Calendar of Events

Because we all identify some part of the world as "the motherland," the Roane State Celebration Singers, Jazz Band, and newly formed Bluegrass Band present a concert of music that is truly international. Featuring Celtic and British folk songs from the singers, bluegrass melodies with African roots, and Latin tunes from the band, this well-rounded program will tug at your heartstrings and have you tapping your feet! Dancers from the Arts in Motion Dance Studios and various musical guests complete the performance that benefits the spring tour to New York City's Carnegie Hall. Suggested donation of $10 per person. Roane State Theatre, Harriman. Friday & Saturday, March 19 & 20 at 7 pm; Sunday, March 21 at 3 pm. All performances subject to change. Check website periodically for updated information. Information: 865-882-4567, www.roanestate.edu keyword: theatre.

What happens when a bunch of kids looking for a place to get away from fighting parents, report cards, and school yard bullies turn a half finished tree house into a secret sanctuary? Erin Presbyterian is pleased to announce the WORLD premier of the Tree House, a children's musical theater production written by Cynthia W. House, produced by the Erin Stage Company of Erin Presbyterian Church, and performed by the Sonshine Children's Company. Performances are March 19-20 at 7:30 and March 21 at 11:00 am and 7pm at Erin, 200 Lockett Rd at Bearden Hill. Tickets for all evening performances are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for children and senior citizens and are available for sale at www.erinpresbyterian.org, from cast members, or at the door. The Sunday morning performance is free and open to the public. Don't miss this wonderful, fun and uplifting musical. Information: missyvarner @ gmail.com

Sponsored by Fine Arts Blount and by the Townsend Artisans' Guild. Join us for this interactive fiber arts event connecting the community with fiber arts activities. The festival will include fiber animal exhibitions, contests, an arts exhibition, workshops, educational demonstrations of spinning, weaving, needlecrafts, dyeing, and many other fiber processes, hands-on projects with children and adults, a Fashion Show, Fiber Arts Market of local artists' work and fiber craft supplies, and information about local fiber activities, groups, businesses, and instructional resources. http://www.smfaf.org/

Gabriel Iglesias has been described as unbelievably funny, electrifying, and a gifted performer who has the ability to consistently deliver a quality comedy experience in every venue he performs in. His show is a mixture of storytelling, parodies, characters and sound effects that bring all his personal issues to life. Gabe's clean, animated comedy style has earned national crossover appeal. Known as the "fluffy" comic in a Hawaiian shirt, the 32-year old funny man often riffs about his girthy middle, whether it's talking about how little dancing it takes for him to work up a sweat at the nightclub, or how hearing his girlfriend coo the words "chocolate cake" over the telephone works for him like phone sex, he evokes laughter. Tickets on sale via the Tennessee Theatre box office, all Tickets Unlimited outlets, by phone at 865-656-4444 or online at www.tennesseetheatre.com

Knoxville Botanical Garden is pleased to announce that award-winning “kiddie-rock” artist Justin Roberts and his band, the “Not Ready for Naptime Players,” will appear live in concert at the Garden. Tickets are available now and are priced at $15 per child. Parents and guardians will be admitted at no charge (limit one free adult ticket per paid admission). Justin Roberts is truly one of the "all-stars" of the indie family music scene. He logs thousands of miles on the road each year, leading some to call him the hardest working man in children's show business. With national awards and recognition and a devoted fan base, Justin and his bandmates dish out unexpectedly intelligent and whimsically rocking music for kids and their parents. A Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players is unlike any “kiddie concert” you’ve ever seen. Like a scene from "Groundhog Day," the event repeats itself over and over. Bass and drums pound out the beat in perfect unison. Bodies spring to their feet and rush the stage; jumping, dancing and bouncing off each other like bumper cars. The concertgoers behave like children, which is no surprise because they are children, participating in the kiddie mosh pit found at nearly every Justin Roberts concert.

Two Performances: Friday, March 19 at 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm; a VIP Pizza Party with the band will be held at 3:00 pm.

Knoxville Botanical Garden, 2743 Wimpole Avenue, Knoxville, TN. Information and tickets: 865-862-8718, chyna@knoxgarden.org, www.knoxgarden.org

The Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will travel to Tellico Village for the annual Spring Performance at Tellico Village Community Church. The concert is conducted by KSO Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum, and tickets are available for $23. Tickets may be purchased by calling 865-408-9166. This program is part of the Tellico Community Concerts, now in its 15th year of existence. The concert will feature KSO principal clarinet, Gary Sperl on the Mozart Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra. Sperl will be playing an extended-range basset clarinet that is on loan from the Buffet-Crampton Company. Other highlights from the program include operatic favorites Overture to The Barber of Seville, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise and the Coronation March from Le Prophete. The second half will conclude with selections from Phantom of the Opera. Also during this performance, student winners of the 2010 scholarship competition, sponsored by the Tellico Community Concerts committee, will be introduced. Over the last twelve years over $18,000 in scholarship money has been awarded to Loudon County music students. For more information about the KSO or the concert in Tellico Village, please call 865-291-3310.

