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Please Don't Destroy
Please Don’t Destroy is made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy. They are currently writing and making videos for Saturday Night Live – favorites include “Three Sad Virgins” featuring Taylor Swift and Pete Davidson, “Good Variant,” “Hard Seltzer”, “The Stakeout”, “Hangxiety” and more. They’ve been beloved repeat guests at NBC’s annual Miley Cyrus’s New Year’s Eve Party. Even before their viral videos online, the guys performed live sketch together all over NYC – since then they’ve headlined at the Netflix is a Joke Festival, the New York Comedy Festival, were featured at The Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas, and consistently sell out colleges and marquee shows across the country. Ben, John, and Martin wrote and starred in their first movie “Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain”, produced by Judd Apatow, now streaming on Peacock.
This presentation is a licensed event and not affiliated directly with the nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
The Whole
On the verge of becoming “just another statistic” a young African American is arrested and incarcerated. When his cellmate intentionally antagonizes him, he must either respond with the code of the streets or forge a new identity and embrace a wider humanity. Either way his decision will have consequences.
The play explores themes of identity, environment, connection and change – and how salvation can come from the most unexpected places.
All of the stories in the 3-character play are true as related by former inmates, save one, which was related by Anton Chekhov
This presentation is a licensed event and not affiliated directly with the nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Leslie Jones: I'm Hot Tour
Leslie Jones is a three-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee as well as a Writer’s Guild Award and NAACP Award nominee for her work on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. She has also been honored as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Jones recently wrapped production on season two of the HBO Max series OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH. The week of January 17th, 2023, Jones kicked off a new era of THE DAILY SHOW as the program's first guest host. In 2021, she starred opposite Eddie Murphy in COMING 2 AMERICA for which she won an MTV Movie Award and was nominated for a People’s Choice Award. Jones will next produce an untitled Christmas comedy for Lionsgate which she is currently developing as a potential future starring role. Additionally, Jones co-hosts the podcast THE FCKRY with comedian Lenny Marcus. Each week, Jones and Marcus interview guests and answer listener questions, while exposing “the fckry” of any given topic.
This presentation is a licensed event and not affiliated directly with the nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Dancing in the Aisles
The Ultimate Motown Experience
Dancing in the Aisles – The Ultimate Motown Experience brings the timeless sound of Motown to life in an electrifying night of music, memories, and world-class entertainment featuring Detroit legends The Shades of Blue, known for their #1 hit “Oh How Happy!” The show highlights an all-star cast of renowned Motown performers including Stuart Avig, one of only five Original Motown Artists still touring! Witness dazzling costumes, dynamic choreography, and powerful harmonies as they take you on a thrilling journey through the greatest hits of The Temptations, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, and more.
This presentation is a licensed event and not affiliated directly with the nonprofit
Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Jersey Boys
The original Broadway sensation returns to the road! Celebrating 20 years - Jersey style!
They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their very first note. They had a sound nobody had ever heard… and the radio just couldn’t get enough of. But while their harmonies were perfect on stage, off stage it was a very different story -- a story that has made them an international sensation all over again. The show features all their hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What a Night,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Beggin’” and “Working My Way Back to You.”
Go behind the music and inside the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons in the Tony Award®-winning, original Broadway sensation, JERSEY BOYS. From the streets of New Jersey to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is the musical that’s too good to be true.
Cécile McLorin Salvant
Experience the singular artistry of CéCILE MCLORIN SALVANT, a genre-defying vocalist whose performances blend jazz, blues, theater, and global traditions into something wholly her own. Praised by the legendary Jessye Norman as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality which light up every note she sings,” Salvant is renowned for her storytelling—reviving forgotten songs and reimagining them with wit, humor, drama, and emotional depth.
A winner of the Thelonious Monk Competition and a three-time Grammy Award recipient, Salvant continues to push artistic boundaries. Her recent work spans the intimate, self-produced album Oh Snap to ambitious projects like Ogresse, a genre-blending musical fable.
