THEATRE
Story. Music. Character. Momentum. Live Performance.
Gentry Creative’s theatre work spans plays, musicals, plays with music, and hybrid stage forms. The work centers on dramatic architecture, musical storytelling, character function, and the movement from early idea to rehearsal room, workshop, presentation, and production.
Sugarland
Book by Harry Lennix
Music & Lyrics by John Gentry Tennyson
Additional Lyrics by Siedah Garrett
Sugarland is a metaphysical Americana musical rooted in migration, Creole spiritualism, Black Seminole folklore, frontier myth, and musical ritual. Inspired by the Book of Ruth and reframed through an American lens, the work follows Naomi Hightower and Ruth Anne Delacroix through loss, land, inheritance, faith, and the making of chosen family.
The musical lives where folk story meets ghost story, history meets dream, and music becomes vision. Its world stretches from family kitchens and harvest fields to revival tents, train depots, Congo Square, and ancestral landscapes where the living and the dead continue to speak.
At its center is the covenant between Naomi and Ruth: Ruth from orphan to heir, Naomi from mother to matriarch. Around them, family, war, romance, land conflict, ancestral memory, and the promise of home spiral into a larger American scripture. Sugarland is a story of survival, transformation, and inheritance, where home is not only the place one comes from, but the place one chooses to carry forward.
Sugarland
After loss has already entered the house, Naomi carries Eli’s memory like a root system beneath the family, while Ruth arrives as the branch that will choose the lineage rather than inherit it by blood. Around them, sons, lovers, ghosts, soldiers, tricksters, townspeople, and ancestors gather into a struggle over land, belonging, and what remains after death.
The musical moves as a ritual journey rather than a fixed map. Kitchens become places of inheritance, fields become places of labor and revelation, train depots become thresholds, and Congo Square, the Everglades, and the Elysian Fields open the story into a larger world where history, spirit, and memory speak at once. The visible world is constantly shadowed by an ancestral one pressing through the surface.
What begins as a story of survival becomes a story of inheritance: who receives the land, who belongs to the family, and who has the right to carry the future. In Sugarland, home is not simply recovered. It is chosen, defended, remembered, and remade. The land becomes more than property: it becomes witness, promise, and burden. What is passed forward is not ownership alone, but memory, devotion, and the courage to claim a future shaped by love.
Here’s To Life!
A musical theatre portrait of Joe Williams, the legendary jazz and blues vocalist whose voice carried dignity, swing, sorrow, elegance, and soul.
Starring Keith David as Joe Williams
Book by Devra Hall Levy
Directed by Richard Gant
Music Supervision by John Gentry Tennyson
Here’s To Life! is a theatrical work with music inspired by the life, voice, and legacy of Joe Williams, one of the great American interpreters of jazz, blues, and popular song. Known for his defining work with Count Basie and for a career that moved across concert halls, clubs, recordings, television, and the American musical imagination, Williams becomes the center of a dramatic meditation on artistry, memory, inheritance, and the cost of carrying a song through life.
The piece follows Joe not simply as a biographical subject, but as a man looking back across the music, relationships, triumphs, absences, and spiritual reckonings that shaped him. Through story, song, and theatrical memory, Here’s To Life! asks what it means to give life through music, and to finally understand the life the music has carried.
With Keith David at the center, Richard Gant directing, Devra Hall Levy shaping the dramatic text, and John Gentry Tennyson leading the musical architecture as pianist, arranger, orchestrator, and music supervisor, Here’s To Life! is being developed as a richly musical, actor-driven work for the stage, rooted in jazz, memory, and the enduring power of a great American voice.
Here’s To Life! moves inside the question at the center of Joe Williams’ life: he gave life through music, but did he know how to live the life the music promised?
The piece follows Joe through memory, song, triumph, absence, and reckoning, not as a museum portrait, but as a man confronting the cost of his own gift. The songs are not simply performed. They become evidence, confession, witness, and release.
Through story, music, and theatrical memory, Here’s To Life! becomes a meditation on artistry, love, regret, survival, and the grace of looking back without turning away. The result is an intimate, actor-driven work about a great American voice, and the human life behind it.
Here’s To Life!
Broadway, Regional & Developmental Production Credits
A curated archive of major musical theatre productions John Gentry Tennyson has served since 2002 as music director, conductor, associate music director, keyboardist, orchestrator, arranger, and music department collaborator. These credits span Broadway-bound premieres, acclaimed revivals, regional theatre, and award-recognized work across leading American stages.
