Martha vs Sally

Martha Wilkinson answers questions about herself and Sally

What attributes or traits do you share with your character?

We both ask "Why?" a lot... and we are both VERY straight forward--sometimes to a fault. Though I don't consider myself a "philosopher", I do like to search for reasons for certain things and don't always go on trust and faith. And we both get panicky about little things sometimes!

What attributes or traits of your character do you not share?

I don't share Sally's apathy or ease for problem solving...I'm kind a chronic "fixer". Also, Sally never thinks it’s her fault and I always think its mine.

Do you have a special connection with your character?

Yes. I like her frankness and admire how she can often see the bright side of things. I LOVE her romanticism about Linus.

What is the most exciting part about bringing this character to life on stage?

Getting to be a KID! I love the freedom that comes with that! And I'm excited to sing her song "My New Philosophy"!

What work have you done to prepare to play this character?

Watch little kids play together and talk, and though I will not try to copy the Peanuts characters per se, I will try to emulate aspects of her that are familiar to Schulz's comic character that we all know and love. I'll probably watch The Great Pumpkin as I do every year.

Sally has a new philosophy every other minute. What is your most recent philosophy?

Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer helps you grow, serves you, or makes you happy.


Come join the Peanuts fun at NCT!

View the performance schedule and some Behind the Curtain videos.

Shawn vs Charlie Brown

Shawn Knight answers questions about himself and Charlie Brown

What attributes or traits do you share with your character?

Charlie Brown is often very unsure of himself, and sometimes the harder he tries, the more foolish he looks. That's me all over!

Do you have a special connection with your character?

I have played Charlie Brown before and discovered how much Charlie Brown means to people. He's a sweet guy who only wants to make others happy and like him. I think everyone can relate to that.

What is the most exciting part about bringing this character to life on stage?

No matter how many times I read the PEANUTS comic strip, I always get a little jewel of wisdom from them about how to live life fully. The greatest thing about this show is that it is not limited to a mere few frames, like a comic strip is. It has so much to say about finding happiness in all the little things of life!

What work have you done/will you do to prepare to play this character?

I certainly intend to watch lots of Charlie Brown cartoon specials and relive those special moments from my childhood.

Charlie Brown always wants to fly a kite, but can never seem to keep it in the air. Is there something you've always wanted to do, but have never been able to?

I'm not a very athletic guy, but I am competitive and love playing games with others. I wish I had skills that would allow me to be a successful athlete in some way.

Make plans to join us for this show! Schedule of weekend shows, and Behind the Curtains can be found online our website.

One Team Builds it All

NCT's Technical Staff Tackles Charlie Brown

The different worlds you experience on NCT’s stage are built by the same three people. And often, that team has to straddle and conquer two worlds at once. Construction of Snoopy’s 8’ tall iconic doghouse commenced shortly after the theater began our performances of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure in mid-September.

During the run of Sherlock Holmes, our multi-talented technical staff would orchestrate the behind the scenes needs and mayhem of Sherlock's world in the morning, and then transition into the elementary school world of PEANUTS in the afternoon.

Bill, Amanda and Michael on an oversized couch they built for
 You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.
The bigness makes adults look like kids.

Technical director Michael Redman both oversees the work and does much of the building, welding or whatever the set design requires. 

Building new worlds is no easy task, but Michael is supported by a dedicated team of two - forming a powerful trio. Scenic artist Amanda Meador wields paint brushes and sprayers with surgeon-like skill upon all the set pieces as well as the stage floor; and master electrician Bill Rios, who in addition to being a master of electricity, comfortably manipulates saws and grinders until the world on stage is sturdy and complete.

A team united!

Keep an eye on NCT's YouTube Channel for our series of Behind The Curtain videos. Topics range from how the shows get designed to how they are built and even actor and audience interviews. You may find yourself in one of them! 

