By Alan Sherrod As the lights come up on Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, looming ominously upstage center is the infamous front door of Torvald Helmer’s house, the door through which Nora Helmer passed on her way…
Review: A Seductive and Luscious ‘Carmen’ From UT Opera Theatre
By Alan Sherrod Performances in this review— Saturday evening, April 12, and Sunday afternoon, April 13 Georges Bizet never knew of the worldwide success that his Carmen would eventually attain, dying a young man of 36 but three months…
Review: KSO and Choral Colleagues Combine for a Sublime Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
By Alan Sherrod If works of music were living human beings, they would no doubt be nervous, if not outright frightened, to be paired on a concert with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Yet, the pairing of contemporary works with Beethoven’s…
Tuesday Arts Miscellany: A New Footprint for Knoxville Opera’s Rossini Festival Adds To A Busy Weekend
For the last 17 years, Knoxville Opera’s Rossini Festival International Street Fair has grown and evolved from an event aimed mostly at opera-goers, into a multi-genre, multi-stage festival of performances, artisans, and food that attracts a diverse cross-section of Knoxvillians.…
Review: Theatre Knoxville Downtown Opens In New Digs With ‘One Slight Hitch’
By Alan Sherrod It wasn’t “just another op’nin’ of another show” for Theatre Knoxville Downtown and their production of Lewis Black’s One Slight Hitch on Friday evening. While gallery hoppers were making their way around downtown Knoxville and the…
Review: Theatre Critics Skewered With Relish in CBT’s ‘The Real Inspector Hound’
By Alan Sherrod I strongly insist on telling myself that the state of dramatic criticism has evolved noticeably since playwright Tom Stoppard, a former critic himself, wrote The Real Inspector Hound in the 1960s. Otherwise, his delicious parody of…
Big Ears 2019: Making Everything Seem Possible
By Alan Sherrod With minds mostly boggled and ears now feeling oversized, 2019 Big Ears Festival attendees have drifted back to their corners of the world, left to replay in their minds their adrenaline-fueled, four-day romance with music and…
Review: Shaub, Chen, and KSO Combine for An Evening of Symphonic Delights
By Alan Sherrod It is something of an understatement that Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor is a vehicle for violinist stardom—either for those who already have acclaim and reputation, or for those who seem destined for acclaim…
Review: Portraits of Three Strong Women Mark Marble City Opera’s Latest at Blount Mansion
By Alan Sherrod Strength and courage in the face of the ugliness of war was the thread running through Marble City Opera’s latest evening of chamber opera performances—a production with the emphasis squarely on “chamber.” A period room in…
KSO’s 2019-20 Masterworks Season Lineup: A Q&A with Maestro Aram Demirjian
By Alan Sherrod The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra released the news of their 2019-20 season programming last month, planting the seeds of excitement in Knoxville classical music listeners. KSO music director and conductor Aram Demirjian took the time to answer…