COME FROM AWAY
Come From Away
Northern Stage
White River Junction, Vermont
Music, Book, and Lyrics by Irene Sankoff & David Hein
Directed by Carol Dunne
Choreography by Kyle Brand
Music Director: John Gentry Tennyson
2025 BroadwayWorld Vermont Award Nominee
Best Music Direction & Orchestra Performance, John Gentry Tennyson
Come From Away tells the remarkable true story of the people of Gander, Newfoundland, and the thousands of travelers unexpectedly grounded there in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. What begins as a moment of fear and displacement becomes a story of generosity, resilience, humor, and human connection.
Northern Stage’s production brought the musical’s ensemble-driven storytelling to life with clarity, momentum, and emotional immediacy. As Music Director, John Gentry Tennyson led the musical preparation and performance life of the production, supporting the score’s intricate rhythmic drive, vocal ensemble precision, actor-musician energy, and the deeply human spirit at the heart of the piece. The production received multiple 2025 BroadwayWorld Vermont Award nominations, including Tennyson’s music direction and orchestra performance.
THE PREACHER’S WIFE
The Preacher’s Wife
World Premiere Production
Alliance Theatre, Atlanta
Book by Azie Dungey
Music & Lyrics by Tituss Burgess
Directed by Michael Arden & Tinashe Kajese-Bolden
Music Supervisor / Music Director / Orchestrator / Arranger: James Sampliner
Associate Music Director / Keyboards / Organ: John Gentry Tennyson
World-premiere Broadway-bound musical at Alliance Theatre
The Preacher’s Wife is a new musical inspired by the beloved film, created as a celebration of community, family, faith, love, and renewal. With a book by Azie Dungey and an original score by Tituss Burgess, the Alliance Theatre world premiere brought gospel-rooted musical language, theatrical comedy, romance, and spiritual uplift to the Coca-Cola Stage in Atlanta.
Featuring Amber Riley, Akron Lanier Watson, Loretta Devine, and Donald Webber, Jr., the production was directed by Michael Arden and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, with music supervision, direction, orchestration, and arrangements by James Sampliner. John Gentry Tennyson served as Associate Music Director, supporting the musical life of a large-scale new work built around vocal power, ensemble clarity, and the emotional architecture of faith-centered storytelling.
DANCIN’
Dancin’
Broadway-Bound Revival Production
The Old Globe, San Diego
Original Broadway Production Created, Directed, and Choreographed by Bob Fosse
Direction and Musical Staging by Wayne Cilento
Music Supervision / Orchestrations / Vocal and Incidental Music Arrangements: Jim Abbott
Music Director / Conductor: Darryl Archibald
Associate Conductor / Keyboards: John Gentry Tennyson
7 Chita Rivera Award nominations
2 Chita Rivera Award wins, 1 Drama Desk nomination
1 Drama League nomination
Dancin’ is a full-bodied celebration of the art form Bob Fosse loved, practiced, and transformed. Reimagined for contemporary audiences by Wayne Cilento, who starred in the original Broadway production, the Old Globe revival honored Fosse’s iconic choreographic language while bringing new theatrical energy, color, and momentum to the work.
Presented at The Old Globe in San Diego prior to its Broadway return, the production featured an extraordinary company of dancers and musicians in a score spanning multiple genres and styles. As Associate Conductor and pianist/keyboardist, John Gentry Tennyson served in the music department for a physically charged, rhythmically exacting production built around dance, style, ensemble precision, and the unmistakable musical pulse of Fosse’s world.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Little Shop of Horrors
Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena, California
Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Music by Alan Menken
Directed by Mike Donahue
Music Director: Darryl Archibald
Pianist / Conductor: John Gentry Tennyson
Nominated for 6 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards,
Best Production of a Musical
Little Shop of Horrors is one of the great dark-comic musicals, a wildly inventive blend of sci-fi horror, doo-wop, Motown, satire, and offbeat romance. With music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, the score turns a strange little story from Skid Row into a theatrical world of longing, temptation, fame, hunger, and deliciously dangerous charm.
Pasadena Playhouse’s production reimagined the cult classic with a bold new theatrical concept, featuring George Salazar, Mj Rodriguez, and Amber Riley as Audrey II. As accompanist and conductor, John Gentry Tennyson served in the music department under Darryl Archibald, supporting the production’s rehearsal process, vocal preparation, ensemble timing, orchestral detail, and the musical architecture of a score built on groove, comedy, character, and razor-sharp theatrical style.
