It seems that Marble City Opera crossed a mysterious, but rewarding, threshold last weekend with its performances of two one-act comedies La Davina (Thomas Pasatieri) and Gallantry (Douglas Moore). The performances in the gallery of the Emporium Center seemed to transcend an issue…
Review: Marble City Opera’s ‘Sweets By Kate’ Charms–Devilishly
One of the many engaging features of Marble City Opera has been its willingness and courage to present in a wide range of alternative performance spaces—from refurbished stages to coffee shop backrooms to church naves. Their most recent locations were…
Review: Marble City Opera’s ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’
Downtown Knoxville was—to say the least—packed last Friday evening. The seasonal Knoxville Christmas parade drew a huge throng of families and interested parties to Gay and adjacent streets. And, shows at the Tennessee and Bijou Theatres added to what would…
Review: Marble City Opera’s ‘Ghosts of Crosstown’
Already in its short existence, Knoxville’s chamber opera company, Marble City Opera, has sought to transport us to western barrooms, garden parties, Parisian garrets, and New York City apartments. Last evening, though, the destination was the old vacant, art deco…
Thurs: Marble City Opera, ‘Ghosts of Crosstown’
Can a building affect the human lives that it comes in contact with? The Sears Crosstown Building in Memphis was built in 1927 as a high-rise distribution center and retail store for Sears, Roebuck & Co. It served as such until 1983…
Review: Fabulous Vocal Performances in Marble City Opera’s ‘La Femme Bohème’
Marble City Opera’s latest production, La Femme Bohème, opened this past weekend at the Old City’s NV Nightclub in its continuing survey of refreshing out-of-the-ordinary venues — and with its continuing penchant for fabulous, knock-your-socks-off vocal performances. [It continues on Saturday this…
Marble City Opera’s ‘La Femme Bohème’ Opens This Saturday
Since its birth in May of 2013, Marble City Opera has been at the cutting edge of Knoxville’s music performance scene. Their inaugural performance, The Face on the Barroom Floor, set the tone for what we have come to expect from an innovative…
Most Memorable Classical Music Performances of 2014
All in all, 2014 was pretty much a good year in terms of classical music performances in Knoxville—unless you happened to be a certain classical music writer. Despite the local newspaper coverage turmoil in the final quarter of the year, life went…
Do Arts Define a City?
Do arts define a city? Or does a city define its arts? Before you think that these questions smack of some naïve academic exercise for bored undergraduates, there is a point to be made here—one that my colleague Jack Neely…
Review: Marble City Opera’s Premieres a Stunning Success
Although Marble City Opera hasn’t even reached its 2nd birthday yet, Knoxville’s chamber opera company has definitely found a place on the musical map for itself. The company’s opening performance of two short operas (world premieres, no less) by Larry Delinger…