See Mike slice a truck bed apart 

for last season's Holes production:

Amanda explains painting the set for

Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure

How Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure came to be

(L to R) Matthew Carlton as Dr. Watson,
David Compton as Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself authored the first version of this script in 1896 or so. He submitted it to the great American impresario and theatre syndicate monopolist Charles Frohman, who suggested it be given to American actor/playwright/producer William H. Gillette for further development. Doyle agreed, cashed his option check and washed his hands of it. During rewrites, Gillette cabled Doyle, “May I marry Holmes?” Doyle’s reply was succinct. “Marry him, murder him, do what you like!”

The play Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle and W.H. Gillette, with Gillette in the title role, was a sensation in the 1899-1900 Broadway season and on subsequent tour throughout America, and was the first American play (and actor) to achieve financial and artistic success in London. Gillette’s performance originated many of the trademark details that the public has come to associate with the character; the houndstooth Inverness cape and deerstalker cap, the meerschaum pipe, the self-designation of his deductions to be of an elementary nature, and a scene between Holmes and Moriarty so electrifying that over a hundred years later, only geeky Sherlock Holmes nuts (we call them “Sherlockians” in America) know that the encounter is purely an invention of Gillette. He played Holmes on the stage for more than twenty years, but dominated the public’s expectations of the character for more than a century.

The play being a star vehicle for the co-author, Dr. Watson was, unfortunately, relegated to the background, functioning primarily as a sounding board for Holmes. Hollywood later compounded the situation by utilizing the good doctor as comic relief. Only readers recognized that this steadfast friendship between two seemingly mismatched companions – the stalwart man’s man and the brilliant, remote intellectual – was the central thread of the canon.

In 2006, American playwright and certifiable Sherlockian Steven Dietz adapted Gillette’s adaptation of Doyle’s own stage adaptation, retaining Gillette’s basic plot lines while bringing the characters more into line with Doyle’s original intent and, most importantly, returning Watson to his rightful place at center stage with Holmes. Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure has played at “adult” regional theatres across America, and wherever it has played, critics have acclaimed it as a wonderful piece “for the whole family.” I quite agree, in fact, I thought it the perfect play to launch our own foray into full-length presentation for our family audience.

The game is afoot, dear friends. Enjoy.

Scot Copeland

NCT Producing Director and

director of NCT's Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure

The Trouble with Tape - an actor's on stage surprise

During a recent production of Goodnight Moon, our young mouse had more trouble with the tape dispenser than the script said she should.

How the scene is SUPPOSED to happen:


Account by Amanda Card-McCoy (the above mentioned mouse):
So, the normal routine is that Rona Carter gives me the tape dispenser, I grab the tape, stretch it out so that I get as long a piece as possible, and then repeat until Bobby Wyckoff calls me over. I usually have three really long strips, and when I run to Bobby they flap behind me in the breeze like streamers. Then I wrap Bobby's arm and my face in the tape.

This one particular time, when Rona handed me the tape dispenser, I grabbed on, pulled the tape as hard as I could, and a piece about an inch long ripped off, leaving the end of the tape lost on the roll. I put my little postage stamp sized piece of tape on the table, and proceeded to try to find the end of the tape. As I desperately searched for the invisible end of the tape, I started sinking closer and closer to the ground.

At this point, Sam Whited starts chuckling in the wings.

Then - finally! victoriously! - I find the end of the tape, breathe a sigh of relief, and give the tape a good tug.

Only to have another postage stamp sized piece of tape rip off.

At this point, Sam Whited starts laughing in the wings.

Then Bobby calls me over. He has been so wrapped up in his tissue paper that he has no clue that any of this has happened.

Until, that is, I grab my two little postage stamp sized pieces of tape and run over.

At this point, Bobby starts laughing on the stage. Then I start laughing on the stage. Then Sam Whited starts dying in the wings.

Trying to cover, I scream, "You're getting tissue paper on me!" and Bobby responds, through tears of laughter, "You're getting tissue paper on your own self!"

Aaaaaaand scene.

