Now in our third straight year after a debut in 2021, we are embarking on our first ever Tour, this time across our home state of Tennessee. It's almost like Christmas morning for us thinking about the chance to be in the room with each of you as we travel first to Cookeville, then Harriman, on to Franklin, and finally finishing up in Knoxville, Tennessee. We have recruited a super-talented and passionate cast...hailing from both right here in Tennessee and also from as far away as California and Florida. We are boldly bringing to you this message of hope, of redemption, of grit, and most of all the true meaning of Christmas... inspiring us to live to be an instrument in God's hands to help and lift those around us. We can't wait to welcome you to our living room in Music City as we answer the question "What is The Best Thing About Christmas?"

The Best Thing About Christmas

Williamson County Performing Arts Center

The Star Bright Players Fall 2023 production is A Christmas Carol the Musical, the spectacular adaptation of Charles Dickens’ most well-known story by Broadway heavy hitters Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens.  We are thrilled to be offering this holiday classic to our community! Ebenezer Scrooge is a prosperous curmudgeon who believes that personal wealth is far more valuable than the happiness and comfort of others. With an infuriated "Bah! Humbug!" Scrooge summates his feelings of Christmas tidings and charitable giving, but he's forced to face his selfish ways when three ghosts on Christmas Eve lead him through his Past, Present and Future. Thanks to their guidance, Scrooge recognizes his faults and greets Christmas morning with a cheerful "Happy Christmas" before spending the day reconnecting and sharing love with those that mean the most to him

A Christmas Carol the Musical

Virjilia Sterling Howell is an acrylic/paper artist from Union City, Tennessee. She creates whimsical, abstract and faith-based art, inspired by her life and memories of her youth. Join us for a free reception to meet the artist and view her collection.

Virjilia Sterling Howell

Put on your dancing shoes and join us at the Williamson County Performing Arts Center for Sunday Swing on Sunday, November 19th, 2023, featuring Middle Tennessee's premier big band, 5 Points Swing, under the direction of Chuck Hamilton. Each ticket includes a complimentary dance lesson at 2:30pm, followed by dancing accompanied by the 5 Points Swing Band from 3:00-5:00pm. Dance floor provided.

Sunday Swing

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/4hagYvrYbuM

The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36M5Hi6O80

The Artelize Podcast - A legacy of innovation in Opera: Celebrating Marc A. Scorca

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59E40S_EQSY

The Artelize Podcast: A love letter that was never sent

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THv6htilWtI

The Artelize Podcast and Adolfo Corrado: Mediterranean flavors, opera and social media

Join us for a reception honoring our fall featured artist, Colleen Thornbrugh.
Colleen teaches Digital Art & Design for Williamson County Schools! When she's not teaching, she works as a mixed media artist from her home studio in Nashville.

Colleen Thornbrugh Featured Artist Reception

Redbird Common is a writers-in-the-round music series consisting of exclusively CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) artists and songwriters sharing their songs and the stories behind them.

Redbird Common

Franklin Christian Academy proudly presents Radium Girls!  In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girlstraces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumors could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.  Radium Girls offers a wry, unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsessions with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science.  Get your tickets for this fast-moving, highly theatrical production today!

Radium Girls

Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music, Burt Bacharach has enjoyed major hits in all genres of music, including top 40, rhythm and blues, country, film scores and soundtracks. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Oscar winner, Bacharach wrote more than 70 top 40 hits over his seven-decade career.  He treasured his collaborations with fellow artists including Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross and Neil Diamond. Some of his timeless gems include "Raindrops keep falling on my Head, "I Say A Little Prayer," “(They Long to Be) Close to you,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” Walk On By” and "That's What Friends Are For." The Williamson County Performing Arts Center pays tribute to this legendary composer with a 90-minute original musical revue!

What the World Needs Now The Music of Burt Bacharach

CYT Nashville is excited to present Guys and Dolls! Set in Damon Runyon's mythical New York City, Guys and Dolls is an oddball romantic comedy. Gambler, Nathan Detroit, tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend and nightclub performer, Adelaide, laments that they've been engaged for fourteen years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler, Sky Masterson, for the dough, and Sky ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary, Sarah Brown, as a result. Guys and Dolls takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually everyone ends up right where they belong. You don’t want to miss this classic show!

Guys and Dolls

CYT Nashville is excited to present Shrek the Musical! "Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek...." And thus begins the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short-tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you've got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there's one on hand... and his name is Shrek. You don’t want to miss this high energy show!

Shrek the Musical

Welcome to Nashville, 1973. Experience Much Ado About Nothing performed with a blend of nostalgia and contemporary relevance! We see the past was indeed prologue in this romantic comedy of miscommunication, resulting in peace, love, and understanding. This performance is family-friendly and a treat for all ages!

Summer Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing

Redbird Common is a writers-in-the-round music series consisting of exclusively CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) artists and songwriters sharing their songs and the stories behind them. 

