The annual Memphis theater awards program has overcome its financial shortfall with a fundraising drive and plans a change for this year.

Comedies and musicals are what’s on stage this month in Memphis theaters.

Food scientist and TV personality Alton Brown says his “culinary variety show” combines storytelling, comedy, music and culinary demonstrations all in one. 

With “Luckiest Man in America” and “Freaky Tales,” this might be a good week at the movies for anyone nostalgic for the 1980s. 

A Broadway version of classic Marilyn Monroe film — with plenty of tap-dancing — is one of several shows opening in Memphis theaters in April.

The new pass is now available at Memphis libraries and community centers. It provides elementary students and their families free access to performances and events hosted by more than 30 local arts organizations.

The eight productions in Germantown Community Theatre’s latest season include musicals, comedies, plays, a youth production, and the winner of the organization’s emerging playwright contest.

More acts scheduled for the 2025-2026 season include Sutton Foster, Yonder Mountain String Band, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kandace Springs, and The Hot Sardines.

Seven musicals will be presented, including a regional premiere of “Come From Away,” the Tony Award-winning musical.

Memphis' annual Ostrander Awards may not be held this summer as the organization struggles to find funding.

Here’s what’s showing in Memphis theaters this March, including one show that the director describes as “incredibly weird.” 

The 2025-26 season includes well-known musicals, family favorites and a classic Shakespearean tragedy. 

“The way that she makes dance, it just kind of comes out of her,” Ballet Memphis’ artistic director said of Emilia Sandoval, who choreographed her third commission for the company. 

Memphis native Calvin Leon Smith says starring in “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” now on Broadway feels prescient.

Bertram Williams Jr. previously played the lead in Hattiloo’s latest play, which opened Friday, Jan. 17. 

Small-town politics, founding fathers and a mystery memory loss are the topics of shows opening in Memphis in February.

The company will take the stage at the Orpheum Theatre for a limited engagement.

Homecoming is the theme running through Bertram Williams Jr.’s life at the moment.

Among the plays are “Dreamgirls,” “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” “Jubilee” and “Madagascar,” a musical based on the DreamWorks animated film about a group of animals at New York’s Central Park Zoo.

Clear your calendars, Memphis cinephiles. Three of 2024’s very best films are in local theaters this week, and there’s no telling how long they’ll stick around.

Also in January, “P-Valley” star Bertram Williams Jr. is the lead in a Black reimagining of Homer’s epic at Hattiloo.

Gretchen Wollert McLennon first stepped dance shoes in Ballet Memphis at 11 years old. Now, after five years building on the company’s legacy, she’s taking a bow. 

Amy Lovorn, chair of the DeSoto County Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Board of Directors, said Jason Morgan’s termination was a personnel matter, preventing her from further comment. 

Amid awards season, “Den of Thieves 2” won’t be seeking any but will instead try to reward audiences with shootouts, car chases, big scores and pulpy dialogue. 

A quartet of very different, but quite notable, new movies open in Memphis on Christmas Day.