Brenda Frye, Weslie Webster Headline Upcoming Concert at Cumberland County Playhouse

Two of Cumberland County Playhouse's favorite actresses and singers-Weslie Webster and Brenda Frye-will be presented in a special 8 p.m. concert performance on Saturday, September 29, entitled interestingly enough An Evening with Brenda Frye and Weslie Webster.

Evoking memories of such televised musical spectacles from the musical duos of Andrews and Burnett, Martin and Merman and Streisand and Garland, An Evening with Brenda Frye and Weslie Webster will feature the two larger-than-life divas in performance with a group of their special Playhouse friends, including Britt Hancock, Jason Ross, Bryce McDonald, pianist MarIan Sullivan and CCP's "Fabulous Five" aka Tracey Barnes, Carol Boston, Carol Ann Chadwell, Debra Graham and Lisa Harrison

In addition to local favorites, Frye and Webster will welcome an impressive roster of guest stars for the evening, including award-winning pianist Mary Scott Goode of Texarkana, Texas, principal keyboard player with the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra will be featured on the keyboard; violinist Samuel Thompson of Baltimore, whose career spans orchestral, solo, and chamber music performance, and whose virtuosity has graced stages in Washington D.C., Toronto, Pittsburgh, Austin, Baltimore, and Padova, Italy; and the renowned West Memphis, Arkansas, High School concert choir Southern Exposure. Now in its 18th year, Southern Exposure has won grand championships in St. Louis, New Orleans, Nashville, Gatlinburg and Dallas. In 2000 the group made its first Carnegie Hall performance and sang a command performance for President Bill Clinton at The White House.

Currently running at the Cumberland County Playhouse are the new bluegrass musical comedy Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge through October 26; Backwards in High, the dance-filled musical biography of the legendary Ginger Rogers running through November 2; and running through October 27 is Five Guys Named Moe. The Tony Award-winning Roger Miller musical Big River opens September 27 and runs through November 9.

Tickets and information are available at www.ccplayhouse.com or by calling (931) 484-5000. 

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who's been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 25 years. He is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theatre in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly. He is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and is the founder/executive producer of The First Night Honors, held during Labor Day Weekend, which honor oustanding theater artists in Tennessee in recognition of their lifetime achievements and includes The First Night Star Awards and the Most Promising Actors. Midwinter's First Night, held the first Sunday in January after New Year's Day, honors outstanding productions and performances throughout the state. Further, Ellis directed the Nashville premiere of La Cage Aux Folles, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and An American Daughter, as well as award-winning productions of Damn Yankees, Company, Gypsy and The Rocky Horror Show, with Ellis honored by The Tennessean as best director of a musical for both Company and Rocky Horror.

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