First Take Co. brought fan-favorite show tunes to Pretentious Beer Co.’s back patio on Sunday, April 21, for the 2024 season premiere of their annual summer concert series, Scruffy City Sings. This month’s theme was Music Theatre Mixer, and area musical theatre fans came out to belt out some classic tunes and celebrate all that Knoxville’s theatre scene has to offer. Even though the evening began to cool down and folks grabbed their jackets, First Take Co.’s singers, musicians, and local guest artists kept things warm and inviting as we sang and clapped, sipped on Pretentious Beer Co.’s variety of pours, and even danced a little.
More than just an entertaining evening concert, Scruffy City Sings has a mission: to spread awareness and garner support for the Knoxville area’s theatre scene, including playhouses and companies in Oak Ridge and Maryville. Emcee, performer, and First Take Co. founder Ethan Graham Roeder mixed humor and advocacy between musical sets to give local theatre companies their own moment in the spotlight. First Take puts it best themselves, stating that one of their “biggest priorities is to build community with artists and organizations across Knoxville and beyond … highlighting what makes them unique and integral to the Knoxville arts scene.” And that’s absolutely what was delivered Sunday night: a fundraising collaboration of several local theatre companies that demonstrated their hard work and artistic abilities.
The premiere’s theme is also intended to draw attention to the many musicals scheduled to hit Knoxville stages in the upcoming months. Each guest organization previewed one song from their productions both past and present. The WordPlayers’s Len Causey, Sheryl Howard, and Adam Whipple warmed up the crowd with a roaring rendition of “To Life” from their upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof, scheduled for July 12-14. Theatre23’s Francesca Reggio and Maggie Tharp presented a stirring mashup of Quaker and Shaker hymns from their now-closed run of As It Is in Heaven. Both River and Rail and Tennessee Valley Players brought some Tennessee pride to the stage with songs from upcoming productions of The Burn Vote (at River and Rail April 25-May 12) and 9 to 5 (at Clarence Brown Theatre July 7-16), musicals that feature two prominent feminist figures in our state’s local history. River and Rail’s Parker Jenkins, Amara Pappas, and Betsy Abernathy performed a rollicking “Harry T. Burn of Niota, Tennessee,” and Clarence Brown’s Rachel Owens and Dr. Christy Lee’s “Backwoods Barbie” touched our Dolly Parton–loving hearts. Maggie Tharpe performed three original songs mid-way through the evening, duo Michael and Dani Ray previewed “SOS ISS” from their musical film THE EVENT, and CBT wrapped up the guest artist line-up with a goofy, theatrical performance of Kinky Boot’s “The History of Wrong Guys” (running until May 5) by the stellar McKinley Merritt.
Between these guest acts, First Take Co.’s own ensemble—the multitalented Livi Fenech, Emily Weaver, Alana Mara, Xandria Cross, Ci Ci Teasley, Ashton Kidd, Maggie Tharp, and Ethan Graham Roeder—performed a line-up of musical theatre favorites. Highlights included “Singing the Same Line” from In Pieces, “First Date/Last Night” from Dogfight, “Fight for Me” from Heathers and “Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind” from Spring Awakening, “The Key Is” from Alice By Heart, “Patience” from Dreamgirls, “No One Else” from Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812, “I Wish I Could Go Back to College” from Avenue Q, and “Come to Your Senses” from tick, tick … BOOM!, wrapping up the night with a soulful rendition of RENT’s “Season of Love.” And of course, the audience couldn’t help but sing along.
If you missed out on this first Scruffy City Sings event, never fear—First Take Co. will be hosting the event all summer with a different theme each month. The next event will feature a lineup of throwback 90s and 2000s hits for old and new fans alike (including *this* 90s baby, yours truly!), with future concerts featuring country western, classic rock, jazz standards, and pop punk hits waiting in the wings.
Tickets and more info are available at https://firsttakeco.simpletix.com/w/1191.