Franklin Light Opera Company is thrilled to be returning to the Williamson County Performing Arts Center for Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved comic opera, HMS Pinafore, or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor. The story takes place about the Royal Navy ship, the HMS Pinafore, and revolves around the captain's daughter falling in love with a lower-class sailor. The opera pokes fun at the British social classes, politics, and, of course, the Royal Navy. This classic has captivated audiences through the years with its topsy turvy twists and turns, well-known melodies, and unforgettable characters

HMS Pinafore

The Williamson County Performing Arts Center is excited to present the ultimate Rolling Stones tribute show: The Music City Stones! Founded in 2005, the Music City Stones have performed at great venues all over the country and most recently opened for the iconic Cheap Trick last summer. This fall, Music City Stones will bring a unique, new show to the WCPAC, performing the music of the Rolling Stones with a string section! This event will feature a special set list by the La Vie String Quartet and all The Rolling Stones hits you love, including “Angie,” “Ruby Tuesday,” “Satisfaction,” and plenty more.

Music City Stones

Put on your dancing shoes and join us at the Williamson County Performing Arts Center for Sunday Swing on Sunday, August 27th, 2023, featuring Middle Tennessee's premier big band, 5 Points Swing, under the direction of Chuck Hamilton. Each ticket includes a complimentary dance lesson at 2:30pm, followed by dancing accompanied by the 5 Points Swing Band from 3:00-5:00pm. Dance floor provided.

To show our love, concern and support for everyone in Maui, we will have a donation box at our Concert. 100% of these contributions will go directly to Maui Food Bank, a local agency there. Our hearts are breaking for Maui. We want to convey the message that though we are about 5,000 miles away, we all, in Music City, are standing with them and send our Aloha! We are also having a Silent Auction with some gorgeous ukuleles up for bid. Partial proceeds will benefit the Tennessee Ukulele Collective, which donates ukuleles to schools in the Nashville area. Please kokua (help) and come out to support Andrew and Jay at the Concert.

An Ukulele Extravaganza

The Ultimate Oldies Rock & Roll Show is a fun, high-energy stage show that will have you singing and dancing in your seat - or in the aisles - the entire time! We perform as many of your favorite rock & roll hits from the 50s, 60s, & 70s that we can possibly pack into a 90-minute show! Where else can you hear Jerry Lee Lewis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tina Turner, Elvis, Jefferson Airplane, Little Richard, Bob Seger, The Carpenters, and more in one show?! We have something for everyone, and this blast from the past is sure to take you back in time!

Ultimate Oldies

Stairway To Zeppelin (STZ) is a to-the-note Led Zeppelin tribute playing all the hits as you hear in the original recordings with added live arrangements and visual effects. STZ boasts an impressive lineup of Nashville-based musicians who have performed with world-class artists such as Heart, REO Speedwagon, Wilco, the Black Crowes, Garth Brooks, Jewel, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts and more. “Absolutely the best Zeppelin since Led Zeppelin”—Zep fan. 

Stairway to Zeppelin

Straight to the Stars Youth Theatre, WCPR’s children’s theatre program producing non-musical plays starring high school students, is thrilled to present Ghostlight by Stephen Gregg for their summer 2023 production. This highly reviewed play is funny, emotional, and unique. When indifferent student Garbiela Nettles is inexplicably admitted to the prestigious Doves Forge Academy, all she wants to do is leave. But before she can get herself expelled, Garbiela starts to hear sounds that no one else hears: ghost echoes from the remnants of a long-ago tragedy in the school’s theatre. As she investigates the sounds (by joining the disastrous play in progress), Garbiela uncovers a story that’s both surprising and surprisingly moving. Theatrically staged using the production’s audience and live sound effects, Ghostlight has hilarious characters, unexpected twists, and a riotous finale. 

Ghostlight

Embrace the spirit of the holiday season with the enchanting melodies, timeless traditions, and heartwarming sing-alongs of A Celtic Christmas. Get ready for an unforgettable evening with progressive folk band The Founding, known for their unique balance of traditional Celtic music and contemporary innovation. This musical journey will feature traditional and original Christmas tunes alike, as well as beloved Celtic classics that will transport you to the heart of the Emerald Isle. Your soul will be uplifted, your spirits will be brightened, and the echoes of your voices singing along will resonate with the joy of the season.

Events in Franklin, TN

The Best Thing About Chri...

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

A Christmas Carol the Mus...

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Virjilia Sterling Howell

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Sunday Swing

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast - A ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast: A l...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

Colleen Thornbrugh Featur...

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Redbird Common

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Radium Girls

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

What the World Needs Now ...

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Guys and Dolls

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Shrek the Musical

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Summer Shakespeare Much A...

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Redbird Common

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

HMS Pinafore

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Music City Stones

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Sunday Swing

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

An Ukulele Extravaganza

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Ultimate Oldies

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Stairway to Zeppelin

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

Ghostlight

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...

A Celtic Christmas

Williamson County Performing Arts Center...