Calendar of Events

KMA’s Summer Family Fun Day will be packed with art activities related to two current exhibitions. Currents offers families the opportunities to see very unique artworks from artists across the world. Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper will get young artists thinking about animals and painting large scale. The day also offers tours, live music, performances, and tasty food.

All events at Family Fun Day are free thanks to our generous sponsors of Laura and Jason Bales.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

Kidstuff is a show full of high-quality music geared to the young and the young at heart airing every Saturday morning at 10 a.m. EST. On most Saturdays, the show is a mix of recorded and live music from inside the WDVX studio. Everyone is invited to join the audience at the Knoxville Visitor's Center for our free live performance edition - multi-instrumentalist duo The Hominy Mamas will perform. The duo is a staple of the Musuem of Appalachia and regularly perform for East Tennessee library and schools. Guest Host Nancy Strange will share the stage with the Hominy Mamas on this week's Kidstuff. A singer-songwriter from Knoxville, she is also a member of acoustic swing band Tennessee Sheiks.

WDVX, 301 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-544-1029, www.wdvx.com

Introductory Internet Genealogy
July 27, 2013, 1pm

Interested in exploring your genealogy but don't know where to start? Join us to learn how to use the four major genealogical sites on the internet. Pre-registration and a valid email address as well as good internet searching skills required. Call 215-8809 to register beginning July 15.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-215-8824, www.easttnhistory.org

Voted one of Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch, Ralphie May recently released his record-setting fourth one-hour special for Comedy Central titled Too Big To Ignore, proving that his relatable comedic genius is in higher demand than ever.

Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-522-0832, www.knoxbijou.com. For tickets: 865-684-1200, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

The Knoxville Guitar Society and LeGrand Music Studios invite you to an amazing evening of guitar/cello music with Richard and Julie Smith on Saturday, July 27, 7:00 p.m. at the Fountain City Art Center.

Richard Smith has toured the world, surprising audiences everywhere with his genius, showcasing a repertoire spanning an incredible range of musical styles from country, bluegrass, mainstream jazz, modern pop and rock, to classical guitar. Richard also plays several of John Phillip Souza’s marches and, incredibly, comes close to sounding like an entire marching band, drums and all.
Julie Adams is one of the most diverse cellists on the music scene today. Raised in Dayton, Ohio, and classically trained at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Cincinnati Conservatory, Julie has won many competitions and played in a wide variety of musical settings. In 1996, she was selected to perform the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Cincinnati Conservatory Orchestra.

Tickets: $15 adults (advance)/$5 students $20 adults at door
To order advance tickets, email Mike Smith (michaelks@aol.com).

One of Dr. Suess’ most beloved characters is coming to Knoxville Zoo. The Lorax will be available to meet guests and pose for photos on Saturday, July 27, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. in the zoo’s Wee Play Zoo area. The children’s book The Lorax tells the story of the plight of an ecosystem that is destroyed when a fictional forest of truffula trees are cut down, prompting the appearance of the Lorax, who speaks on behalf of the trees. The opportunity to meet the Lorax and pose for photos is included with general zoo admission and will take place rain or shine indoors at Knoxville Zoo’s Wee Play Zoo area.

Friday, July 26
2:00 pm FAMILY PROGRAM: Ijams Children's Story Time
Join Ijams volunteer Lynn Keffer as she reads one of her favorite children's books. Whether she takes you into the fascinating world of animals or explores some of her favorite places around the globe, each weekly story is sure to be a treat. This program is FREE, but donations are accepted. Pre-registration is required; please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110 to register.

Saturday, July 27
8:00 am Ijams Morning Canoe Cruise
(Ages 5 and up) Enjoy the delightful spring air as you cruise around the Mead's Quarry Lake with naturalist Stephen Lyn Bales. Intertwined with the sounds of today's wildlife are the distant echoes of industry past. Although human activity resulted in formation of the lake, there is abundant wildlife that makes this water their home today. The fee for this program is $15 per person for members and $17.50 per person for non-members. Pre-registration is required; please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 119 to register.

