Civil Wars. The musical artists will perform some of their well-known material while dancers perform original choreography by artistic director Paul Vasterling. Of course, there’s solid precedence for this in the ballet’s strong efforts to collaborate with pop and country artists — a tradition that continues in part with Salsa Dreams, the ballet’s winter program. The lineup includes “Cryin’ Out,” a piece danced to music written and performed live on stage by the estimable Gary Nicholson, whose songs have been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Vince Gill, the Dixie Chicks and others. Nicholson will perform some of his most recognized tunes, including “One More Last Chance,” “More Love” and “Choose Love.” The program’s title piece, previously performed in 2005, features the unlikely fusion of ballet and salsa, with live music provided by Lalo Davila y Amigos. Also on this appealingly eclectic bill is Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid,” a quintessential American work inspired by the life of the infamous Western outlaw. This staging represents its Nashville Ballet premiere.
South Pacific
Tuesdays-Sundays. Continues through Feb. 12
@ Tennessee Performing Arts Center 505 Deaderick St. (map)
Nashville Downtown
Ongoing@ Tennessee Performing Arts Center 505 Deaderick St. (map)
Nashville Downtown
South Pacific is no Pacific Overtures. It tells its stories of Americans interacting with Pacific islanders during World War II in the jaunty, belly-laughing and successfully romantic style that made Rodgers and Hammerstein a household phrase, the standard for quality musical theater. The show debuted on Broadway in 1949, and the adaptation of James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific proved conducive to the development of vivid characters, a warm story and a tuneful score filled with memorable songs. This road company, spawned from an acclaimed 2008 New York revival, has been getting solid reviews, and for those who like their theatrical blockbusters old-school, this one’s the ticket.
$28
The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963
Mondays-Sundays. Continues through Feb. 12
@ Nashville Children's Theatre 25 Middleton St. (map)
Nashville Nolensville Rd./ Woodbine/ Murfreesboro Rd.
Ongoing@ Nashville Children's Theatre 25 Middleton St. (map)
Nashville Nolensville Rd./ Woodbine/ Murfreesboro Rd.
Christopher Paul Curtis wrote this piece of historical fiction in 1995, and it was awarded a Newbery Honor by the American Library Association and also won the Coretta Scott King Award. Later brought to the stage, the story concerns an African-American family from Flint, Mich., whose trip to Birmingham, Ala., takes on unexpected dimensions when their experience overlaps with an important civil rights event — the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Nashville Children’s Theatre’s new production, directed by Scot Copeland, utilizes multimedia techniques to recreate the historical ambience. Some familiar Nashville performers are in the cast, including Shawn Whitsell, Nikkita Staggs, David Chattam and Aleta Myles, each of whom also appeared in NCT’s 2010 mounting of yet another acclaimed Curtis work, Bud, Not Buddy.
Evolution Sunday
Sun., Feb. 12, 9:45 a.m.-12 p.m.
@ Woodland Presbyterian Church 211 N. 11th St. (map)
Nashville Five Points/ Shelby Bottoms
Community Events@ Woodland Presbyterian Church 211 N. 11th St. (map)
Nashville Five Points/ Shelby Bottoms
Congregations will join together to discuss the compatibility of religion and science.
Songwriter Session feat. Jerry Vandiver and A.J. Masters
Sun., Feb. 12, 11:30 a.m.
@ Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum 222 5th Ave. S. (map)
Nashville Broadway/ The Gulch/ Music Row/ West End
Country@ Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum 222 5th Ave. S. (map)
Nashville Broadway/ The Gulch/ Music Row/ West End
Free
Banjo Demonstration feat. Pam Gadd
Sun., Feb. 12, 1 p.m.
@ Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum 222 5th Ave. S. (map)
Nashville Broadway/ The Gulch/ Music Row/ West End
Country@ Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum 222 5th Ave. S. (map)
Nashville Broadway/ The Gulch/ Music Row/ West End
Free
An Evening of Three Plays Auditions
Sun., Feb. 12, 2-4 p.m.
@ Global Education Center 4822 Charlotte Ave. (map)
Nashville Charlotte Pike/ Sylvan Park/ West Nashville
Auditions@ Global Education Center 4822 Charlotte Ave. (map)
Nashville Charlotte Pike/ Sylvan Park/ West Nashville
Roles available for five males and four females.
Big Daddy Cool & The Swing Kittens Auditions
Sun., Feb. 12, 3 p.m.
@ Belmont's Black Box Theatre 1575 Compton Ave. (map)
Nashville Belmont/ Edgehill/ Hillsboro Village
Auditions@ Belmont's Black Box Theatre 1575 Compton Ave. (map)
Nashville Belmont/ Edgehill/ Hillsboro Village
Positions available for female singers/dancers.
Ars Nova Quartet
Sun., Feb. 12, 4 p.m.
@ Ingram Hall, Blair School of Music 2400 Blakemore Ave. (map)
Nashville Belmont/ Edgehill/ Hillsboro Village
Classical@ Ingram Hall, Blair School of Music 2400 Blakemore Ave. (map)
Nashville Belmont/ Edgehill/ Hillsboro Village
Free
398 total results