Featuring Alex Leach
The Georgia-based band performs traditional bluegrass music, including old favorites along with new material written by Larry himself. For twenty-eight years Larry has been playing that hard core traditional style music with hopes that bluegrass will continue in generations to come. One half of the Gillis Brothers, Larry is a renowned banjo picker, playing the old clawhammer style. Other members include include Knoxville’s own Alex Leach on guitar, Evan Rose on mandolin, David Doss on fiddle and Rafe Waters on bass. Jubilee Community Arts, 1538 Laurel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37916. For information: 865-522-5851, www.jubileearts.org. For tickets: 865-523-7521, www.KnoxTIX.com

A1LabArts and Fireproof Inc. will present an exhibition “ProjectObjectSubject” by Norman Magden, national renowned media artist and professor at School of Art, University of Tennessee, in the Pegboard Gallery at Fireproof Storage building, 201 Randolph Street, east of Old City. Different from any traditional art exhibit you can expect, ProjectObjectSubject is a projection show consists of moving images and films, hence the original name—The Projection Show. Magden changed the name because the show is, as he described, “more about the relationship between an art project (ion), projection as an art object, and art as subject matter”. Several projectors will be placed at different distances, angles and levels during the show. The images will be a mixture of videos, 16mm films and stills the artist generated initially as stand-alone works, and are now presented in layers of transparency and motion. Magden hopes that by projecting these images at audiences’ surroundings, he could create a “more important as fleeting sensations than what is in each image.” This will be a one-night and one-time only show. Magden encourages people to stop by and take their time to enjoy it. He believes that audience will be surprised by what they will see. “Our daily life is made up of a multitude of surrounding images and sounds that effect us only on a peripheral level. We think we know what is going on, but are surprised when we stop and focus, only to realize that there is a big difference in how we relate to images and sound depending on our forced or unforced attention.” Magden said. At the same night, Fireproof Inc., the long supporter of A1LabArts, will open its new Fireproof gallery and present the first show—UrbanEyes. The new gallery is about 2,500 square feet. “The layout of the space is similar to a grid making it incredibly easy to design a space around a show instead of fitting the show inside of the space”, Preston Proffitt, Vice President of Fireproof Inc., actor and artist, is proud of his current and coming projects, “With a modular or movable design, it will allow the gallery to share the rest of the space with my next project, offering area artists a very affordable ‘storefront’ opportunity.” The show UrbanEyes, created by Proffitt and Jamie Jensen, a painter working in the creative paint department for Ad Company, is a play on words, and as described by the artists, aims to “express the continuous energy of city life”.
Information: 865-974-2527, http://web.utk.edu/~nemagden

The Wild Thyme Players and The Silver Stage Players present THE WAY THE STORY GOES... An original production by artists age 10 - 85 writing and performing stories from their lives. With the support of TN Arts Commission, this production is touring free to the venues and the public, with audience donations being split between the artist organizations and the host venues. Tour schedule:
March 18 - UT Seniors for Creative Learning - The John T. O'Connor Center 1 PM
March 19 - St. Thomas' Episcopal Church - Tiffany Drive, Knoxville 7:00 PM
March 20 - The Rebecca Johnson Theater - Historic Rugby, Rugby 7:30 PM
March 25 - Homewood Residence @ Deane Hill - 6 PM
March 26 - First Farragut United Methodist Church - Farragut 7:00 PM
March 27 - Echo Ridge Retirement Community - Gleason Drive, Knoxville 2:00 PM
March 29 - John T. O'Connor Senior Center - Winona Street, Knoxville 2 PM
April 2 (First Friday) - URBhana - Gay Street, Knoxville 5:00 PM
April 3 - Theatre Knoxville Downtown - N. Gay Street, Knoxville 8 PM
Admission is FREE and donations are appreciated. For information call 932-6738.
The Silver Stage Players are an education/outreach partnership between The Wild Thyme Players and The John T. O'Connor Senior Center.

East Tennessee’s Own WDVX-FM kicks off its’ Spring Fund Drive on St. Patrick’s Day March 17th with a special 90 minute Blue Plate Special featuring Matt McNeely, Shamrock Road, Four Leaf Peat, and Cutthroat Shamrock. The internationally recognized Blue Plate Special is a free live radio show which is broadcast weekdays from noon to 1pm Monday through Thursday from the WDVX studios in the Knoxville Visitor Center on the corner of Summit Hill Drive and South Gay Street, and on Fridays from The Square Room on Market Square. The fund drive will continue on through March 28th, with special guest hosts and performances throughout. WDVX is an independent, community-supported radio station playing an eclectic mix of music celebrating the arts and culture of the Southern Appalachian region. The station can be heard in Knoxville and surrounding areas on the radio at 89.9 or 102.9 or online at www.wdvx.com. To make donations or to volunteer at WDVX, contact the station at (865) 544-1029 or 1-866-946-WDVX (9389) or visit the website www.wdvx.com.

In this screamingly hilarious farce, a young painter of genius is in debt to a villainous dealer who intends on marrying the artist's girlfriend unless the debt is paid. As an artist's work is of high value only after his death, the painter fakes his death and prospers, all while passing himself off as his own sister. Now a rich "widow," he must find a way to get out of a dress, return to life, and marry his beloved.

227 Broadway in Historic Jackson Square, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. For more information, call (865) 482-9999 or visit www.orplayhouse.com

Featuring "The Church Of Diminshing Marginal Returns", a World Premiere comedy by Jay Huling presented as the featured production in the 14th annual Tennessee Stage New Play Festival. When incorrigible entrepreneur Josh Pocket finds himself in severe financial trouble, he cons his evangelical brother Jon into starting their own church. Although Jon has a penchant for hermeneutical biblical exegesis and is quite sincere about the endeavor, Josh is only interested in collecting tithes and love offerings. Josh and Jon’s endeavor is so financially successful they’re able to pay off most of their debts. This doesn’t sit well with their banker, Gordon Hepworth, who has been making a handsome living off of the interest from their outstanding loans .And when Nancy Fairchild of the IRS uncovers the church’s activities, she launches a formal investigation/ Josh and Jon then must get their act together to qualify as a bona fide 401©(3) tax exempt church corporation.

At Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 N. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37917. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $15 for General Admission; $12 for Students and Senior Citizens.
Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com