11:00 am Ijams Gardening Series: To-may-to, To-mah-to
(Recommended for Adults) No matter how you say it, tomatoes are a delicious and attractive addition to any garden. We'll learn about heirloom species, growing techniques, and even some tasty tomato treats. This program is FREE, but pre-registration is required. Please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110 to register.

2:00 pm Live Animal Program
(All Ages) Have you met all the animals that call the Ijams Visitor Center home? If not, be sure to stop by every Saturday for a chance to get nose-to-beak with some of our resident furred and feathered ambassadors. This program is FREE, but donations to support animal care are welcome.

3:00 pm Animal Presentation: Red-tailed Hawk on the Plaza
(All Ages) You may have seen Tiger, our Red-tailed Hawk, in her cage by the parking lot, but have you had a chance to see her up close? Join Ijams' resident hawk whisperer, Stephen Lyn Bales, as he brings her out to meet the public. This program is FREE, but donations to support animal care are welcome.

8:00 pm FAMILY PROGRAM: Bug Night
Join us for a chance to catch bugs and show off their charms with some of Ijams own bug-enthusiasts! We'll be going out into the park to buggy stations to catch some critters and to bring 'em back alive to the visitor center for our Bug Beauty and Less-than-Beauty Contests. Bring a plastic container with a lid for each bug you want to put on display. No glass containers please. This program is $5 for members and $8 for non-members. Please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110 to register.

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, Knoxville, TN 37920. Hours: Grounds and trails open during daylight hours. Call for Visitor Center hours. Information: 865-577-4717, www.ijams.org

The Tennessee Stage Company presents its 23rd annual summer Shakespeare Festival, featuring the comedy “Twelfth Night” and the history play “Richard III.” “If Music be the food of love, play on,” declares Shakespeare in his beloved romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Though the search for true love lies sweetly at the heart of the play, “Twelfth Night” is adorned with enough raucous ribaldry, outrageous intrigue, vaulted villainy and gender-bending cross-dressing to declare it one of Shakespeare’s most outrageous comedies. “Richard III” makes its return to the Shakespeare in the Square stage the summer after the much-maligned King of England himself made a dramatic comeback, when his remains were discovered last August in a parking lot in England. Look for the skeletal Son of York to make a cameo appearance in the Shakespeare in the Park program.

2 p.m. matinees Saturday, July 20 and 27, indoors at the Square Room - $10 admission
Thursday-Sunday at 7:00 PM in Market Square - free admission
6:30 p.m. Monday, July 29, Blount County Public Library - free admission

“Twelfth Night” alternates performances with “Richard III". “Richard III” is directed by Mark H. Creter, co-founder of the Tennessee Stage Company and professor of theater at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. “Twelfth Night” is directed by Tom Parkhill, founding artistic director of the Tennessee Stage Company.

Shakespeare on the Square productions are performed on a rough replica of the new Globe Theatre in London (a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s original theater). The plays are presented in the timeless style of Elizabethan theatrical presentations. The Tennessee Stage Company encourages our audiences to spend an evening on the Square: do a little shopping, have a nice dinner, see the play and maybe stop by a pub afterward. All of this and more is available on Market Square nightly. So come early and see the Square! Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com

This pioneering exhibition will present an underappreciated side to the work of Thornton Dial, Sr. (b. 1928), an artist best known and celebrated for his large scale, multi-media assemblages dealing with a wide range of charged social and political themes. Since the early 1990s, Dial has also produced a rich body of lyrical works on paper, often engaged with themes of gender and human relationships. This exhibition focuses on the very earliest of those drawings, a group of 50 sheets with Dial’s characteristic and broadly coherent iconography of women, fish, birds,
roosters, and tigers, rendered in a variety of media. Organized by the Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina.

