NASHVILLE: Despite these disrupting times, Nashville Repertory Theatre perseveres. The Rep’s original plan to announce their 2020-21 season at a large public party on March 16 was changed due to the health risks of public gatherings. Instead, from March 18 to 23, the theatre revealed their season via a “virtual party,” featuring videos of local actors announcing the Rep’s six upcoming shows.
Nashville Rep’s 36th season will kick off in September with Next to Normal, a rock musical that pulls back the curtain on what appears to be a “perfect loving family.” It will run Sept. 12-27.
Next up will be August Wilson’s Fences (Oct. 17-Nov. 1), a Tony- and Pulitzer-winning drama exploring dreams deferred and an African-American man’s struggle to support his family.
Just in time for the holidays will be Elf the Musical (Nov. 28-Dec. 27). Based on
the Will Ferrell film of the same name, Elf teaches audiences of all ages, “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”
To follow will be works by two contemporary American playwrights. From Feb. 6-21, 2021, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh and Primary User by Nate Eppler will play on the same set with alternating performances. School Girls is a teen comedy that spotlights the universal similarities—and glaring differences—of teenage girls around the globe. Primary User, a millennial ghost story and an examination of disconnection and grief in the age of loneliness, had its premiere reading at the 2017 Ingram New Works Festival. Nate Eppler is Nashville Rep’s Playwright-in-Residence and the director of their Ingram New Works Project.
The season will close with Ragtime (Mar. 27-Apr. 4, 2021), an epic musical tapestry in which three families’ stories intertwine in restless New York as they pursue their versions of the American Dream at the turn of the 20th century.
Since 1985, Nashville Repertory Theatre has been a critically acclaimed regional theatre, creating the highest quality professional productions and serving as a cultural, educational, and economic resource in Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. Nashville Rep produces work that is designed, built, and rehearsed in Nashville by highly skilled actors, designers, directors, and technicians. A non-profit theatre, Nashville Rep seeks to entertain and inspire by creating exceptional theatre exploring the diversity of the human experience.
