It goes without saying that Tim Burton’s cleverly stylized 1988 film, Beetlejuice, has legions of fans. Based on the crowd in the Tennessee Theatre lobby Tuesday evening, the Broadway musical stage adaptation of it seems to have quite a few as well.
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: Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s ‘The Foreigner’
Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s production of ‘The Foreigner’, directed by Courtney Woolard, entertains audiences with a familiar situation in a familiar locale—a homely fishing lodge in rural Georgia that is reminiscent of our own beloved Appalachia. It is a production well suited to its local audience that offers unexpected, relevant commentary 30 years after its Off-Broadway debut.
Review: River & Rail’s ‘The Burn Vote’ – Learning From the Past
‘The Burn Vote,’ a new musical with book by Chris Cragin-Day and Music and Lyrics by Don and Lori Chaffer, is getting its world premiere performances under the auspices of Knoxville’s River & Rail Theatre Company. Now through May 12.
First Take Co. Debuts ‘Scruffy City Sings’ 2024 Lineup
First Take Co. brought fan-favorite showtunes 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.
Review: Clarence Brown Theatre’s ‘Kinky Boots’ – An Exhilarating Romp
As its final pick of the company’s season, the Clarence Brown Theatre opened its production of Kinky Boots on Friday evening. As it turns out, this production owes most of its genetic underpinning to that Broadway show thanks to director Rusty Mowery, a CBT alumnus and Broadway success story.
Review: Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s ‘Art’ Frames the Value of Friendship
What is the value of friendship, and by what means can we measure it? Director Tom Eubanks’ production of Art at Theatre Knoxville Downtown, which opened last Friday, brings this question to the forefront and complicates it in humorous and touching ways.
Review: A ‘Lear’ for America’s Political Wounds, Past and Present
This production of William Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ by The WordPlayers Theatre Company and Pellissippi State Community College’s Theater Department draws awareness of our own American political turmoil, both historic and present.
Review: ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ at the Tennessee Theatre – Timely and Strong
Currently making a week-long run in Knoxville at the Tennessee Theatre, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ stars Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch in an engrossing and atmospheric production that now enjoys an inescapable timeliness and relevance.
Review: CBT’s ‘Anon(ymous)’ Frames the Odyssey through the Lives of Refugees
Packed with as many action-filled moments as somber reflections on global conflict, playwright Naomi Iizuka’s Anon(ymous), which opened last Friday at Clarence Brown Theatre’s Lab Theatre, is a rollercoaster ride of lightness and darkness, of hope and despair. This thoughtful and resonant production offers an important observation
Review: ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune’ – The Audience as Voyeur
The audience became a voyeur in this superbly compelling and impressive performance of Terrence McNally’s ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune.’ The two-character play was being given 5 performances in a “secret location” by Amber Collins Crane and Gregory Crane as the title couple with direction by David Ratliff.
