When first announced by the University of Tennessee Opera Theatre, a production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Bijou Theatre seemed like a bold and compelling choice. As it turned out, that choice took big advantage of the company’s current wealth of women’s voices. And, it was a marvelous vehicle for minimal, but inventive staging.
Theatre
“What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in the immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come … ”
― Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Review: Secrets and Suspense in TKD’s ‘How A Boy Falls’
BY HAYLEY WILSON Audiences interested in a psychological thriller get their fill of on-stage…
Review: River & Rail Theatre Company – ‘Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill
BY ALAN SHERROD It’s 1959 and the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday is performing…
Review: Clarence Brown Theatre’s ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ Roars With Laughter
BY ALAN SHERROD In the Clarence Brown Theatre’s production of The Play That Goes…
Review: CBT’s ‘Failure: A Love Story’ — Whimsical and Wise
BY ALAN SHERROD Equal parts existentialism and comically whimsical narrative, Philip Dawkins’ Failure: A…
Review: TKD’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’: A Technicolor Treat
Directed by Christina Scott Sayer, Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ brings a fresh, technicolor vibrance to a stuffy, verbose parody of the many absurd hoops we jump through to avoid the pressures of social life.
Review: Freedom of Thought at Stake in CBT’s ‘Inherit the Wind’
One might think that coming to grips with the Clarence Brown Theatre’s latest production, an intensely provocative staging of Inherit the Wind, would be an easy task. In truth, as theatre-goers in 2025, we often struggle with the image that a dramatic mirror reflects for us. The 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee is a fictionalized take on the 1925 “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Dayton, Tennessee, and as such, cannot avoid the obvious plot debate of science vs. religion that shamefully defined the original trial. The playwrights, though, were anxious to broaden their premise so that it encompass more dramatic territory—in this case, the freedom to think without fear. Current day issues were also a factor.
Review: Kander & Ebb’s ‘Chicago’ Dazzles at the Tennessee Theatre –
There are a few musicals that simply cry out “BROADWAY” at their very mention and, inarguably, Chicago is one of them. The original production of the John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Bob Fosse musical goes back 50 years to 1975, enjoying a New York run of 936 performances. A 1996 revival production of Chicago is still running on Broadway with more than 11,000 performances under its belt. That revival production with direction by Walter Bobbie and choreography by Ann Reinking (after Bob Fosse’s original choreography) has also spawned a number of National Tours, including the current one that is making a stop in Knoxville this week at the Tennessee Theatre for eight performances through Sunday, February 16.
Off Script with First Take Co.
BY HAYLEY WILSON When you think of professional theatre, you might have a few…
Q&A with CBT’s ‘Inherit the Wind’ Director Katie Lupica
Upcoming at Clarence Brown Theatre is a production of Inherit the Wind, the 1955 Jerome…