RAGTIME
Ragtime
Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena, California
Book by Terrence McNally
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens
Directed by David Lee
Music Director: Darryl Archibald
Associate Music Director / Pianist: John Gentry Tennyson
16 Ovation Award nominations
3 Ovation Award wins
Ragtime is one of the great American musicals, a sweeping portrait of three families at the turn of the twentieth century, each pursuing a different American dream. With a Tony Award-winning book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, the score captures a nation in transition through ragtime and expansive musical-theatre language.
Pasadena Playhouse’s acclaimed revival brought the musical back to Los Angeles with emotional scale, historical urgency, and a large ensemble of performers and musicians. As Associate Music Director and pianist, John Gentry Tennyson served in the music department under Darryl Archibald, supporting the production’s vocal preparation, rehearsal process, orchestral detail, and the musical architecture of a score built on rhythm, memory, identity, and the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
AN AMERICAN VICTORY
An American Victory is a sweeping historical musical set against the early years of the American Republic and the naval conflict with the Barbary pirates. Centered around Stephen Decatur, Jacob, Sarah, Susan, and a circle of friends, soldiers, lovers, and political figures, the work follows characters caught between private devotion and public destiny, personal sacrifice and the unfinished promise of liberty.
The musical moves through taverns, town squares, family homes, high-society gatherings, naval command rooms, prison cells, and the battlefields of Tripoli, weaving romance, war, betrayal, faith, and national identity into a large-scale theatrical canvas. At its heart is the question of what victory truly costs, not only for the heroes whose names enter history, but for the ordinary people whose courage, love, and sacrifice make that history possible.
In the La Mirada Theatre staged reading, John Gentry Tennyson served as music director, music supervisor, conductor, and pianist, shaping the musical life of a new work in development and supporting its vocal preparation, dramatic pacing, rehearsal architecture, and score-to-stage realization.
An American Victory
La Mirada Theatre
La Mirada, CA
Book, Music & Lyrics by Lou Bucalo
Music Preparation by Jeremy Borum
Directed by Kari Hayter
Music Director / Music Supervisor / Conductor / Pianist: John Gentry Tennyson
GOSPEL IN COLONUS
The Gospel at Colonus
Ebony Repertory Theatre
Los Angeles, California
Created and Adapted by Lee Breuer
Music by Bob Telson
Directed by Andi Chapman
Music Director: Abdul Hamid Royal
Re-Orchestrations: John Gentry Tennyson
14 Ovation Award Nominations
The Gospel at Colonus is a landmark American musical theatre work, a soul-stirring fusion of Greek tragedy, Black church ritual, gospel music, myth, testimony, and communal transformation. Reimagining Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus through the sound and spirit of a Pentecostal service, the piece turns ancient drama into a contemporary act of witness, praise, grief, and release.
Ebony Repertory Theatre’s acclaimed Los Angeles production brought the work to life with extraordinary vocal force, theatrical scale, and spiritual intensity. The production received 14 Ovation Award nominations, including Best Production of a Musical and Best Music/Music Direction for Abdul Hamid Royal.
John Gentry Tennyson provided re-orchestrations for the production, supporting its expanded musical palette, gospel architecture, ensemble power, rhythmic urgency, and the deep emotional current between sacred music and dramatic storytelling.
RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD
Recorded in Hollywood
Kirk Douglas Theatre
Culver City, Los Angeles
Written by Matt Donnelly
Music & Lyrics by Andy Cooper
Directed by Denise Dowse
Music Director: Abdul Hamid Royal
Associate Music Director / Keyboards / Orchestrator: John Gentry Tennyson
Recorded in Hollywood is a new musical inspired by John Dolphin, the pioneering music entrepreneur behind Dolphin’s of Hollywood, the legendary Los Angeles record store. Set in postwar Los Angeles, the musical celebrates independent Black music, a rising recording culture, and the artists, hustlers, dreamers, and visionaries who helped shape a changing America.
Presented at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, the production brought together rhythm and blues, early rock and roll, theatrical storytelling, and the cultural energy of Central Avenue and Los Angeles music history. As Associate Music Director, keyboardist, and orchestrator, John Gentry Tennyson served in the music department, supporting the production’s musical structure, rehearsal process, keyboard performance, orchestral color, and the score’s connection to the sound world of a pivotal era in American popular music.
