The Middle Tennessee Anime Convention (MTAC) — Tennessee’s largest anime convention — returns this April with a weekend-long extravaganza. It will be held at the familiar locations Sheraton Music City & Embassy Suites Nashville from Friday, April 7 through Sunday, April 9, 2023.
MTAC is an annual Nashville-based community celebration of Japanese animation and culture, including costumes, music, gaming, and so much more, and operates entirely on a volunteer basis. The event features a spectacular mix of celebrity guests, artists, industry professionals, feature events, professional speakers, fan discussion panels, workshops, Q&A sessions, vendors, contests, and more.
This year’s MTAC is titled “MTAC Blackjack.” The name is styling this year’s convention around casino games featured in anime and gaming. The theme comes from the number 21 being key to the game Blackjack while also being the 21st MTAC. Notable guests for this year’s event include one of the leading African American voice talents in the world, Beau Billingslea, along with Marin Miller, Kyle McCarley, @ItsKingChris, and Alejandro Saab.
Beau Billingslea recently did an episode of the 2019 remake of Mad About You, and Oprah Winfrey’s new show Cherish the Day (on OWN). He plays Captain Abbott of the USS Bradbury in Star Trek: Into Darkness and Vice Admiral Stamm in Star Trek Continues. He has on-camera commercials now airing for Verzenio, Geico, and Genesis; and he appears in the award-winning PSA, the Other Note, which calls attention to the alarming suicide rate among our veterans. He can also be seen in The Laughing Man short on Showbox Online. Beau’s sci-fi feature films include The Blob, My Favorite Martian, Leprechaun in the Hood, and Halloween H2O. A full listing of his 40-plus year television and feature film career can be found on IMDB. Beau is a proud veteran of the U.S. Army.
In the world of anime, Beau has voiced countless characters including Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop; The Fourth Raikage in Naruto; Barrett in Final Fantasy Advent Children; Cain in Last Hope; Bertuccio in Count of Monte Christo; Ogremon, Saggitarimon, and Parrotman in Digimon; Michael in Argento Soma; Seal Walrus in Wolf’s Rain; Gohei in Rurouni Kenshin; Dee Jay in Super Street Fighter II; Ben Jackson in Tiger & Bunny; Edward Liones in Bleach; Light Nostrade in Hunter x Hunter; Lingerin & Dogen in DuRaRaRa x 2 and many others.
He voices the Alien Goat Creature in Laws of the Universe Parts 0 and 1, and Abraham Douglas in the animated feature War of the Worlds: Goliath (winner of Best Animated Feature at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival). He has narrated several series on The History Channel including Suicide Missions, Hero Ships and Modern Marvels. His video games include Safari, Outlaws, Dynasty Warriors (Cao Ren & Dion Wei), Zico, Breakdown, Ace Combat 5, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Barrett), and Mafia III.