Whether delivering a playful twist or a haunting ballad, Salvant captivates audiences with her curiosity, virtuosity, and fearless creativity. Don’t miss this one-night-only opportunity to experience a truly transformative live performance.
John Proctor Is the Villain
What if the villain is not who we thought? In this biting dramatic comedy, a high school English class reexamines The Crucible and sparks a reckoning. As teenage girls debate John Proctor’s morality, their conversations expose uncomfortable truths about consent, credibility, and the stories society chooses to protect. From Kimberly Belflower comes a smart, timely, and deeply human play that asks, who benefits when we call someone a hero?
Tosca
Experience the raw intensity of Puccini’s most cinematic masterpiece. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of 1800s Rome, Tosca is a high-stakes race against time where passion and politics collide. Follow the legendary singer Floria Tosca as she fights to save her lover from the clutches of the corrupt police chief, Scarpia. Featuring stunning, hand-painted traditional sets, this production captures the grand scale of Italian tragedy, complete with a mock execution, a deadly double-cross, and one of the most iconic final moments in all of opera.
The Sound of Music
For 65 years, THE SOUND OF MUSIC has been one of our “favorite things.” With its timeless story and irresistibly charming score, this Rodgers & Hammerstein classic isn’t just meant to be enjoyed - it’s meant to be shared. Now, a critically acclaimed North American tour brings the cherished musical to stages across the country to teach a new generation to sing.
Directed by three-time Tony Award® winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray), this vibrant and romantic tale of Maria and the von Trapp family will captivate audiences with its universal themes of love, resilience and the power of music.
Featuring beloved songs like “Do-Re-Mi,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and “Edelweiss,” THE SOUND OF MUSIC is the iconic tale of a spirited nun who chooses not to live behind closed doors - and, by following her heart, learns to climb every mountain.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp. The 1965 Oscar®-winning film recently celebrated its 60th anniversary and continues to be one of the most successful movie musicals of all time.
Urban Bush Women: This Is Risk
THIS IS RISK, looks forward and back in celebrating four decades of operating at the vanguard of movement and social activism. THIS IS RISK takes the audience through intentional storytelling to the next space of collective brilliance. This energetically charged evening includes iconic works by Founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, featuring live music, including the return of Shelter, a full performance of Batty Moves, last performed in 2002, and a new commission, Contemplations on Legacy, by long-time UBW collaborator and choreographer Vincent E. Thomas.
URBAN BUSH WOMEN (UBW) is a groundbreaking Black women-led theatrical dance company and an agent for social change. Founded in 1984 by visionary choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, UBW is an engine and amplifier for the stories of Black Women+. UBW combines radical performance, deep engagement, and ancestral knowledge from the African diaspora into a force that is urgent, forward-looking, and essential. UBW has defied expectations for 40 years. The very bodies of its founding members – Black women of various shapes and sizes – changed the landscape of who could be seen on stage as a dancer. The work placed the concerns of such women center stage. UBW embraces radical storytelling to activate societal transformation. Whether creating genre-defying work for the stage, guiding the development of Black Women+ choreographers and producers, organizing for justice through artmaking, UBW is an innovator, operating at the vanguard.
TPAC’s education programs inspire imagination in the leaders of tomorrow while fostering artistic expression and learning at every age. From our work in local schools to enriching student performances on our stages we introduce students all across Tennessee and beyond to the performing arts.
Tennessee Performing Arts Center brings captivating stories, dynamic movement, and imaginative experiences to Nashville’s vibrant community with the hottest shows on Broadway to world-renown artists, internationally acclaimed dance companies, and family-friendly shows.
- Lyatt, playing Genie in Aladdin Jr.
The Spotlight Awards are dedicated to supporting the talents, educational endeavors, and friendships of high school theatre students in Tennessee to build a strong and inclusive theatre community.
