Nashville Country Artists Chris Roberts and JT Hodges To Star In New Dan Fogelberg Musical

Chris Roberts (One Flew South's 2008 album Last of the Good Guys &
the 2015 solo album The Way West)

Country music and (off) Broadway are colliding as Nashville's own ACM-nominated artist JT Hodges and singer/songwriter Chris Roberts (One Flew South) both have been added as part of the cast and creative team for the world premiere of Part of the Plan, a new, original musical written by Kate Atkinson & Karen Harris and scored with the music and lyrics of celebrated singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg.

Directed by Tony nominee Lynne Taylor-Corbett (Swing!), the show interweaves 20 iconic Fogelberg songs arranged by Grammy Award Winners Victor Vanacore (Ray Charles) and Laurence Juber (Paul McCartney), including "Leader of the Band," "Longer," & "Same Old Lang Syne."

Part of the Plan is set to make its debut at the James K. Polk Theater (505 Deaderick St.) in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, September 8, 2017, with an official opening date set for Sunday, September 10, 2017. The developmental production will run through Sunday, September 24, 2017.

Part of the Plan is "a powerful story that spans three decades and follows the lives of an adopted boy and the teenaged girl who is forced to give him up. While exploring themes of love, loss, renewal, and how everything in life happens for a reason, Part of the Plan brings Fogelberg's music to a new generation as well as to the many die-hard fans who long to hear his music in all forms."

"The cast and creative team of Part of the Plan brings together the cream of the crop in their respective fields for this new artistic endeavor featuring Dan Fogelberg's most poignant, memorable, and beloved music," says Kathleen O'Brien, TPAC president and chief executive officer. "Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris have worked since 2010 to bring this production to the stage, and we're delighted to partner with them to co-produce this original production and to host the world premiere in Nashville, a town where Dan lived, performed, and wrote some of his most notable works."


JT Hodges (2012's JT Hodges & 2015's Locks on Doors)

Hodges originally broke into the country music scene with his Billboard Hot Country charting debut, “Hunt You Down.” Jake has scored several Top 10 singles since with the songs “Goodbyes Made you Mine,” “Ray Bans,” a Top 5 record, “Sleepy Little Town,” and his new song, “Dance Right Here,” In 2013, Hodges starred in “Finding Christmas” on the Hallmark Channel. The movie became the #1 rated movie of the week and cemented a rave review for Hodges from The New York Times. Most recently, Hodges can be seen starring alongside Colin Odonaghue (“Once Upon a Time”) in the independent film “The Dust Storm.”

For Chris Roberts, it's a full circle return to the stage that originally charted his musical course. Few artists can lay claim to have been born in the Deep South delta blues, grown up in the Wild West of Montana, stood in front of Broadway’s bright lights in New York (in the production of The Civil War), sung blissful harmony across the country radio airwaves (as part of Decca-signed trio One Flew South), shared the stage with Willie Nelson and Neil Young at Farm Aid, published an incredible catalog of songs written alongside some of Nashville’s brightest stars and writers, produce albums for multiple other artists, written songs for feature films (Fox & The Hound II, Assassin's Creed), laid claim to being his church’s music director in a congregation that reads like a who’s who of the music business (St. Augustine’s) and lastly, been as active in using that music gift for charitable and patriotic endeavors.