Theatre Knoxville Downtown presents Bernard Pomerance’s 1977 The Elephant Man. Directed by Sarah Campbell and set during Victorian-era London and Belgium, The Elephant Man recounts the life of Joseph Merrick, a man known for his physical deformities the cause of which modern medicine still does not fully understand.
Review: ‘How To Defend Yourself’ in the Lab Theatre at CBT
The Clarence Brown Theatre presents a troubling and thoughtful recent play, Liliana Padilla’s 2018 How to Defend Yourself, to UTK’s campus, directed by Jayne Morgan. How to Defend Yourself is about just that — a group of college students who join a self-defense class in the wake of the sexual assault of one of their friends. Collaborating with both community and campus resources, CBT’s How to Defend Yourself has an important message for everyone, but one that seems particularly relevant to UTK’s campus community: both students and educators.
Review: KSO Delights with Season Opener of Beethoven and Gershwin
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra opened its 2024-25 season with George Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, plus ‘Kauyumari’ by the contemporary Mexican composer, Gabriela Ortiz. Aram Demirjian conducted.
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: The Gravity of ‘The Planets’ – Resistance is Futile
Although last evening’s Masterworks concert—Part 2 of the KSO’s Cosmos Festival— had the massive orchestral suite The Planets by Gustav Holst as its focus, there were other attractions to enchant the listener.
Confessions of a Bachophile: Chenette, Shaub, and Friends Take on J.S. Bach in Concertmaster Series
After the first half of magnificently rendered solo violin works including a movement from the Bach Violin Sonata No.3, the Baroque-inspired Ysaye Sonata No. 4, and Corelli’s variations on La Folia, Shaub was joined by colleagues from the orchestra for two Bach works: the Violin Concerto in A minor, followed by the Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor, BWV 1040R. The oboist was KSO Principal Claire Chenette.
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: ‘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.