Calendar of Events

Cantakerous novelist Charles Condomine is haunted by the ghost of his late first wife, the clever and insistent Elvira who is called up by a visiting "happy medium", one Madame Arcati. As the (worldly and un-) personalities clash, Charles' current wife Ruth is accidentally killed, "passes over", joins Elvira and the two "blithe spirits" haunt the hapless Charles into perpetuity.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. Group rates are available. Come dressed in costume for the Halloween show and get in for $10!

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Tickets are available at the Clayton Center Box Office M-F 10AM-6PM or by phone or online: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

Bill Landry, voice, host, narrator, and co-producer of The Heartland Series, will be the guest speaker to kick-off the 2013 Sevier County Public Library System (SCPLS) Rel & Wilma Maples History & Genealogy Center 2013 Genealogy Conference: “Stories Granny Told.” Bill will start the conference session on Friday, November 1 at 12:00PM with the topic, “Tying the Stories Granny Told into Research for Family Histories.” The 2013 Genealogy Conference runs from Thursday, October 31 – Saturday, November 2. The Genealogy Conference, “Stories Granny Told,” focuses on how stories and the storytelling craft preserve and honor family histories and support genealogical research.

The “Stories Granny Told” Conference includes a Ghost Tour Pre-conference on Thursday, October 31 at 2:00PM at the new city gazebo on Bruce Street in Sevierville. The Ghost Tour is hosted by Sevier County Historian, Carroll McMahan, and a variety of ghost characters. Seating is very limited and the public is invited and encouraged to bring seating or blankets on which to sit for the stories. In case of inclement weather, the Ghost Tour will be at the King Family Library at the same time.

Other guest speakers include:
· Veta King: Conducting & Preserving Oral Histories
· Ruth Carr Miller: The Story of Aunt Liddy Carr
· Mike Maples: Old Home Places & Other Fascinating Finds in Big Greenbrier, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
· Ted Olson, ETSU – Old Time Smoky Mountain Music
· Smoky Mountain Storytellers Janice Brooks-Headrick, Susan Fulbright and Theresa Williams & Friends

The registration fee for the entire conference will be $30.00. For one day (November 1 or 2), the fee will be $20.00 per person. For complete details on the Sevier County Public Library System Genealogy Conference, please call(865)365.1432 or contact Tim Fisher at tfisher@sevierlibrary.org or Theresa Williams at twilliams@sevierlibrary.org.

October 31 (4:00 pm)
(All Ages) We all know that Halloween is full of treats and tricks, but it can also be filled with slime and icks! Join Ijams for some of the ickiest, slimiest and just plain yucky parts of the natural world. Start your Halloween out right, by grossing out your friends and family! The fee for this program is $3 per person for Ijams members and $5 for non-members. Children 2 and under are free. 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

On Halloween night, Thursday, October 31, a Monsters' Ball!
8:00PM to midnight.
Rockwood Event Center, 116W Rockwood Street, 865 285 9458.

Costume Contests, Door Prizes, Appetizers and Dancing!
Music by the RSCC Jazz Band, Concert Choir and Celebration Singers.
Proceeds to benefit the Roane State 2014 Choir Tour to Malaga, Spain.
Advance tickets available through RSCC Choir students and the Rockwood Event Center.

Internationally recognized pianist, Joel Hastings, a Steinway Artist who chooses to perform on Steinway pianos exclusively, will perform a solo concert Thursday evening, October 31, at the University of Tennessee.

Canadian-born Hastings, winner of two international concert hall competitions at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., will present a program featuring music from the 17th to 21st centuries. Selections will include works by Scarlatti, Swelinck, Bach, Chopin Ligeti, and Pann. David Northington, UT Professor of Piano, says Hastings “is an exceptionally gifted pianist who is known for his creative and innovative programming.”

The UT School of Music officially became an All-Steinway school in July when, 68 new Steinway pianos were delivered to either replace or add to its existing inventory. An elite group of institutions worldwide have the All-Steinway status, a designation which requires 90 percent of an institution's pianos be Steinway-designed.

Concert time is 8:00 pm at the newly opened Natalie L. Haslam Music Center located at 1741 Volunteer Blvd. on the UT campus. The concert is free of charge and open to the public. For more information about other UT music events, visit the School of Music website at www.music.utk.edu.

Flying Anvil Theatre is betting that Knoxville theatre audiences are ready for something a little... different. Their next production is VENUS IN FUR by David Ives, a play the New York Times called "good, kinky fun." Flying Anvil Theatre's Executive Producer Staci Swedeen says the play is "smart, sexy and laugh-out-loud funny, but also sneaks in some serious ideas about sex, power and gender roles." The show was an off-Broadway sensation in 2010 before moving to Broadway the following year and picking up a Tony nomination for “Best Play.”

VENUS IN FUR opens with a cynical playwright lamenting the lack of talent in the actresses he has auditioned for his new play based on an erotic novel. Ditzy actress Vanda arrives two hours late. Sparks and punch lines fly, but underneath the humor something wicked and dangerous bubbles to surface. It builds to a punch-in-the-gut ending you'll never see coming.
"This play is definitely an adult comic-thriller," says Swedeen, a playwright herself. "The content and language is for mature audiences. But there's also a lot of comedy to be mined in the issue of dominance and submission between the sexes. Sort of 50 Shades of Grey with laughs." Local actors Carolyn Corley and J.D. Sizemore will portray Vanda and the playwright, Thomas. Flying Anvil Theatre Artistic Director Jayne Morgan will direct VENUS IN FUR.