3 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award nominations
SMOKEY JOE’S CAFE
Smokey Joe’s Cafe
Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena, California
Songs by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Directed and Choreographed by Jeffrey Polk
Assistant Choreographer JR Whittington
Music Director: Abdul Hamid Royal
Associate Music Director / Keyboards: John Gentry Tennyson
Winner of the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director of a Musical,
Multiple NAACP Theatre Award nominations
Smokey Joe’s Cafe is the electrifying musical revue built around the legendary songbook of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, whose hits helped define American popular music. Featuring On Broadway, Stand by Me, Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock,Yakety Yak, and I’m a Woman, the show celebrates the rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and swagger of a generation.
Presented at The Pasadena Playhouse, the production brought the Leiber and Stoller catalog to life through a powerhouse ensemble, vibrant choreography, and a concert-driven theatrical energy that moved from Broadway-style showmanship to a jazz and cabaret-inflected second act. As part of the music department and keyboard team, John Gentry Tennyson contributed to the production’s musical drive, supporting the score’s groove, vocal energy, stylistic range, and live performance momentum.
THE FIRST WIVES CLUB
First Wives Club
The Old Globe Theatre
San Diego, California
Music & Lyrics by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland
Book by Rupert Holmes
Directed by Francesca Zambello
Orchestrations by Harold Wheeler
Conductor: John Gentry Tennyson
Winner of a Craig Noel Award for Outstanding
Featured Performance in a Musical
First Wives Club is a new musical based on the beloved novel by Olivia Goldsmith and the hit Paramount Pictures film, bringing the story of Brenda, Annie, and Elyse to the stage through friendship, reinvention, revenge, and resilience. With a score by Motown legends Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, the musical blends theatrical storytelling with the sound world of classic American soul, pop, and rhythm and blues.
Presented as a world premiere at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the production was produced by Paul Lambert and assembled a major Broadway-caliber creative team and cast, including Karen Ziemba, Barbara Walsh, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Brad Oscar, John Dossett, Kevyn Morrow, Sara Chase, and Sam Harris. As Conductor, John Gentry Tennyson led the production’s live musical performance, supporting the show’s vocal architecture, ensemble energy, Motown-driven score, and large-scale development from its premiere production toward its Broadway ambitions.
HARLEM SONG
Harlem Song
Apollo Theater
Harlem, New York
Conceived and Directed by George C. Wolfe
Music Supervisors: Daryl Waters and Zane Mark
Costume Design: Paul Tazewell
Music Director / Conductor: Zane Mark
Associate Music Director / Piano / Keyboards: John Gentry Tennyson
Winner of 7 AUDELCO Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre
Harlem Song is George C. Wolfe’s theatrical celebration of Harlem, created for the legendary Apollo Theater and built from the music, memory, rhythm, style, and cultural force of one of America’s most influential communities. Moving through the Harlem Renaissance, the jazz age, the Depression, gospel, rhythm and blues, uptown nightlife, and contemporary Harlem, the production combined song, dance, visual design, archival imagery, and live performance into a sweeping portrait of Harlem’s artistic and spiritual legacy.
Presented at the Apollo Theater in 2002, Harlem Song marked a major theatrical event for the historic venue, bringing a long-form staged musical production into the heart of Harlem itself. As Associate Music Director, pianist, and keyboardist, John Gentry Tennyson served in the music department under Daryl Waters and Zane Mark, supporting the production’s vocal performances, live band energy, rehearsal process, and the wide-ranging musical language that carried the show from jazz, blues, and gospel to soul, swing, and contemporary theatrical rhythm.
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The Gospel At Colonus
Nominated for 14 Ovation Awards. Winner of major Los Angeles theatre honors, including the Ovation Award, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, and SAGE Award for Best Music Direction.
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Come From Away
Nominated for multiple regional theatre honors, including Best Direction of a Musical, Best Ensemble, Best Choreography, and Best Music Direction & Orchestra Performance.
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An American Victory
John Gentry Tennyson served as Music Director, Music Supervisor, Conductor, and Pianist, helping shape the musical architecture and live theatrical presentation of this historical work.
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Fosse's Dancin'
The Old Globe’s acclaimed revival of Bob Fosse’s dance musical later transferred to Broadway, where it received major dance honors, including the Chita Rivera Award for Outstanding Ensemble.