Interview with Scot about Jason and the Golden Fleece

Jason’s story is an ancient one.
Apollonius of Rhodes first recorded his adventures in the epic poem Argonautica, written in Alexandria in the late 3rd century BC. In the following interview, Scot Copeland, NCT Producing Director, discusses what attracted him to this version of Jason and the Golden Fleece.

The story of Jason and the Golden Fleece is an ancient one. What excites you about sharing this classic story with NCT audiences?
It really should not be surprising that primitive struggles find great resonance with young audiences, because their daily struggle to grow up is fairly primal -- particularly in adolescence. Whether Greek myth (The Odyssey), Celtic (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) or even Hindu (The Ramayana), some of our most satisfying artistic connections with this age group have been the drum-pounding tales of powerfully motivated, flawed heroes struggling to find themselves in the face of all-powerful, hostile forces aligned against them. Such tales are extraordinary metaphors for adolescence itself.

Out of all the mythological stories to pull from, what specifically drew you to Jason and the Golden Fleece?
It’s an archetypical hero myth: man goes on a terrible quest to find or avenge his father and, instead, discovers himself. I was interested in exploring that in classic form as a companion piece to our production of Bud, Not Buddy earlier in the season, as that story is a contemporary piece that strums those same chords. Jason and the Golden Fleece further intrigues me because, within this tale, we see the faint beginnings of the arrogance and obsession that students will encounter again later when they study the tragic destruction of Medea.

Jason and his crew have some pretty epic adventures. Are there particular moments you are looking forward to exploring on stage?
The Argonauts encounter any number of supernatural forces and occurrences, and I’m looking forward to some exciting experiments in the rehearsal hall in how to fully realize those moments theatrically. And, of course, I think there is great potential for subtle-but-significant fireworks in the development of Jason and Medea’s early relationship.

Goodbye from Julee

For the last six years, I have been proud to call Nashville home. The new year, however, brings exciting possibilities (and weather) for my family as we relocate to Los Angeles! I am thrilled to be the new Associate Director of Public Affairs with The Help Group, a large nonprofit in San Fernando Valley that provides comprehensive educational services to families and children with autism, ADHD, learning disabilities and related disorders. I will be charged with programming for a beautiful theatre space that is part of the Help Group’s brand new center for children with autism. Through my work at NCT, I have discovered that designing curriculum for children with special needs is something that I am driven to do. And, of course, I eagerly await was lies ahead for my husband, Ross, in Hollywood!

My time as Director of Education at Nashville Children's Theatre has been full of many incredible opportunities (and some challenges, no doubt), and it has been particularly exciting to be here during such a significant era in the evolution of this organization.

When I first arrived at NCT in January 2005, NCT had just been ranked by TIME magazine as one of the top 5 children’s theatre’s in the country. I was thrilled to join the team at a theatre with such a tremendous history and reputation. Even that TIME article, though, referenced NCT’s humble space, and when I arrived I was definitely surprised to find broken seats, a box office that had been a broom closet, and that no one even had voicemail (in 2005!). To be part of the phenomenal transformation of this organization through a capital campaign, a building renovation and the program expansion to fill that new space has been exceptionally rewarding to me. However, most thrilling is that due to the hard work and commitment of the Board, staff and community, children and families enjoy the spectacular space they deserve!

I am also immensely proud of the work I have done here at Nashville Children’s Theatre, both onstage and off. Being able to bring new and expanded programs that serve so many children, families and educators from this community has been an honor.

While we really couldn’t be more excited about our upcoming move, it is somewhat bittersweet as we are leaving so many families and friends in Nashville that we have come to know and love. However, knowing that NCT will thrive and continue its great work in service of these families and the children of Middle Tennessee, and that I have been a part of that, is enormous consolation.

And not to be shortchanged, during my time in Nashville, I have also gained an amazing husband and a beautiful baby boy. And I’m taking them with me!

Again, thank you for the many, rich experiences my family and I have received at Nashville Children’s Theatre. I wish this organization, the Board, the staff and its community all the best in the years to come.

My Very Best,
Julee Brooks