This production marks the first time Flying Anvil Theatre will produce a show in a downtown space currently being renovated by Hatcher Hill at 525 N. Gay Street. The City of Knoxville is giving a facelift to the entire block, with new lighting, curb cuts and trees to match the rest of Gay Street.

VENUS IN FUR will open with a 'pay-what-you-want' preview on October 30, a $20 preview on Halloween ($15 if you come in costume!) and a $35 Gala opening on Friday, November 1st. Other performances are November 2 and 3, November 7-10 and 14-17. Evening shows are at 7:30 PM, Sunday matinee at 2:00. Admission for these performances is $25. Reserve and purchase tickets through KnoxTIX at www.knoxtix.com or by calling 865-523-7521. Tickets are also available at the door.

Flying Anvil Theatre's mission is to present provocative theatre of the highest professional quality by staging plays that entertain, inspire, and engage the audience. For more information go to www.flyinganviltheatre.com

Opening reception Mon, Oct 28, 6:30-7:30 PM
At the Art & Architecture Building, Gallery 103
http://www.brianjobe.com

1715 Volunteer Blvd on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: brian.r.jobe@gmail.com

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is pleased to present Surface: Selections from Arrowmont's Permanent Collection. The exhibition features 62 works by 61 artists of national reputation, and presents an opportunity to see many spectacular art and craft objects rarely on display to the public. The human need for expressing one's self through the making of images and symbols is evident throughout time and has manifested itself in an array of different forms and a plethora of artistic media. Whether applying paint to canvas, ink to paper, thread to fiber, texture to metal or glaze to clay, the adding, resisting, subtracting or a combination of those approaches to a material is the focus of this exhibition. Inspired by three surface forums (clay, fiber, and metals) taking place at Arrowmont in January 2014, these works from our permanent collection represent the different ways artists handle the surface of their chosen medium and express themselves through the objects they create. All art communicates and it all begins with a mark on a surface.

"We chose these particular pieces because of their exploration and manipulation of extremely varied surfaces, and their diversity of materials and content,” says Stefanie Gerber Darr, Arrowmont Gallery Manager. “Curating, conserving and exhibiting Arrowmont’s fantastic—and constantly growing—permanent collection is one of the truly great things the school provides for this region. We are always pleased by these opportunities to share it, and to invite our neighbors and visitors to be enriched by it here with us.”

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 556 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Information: 865-436-5860, www.arrowmont.org

Knoxville Children’s Theatre will present Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, a live mystery play for teens and families. The play is performed by 8 of Knoxville’s most talented young actors, from October 25 to November 9, Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM, Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM.

Agatha Christie’s name has been synonymous with mystery for the last 90 years. And her masterwork, The Mousetrap, is one of the most enduring plays of all time. Its original production in London’s West End has been playing non-stop since 1952 and recently celebrated its 25,000 performance. The show is also one of the most-produced plays in middle schools and high schools. The Mousetrap also has one of the most surprising twist endings of any mystery play in the history of the theatre.

Giles and Mollie Ralston are embarking on a new business, opening a guest house in the English countryside. But the opening is marred by a sudden snowstorm, which strands the Ralstons in the mansion, along with their five guests. As night falls, the police call and tell the new hotelkeepers that a suspect in a London murder may be one of the strangers seeking shelter there. Detective Sergeant Trotter skis to the mansion on an urgent quest: to unmask the criminal before he or she attempts to kill again.

Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-599-5284, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com. Reservations: tickets@childrenstheatreknoxville.com

by Anthony Clarvoe
Eddie Fisker is the dubious mastermind of the “gizmo” – an all-in-one hand held device that revolutionizes communication. Sound familiar? Anthony Clarvoe’s CTRL+ALT+DELETE eavesdrops on the hot-wired world of high-pressure scheming and the manipulation that accompanies a breakthrough in technology. The production runs October 24 – November 10, 2013 in the Clarence Brown’s Lab Theatre. Very popular at the Box Office, several performances have already sold out. Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $12 for non-UT students and $5 for UT students with ID.
“The play is a satire of the corporate market place. Pitting idealism against the harsh realities of the business world creates a suspenseful and "telling tale" about youthful dreams, ambition, disillusion, and greed in the often cutthroat corporate environment. What ultimately happens in the play offers a glimmer of hope that there is real humanity within the seemingly unforgiving competitive world of big business,” said Director Terry Silver-Alford.

Clarence Brown Theatre / Carousel Theatre, 1714 Andy Holt Ave on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. For information: 865-974-5161, www.clarencebrowntheatre.com. For tickets: 865-974-5161, 865-656-4444, www.knoxvilletickets.com

By Calhoun's On The River
On Thursday October 24th at 3:00pm, the ‘Pinta’ and ‘The Niña', replicas of Columbus’ Ships, will arrive in Knoxville. The ships will be docked at Calhoun’s Restaurant, 400 Neyland Drive, until their departure early Wednesday morning November 6. The ships open to the general public on Friday October 25.
For more information visit: www.TheNina.com

The Appalachian Arts Craft Center in Norris is looking for new members to sell their handmade crafts in the Craft Center shop. Anyone interested in going through the jurying process should pick up a jurying packet at the center and then bring three samples of their work to the center between Monday, October 21 and Friday, November 1 at noon. The jurying will take place on Monday, November 4, and items must be picked up by Thursday, November 12. Each person going through the process must fill out a form and pay a nonrefundable $25 jurying fee. The Appalachian Arts Craft Center is a nonprofit center that has been promoting traditional artists and crafts in the East Tennessee area for over 40 years. The center is located at 2716 Andersonville Highway 61 in Norris, TN, one mile east of I-75 north at Exit 122. For more information, call 865-494-9854, or visit www.appalachianarts.net.