Knoxville Museum of Art, 1050 World's Fair Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37916. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-5PM; Sunday, 1-5PM. Information: 865-525-6101, www.knoxart.org

THE MUSIC MAN - Mainstage Musical
July 12-28, 2013

Despite the fact he doesn’t know a trombone from a treble clef, fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill arrives to con the good people of River City, Iowa into buying instruments and uniforms for a boys' band that will supposed save the town from moral decline. But his plans to skip town with the cash are foiled when he runs up against forthright Marian the librarian, whose own bill of sale captures his heart.
July 12, July 13, July 18, July 19, July 20, July 26, July 27 at 8:00PM
July 21, July 28 at 2:00PM

Online ticket sales begin June 24 at http://www.orplayhouse.com/tickets.html.

This new adaptation of Johanna Spyri's classic novel Heidi contains all of the humor, faith, hope and adventure of the original work, but is reset to our great state of Tennessee. The Alps scenes are transposed to the Great Smoky Mountains. And instead of Frankfurt, Heidi is spirited away to Nashville. But all the timeless characters remain: Heidi, who falls in love with mountain living; Clara, the young invalid who takes her first steps on the mountain; Heidi's grandfather, whom the town fears and Heidi adores; Clara's busy mother, who may not truly know her own daughter; Aunt Deedee, Heidi's villainous aunt, and the cold and cruel Mrs. Rottenmeyer. Featuring a special cameo appearance by The King!

Friday 7/12 at 7 PM
Saturday 7/13 at 1 PM
Saturday 7/13 at 5 PM
Sunday 7/14 at 3 PM
Thursday 7/18 at 7 PM
Friday 7/19 at 7 PM
Saturday 7/20 at 1 PM
Saturday 7/20 at 5 PM
Sunday 7/21 at 3 PM
Thursday 7/25 at 7 PM
Friday 7/26 at 7 PM
Saturday 7/27 at 1 PM
Saturday 7/27 at 5 PM

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 800 Tyson Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-599-5284, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com. Reservations: tickets@childrenstheatreknoxville.com

The Tennessee Stage Company presents its 23rd annual summer Shakespeare Festival, featuring the comedy “Twelfth Night” and the history play “Richard III.” “If Music be the food of love, play on,” declares Shakespeare in his beloved romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Though the search for true love lies sweetly at the heart of the play, “Twelfth Night” is adorned with enough raucous ribaldry, outrageous intrigue, vaulted villainy and gender-bending cross-dressing to declare it one of Shakespeare’s most outrageous comedies. “Richard III” makes its return to the Shakespeare in the Square stage the summer after the much-maligned King of England himself made a dramatic comeback, when his remains were discovered last August in a parking lot in England. Look for the skeletal Son of York to make a cameo appearance in the Shakespeare in the Park program.

Thursday-Sunday at 7:00 PM
Twelfth Night: July 11,13,19, 21, 25, 27 Aug. 2,4,8, 10 (free) with the indoor Square Room matinee on July 13 at 2:00 pm ($10 admission)
Richard III: July 12, 14, 18, 20, 26,28, Aug. 1, 3, 9, 11 (free) with the indoor Square Room matinee on July 20, at 2:00 pm ($10 admission)

“Twelfth Night” alternates performances with “Richard III". “Richard III” is directed by Mark H. Creter, co-founder of the Tennessee Stage Company and professor of theater at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. “Twelfth Night” is directed by Tom Parkhill, founding artistic director of the Tennessee Stage Company.

Shakespeare on the Square productions are performed on a rough replica of the new Globe Theatre in London (a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s original theater). The plays are presented in the timeless style of Elizabethan theatrical presentations. The Tennessee Stage Company encourages our audiences to spend an evening on the Square: do a little shopping, have a nice dinner, see the play and maybe stop by a pub afterward. All of this and more is available on Market Square nightly. So come early and see the Square! Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com