A local production this weekend will feature playwrights, directors and actors aiming to create six new plays in the span of 24 hours. 

Muralist Brandon Marshall said he designed the Hickory Hill images to inspire drivers and bus riders with uplifting pictures of “a strong cultural asset for the city.”

Horseback rides and the chance to hear live music were some of the ways attendees enjoyed themselves during the Tone Juneteenth Festival. 

Playwright and Memphis theater stalwart Howell Pearre wrote 46 plays during his life, and his longtime friend will direct one of his dramatic, Southern tales in Pearre’s honor.

One event, Tone’s music festival, features Memphis rap legend Juicy J and Memphis producer HitKidd.

Quark Theatre is known for thoughtful and provocative shows that challenge the audience. But one thing the company has not done is a musical. 

In June, Memphis theaters will perform a familiar fairy tale, a slick con-man’s life story, a Dolly Parton musical and more.

The Memphis-based company begins its 2024-2025 season with the return of its free Memphis Dance Festival Saturday, Sept. 21 — which is also National Dance Day. 

“That was the rite of passage from what we call a man of Morehouse to a Morehouse Man,” said Ekundayo Bandele, founder and CEO of Hattiloo Theatre.

The Metropolitan Opera tenor who stars as Rodolfo believes “La Bohème' serves as an archetype for modern TV sitcoms that also center around six friends. Like “Living Single.”

“Shrek the Musical” and “Legally Blonde” are some of the shows coming to theater stages across Memphis. Plus, a Pulitzer Prize winning comedy-drama makes its regional premiere at Circuit Playhouse.

Thay Floyd, who performed on Broadway in “Waitress” and “A Christmas Story,” got his start in Germantown High School fine arts department. 

For two decades, Ann Perry Wallace collected stories of pluck and moxie about her hero. Stringing them together and performing all herself, she tells the life of Zora Neale Hurston, author of “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” 

The Tony-winning musical “Your Arms Too Short to Box with God” hasn’t been officially produced since 1982 but will return to the stage in Memphis.

Since her last Memphis-area show 18 months ago, the multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter has won a Grammy Award, headlined an international tour and hosted a fundraising concert with Jason Isbell.

Shows include Cyrena Wages, Aaron James, MonoNeon, Talibah Safiya with MadameFraankie, Blvck Hippie and Lukah with Hope Clayburn & The Fire Salamander.

After nearly four decades, Memphis theater producer Mike Detroit found a full brother he never knew existed. It’s a mystery that could be a miniseries. But even Detroit warns: “There are parts you may not believe.”

The month starts with a “Wicked”(ish) witch defying gravity in a musical that’s coming to the big screen this year. Also, fairy-tale friends take a journey “Into The Woods” and “Hamlet” is reimagined in the 1920s.

“If I wanted to have a sophisticated school, I would have ballet,” Principal Louis Padgett said. “I want (the) boys and girls to be more sophisticated than myself. I said I’d never leave this school until it had ballet.” 

Related story:

New Ballet’s new leader brings ‘talent, aspiration, hope’ to young dancers

“No matter what I’m doing, I spend (time) investing in kids and neighborhoods. At New Ballet, I get to do it in a way that’s fresh and exciting.”

Related story:

Giving it a twirl: More Memphis schools offer ballet classes

Playhouse on the Square’s latest season includes family favorites, plays examining social and political issues, musicals and comedies. 

Award-winning Americana, jazz and gospel acts; a local roots favorite; an all-female tap group; a tribute to Tony Bennett; modern dance and a Guinean acrobatic troupe are all part of GPAC’s 30th season. 

The new season features nine shows from July 26, 2024, to June 8, 2025.

The film is a candid look at the challenges and experiences of being a person of color in the United States.

Theater fans can catch ‘Charlie Brown,’ ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,’ Broadway’s hit ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ and other shows on stages in Memphis this March.