Calendar of Events

Featuring Ashley Addair, Amelia Peterson, & Angela Hill

Syncing cultural conversations with the natural seasons, the Embodied Season Workshop Series seeks to give participants opportunity to think about their ways of being as they intersect with seasonal rhythms and innovative ideas through the process of making. Each workshop session will be a collaborative pairing of a creative mode of expression and a person doing good work in our community (with interests ranging from theater and social policy to photography and education) to prompt participants to live into the rhythms of nature through art making. Each class will be led and facilitated by renowned Knoxville artist Ashley Addair and previous collaborator Amelia Peterson and is open to women and men of all ages.

This summer's Embodied Season creative practice will be a playful meditation on vulnerability alongside Angela Hill, a performance artist and Registered Somatic Movement Therapist with a BFA in Dance Education and over 20 years of experience teaching movement to people in a variety of settings. Just as warmer temperatures encourage us to minimize our clothing, we are invited to brandish our inner selves toward authenticity and growth. Participants will engage with this process via movement and action painting. No skill level required. Dress in comfortable and okay-to-ruin clothing.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-embodied-season-summer-workshop-feat-ashley-addair-amelia-peterson-angela-hill-tickets-35540086355

The Hive, 854 N Central St., Knoxville, Tennessee 37917. Information: (865) 282-2018, www.thehiveknox.com

Join us for the 2017 Knoxville Girls Rock Camp Showcase. Celebrate another great camp and rock out to some awesome original tunes!

Modern Studio, 109 W Anderson Ave, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-323-2425, www.modernstudio.org

From Genealogy Archives to Storytelling: Research Enriches Your Writing

You’re probably not related to William Shakespeare, are you? So what does the Bard have to do with a genealogical research workshop and building stories with your family history? Come this Saturday and find out. In this two-part workshop, Knox County Archives Assistant Eric Head and writing coach and project development editor Bonny Millard will teach participants how to research family data and other historical records and then use this information to create engaging stories.

Whether you are a memoirist, family chronicler or fiction writer, it all starts with great research. This Saturday, July 22, the Knoxville Writers’ Guild hosts workshop leaders Head and Millard who will lead participants through the fundamentals of online research and then demystify the process of weaving the elements of research with storytelling.

At the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street., third floor. Free parking is available in the Market Square Garage and State Street Garage. More parking options are available here: http://www.downtownknoxville.org/parking/?t=37. The workshop is $40. Please register and pay in advance as seating is limited for this can’t miss course. Register at www.knoxvillewritersguild.org. People will be allowed to register at the door, if there is still space available.

Flying Anvil Theatre kicks off its first season in its new space in Rocky Hill with THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL, music and lyrics by David Nehls and book by Betsy Kelso. Critics have called the 2005 Off-Broadway smash “South Park meets Desperate Housewives.” A country-rock and blues musical about agoraphobia, adultery, '80s nostalgia, spray cheese, road kill, hysterical pregnancy, a broken electric chair, kleptomania, strippers, flan, and disco, the story centers around regular guy Norbert and his agoraphobic wife, Jeannie, whose marriage is threatened by Armadillo Acres' newcomer, the hot young stripper, Pippi. The trailer park also plays home to a Greek-chorus trio of women – Linoleum, Betty, and Pickles, each dysfunctional in her own right. When Pippi’s angry ex-boyfriend shows up, it looks like bad news for everyone, until a surprising secret leads to a happy ending, when the entire cast sings the rousing anthem, ”I Gotta Make Like a Nail (and Press On).”

Director Jayne Morgan says the show is a real audience pleaser. “We’ve heard from a number of people who have seen the show in other cities and can’t wait to see it again. The show is outrageous and funny and over the top – the perfect summer musical if you’re just looking for a something fun.” Terry Silver Alford will be musical directing and Dana Wham will choreograph. The cast of seasoned performers includes John Cherry, Tiffany Fenech, Mandi Lawson, Emily Helton, Chevy Anz, Curtis Bower and Wham.

Performances are Wed-Sat at 7:30 PM and Sun at 2 PM.

Flying Anvil Theatre, 1300 Rocky Hill Road, Knoxville. Information: 865-357-1309, www.flyinganviltheatre.com

Part of the 2017-18 "Best of Theatre Knoxville Downtown" Season!

By Howard, Williams, and Sears. Greater Tuna is the hilarious comedy about Texas' third smallest town, where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. The eclectic band of citizens that make up this town are portrayed by only two performers, making this satire on life in rural America even more delightful as they depict all of the inhabitants of Tuna—men, women, children and animals.

"Howlingly funny."
– Variety

"The audience all but exploded the theatre with laughter."
– The New York Post

Theatre Knoxville Downtown, 319 North Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information & tickets: 865-544-1999, www.theatreknoxville.com

Five friends secretly convene in the middle of the night to act out the tragic tale of Julius Caesar. They soon become swept away as their own prejudices and personal vendettas begin to parallel the lives of the characters in distant Rome. Alliances and rivalries are turned upside down when the fun of play-acting takes a serious turn as Shakespeare’s poignant drama begins to hit home. Five actors with no set, no costume changes, and only candlelight bring the essence of this classic play vividly alive with the sheer theatricality of this all too timely story.

This is a site-specific production. Performances take place on UT campus, but exact locations are secret and change nightly. You will be given more in depth instructions including arrival time and audience meeting location via email 48 hours prior to your selected performance.

Performances are 90 minutes with no intermission and are staged in the round. If you need to leave during the performance, you will not be able to return to your seat. You will be assisted in finding alternate seating locations in order to ensure the enjoyment and safety of all patrons with minimal disruption to the performance.

Please arrive at the audience meeting location 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. There will be no late seating for this production. We will leave the audience meeting location at the scheduled start time and move to the secret performance site; if you arrive late, you will be left.

Info: https://nowisthetimeofnight.com/
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/julius-caesar-tickets-35546116391

Once again Tomato Head walls shimmer with the many-hued and luminous paintings of Jessica Payne. One of our favorite local artists, Jessica’s work fills the space with vivid color and imagery that excites the eyes and provokes conversation. One of her favorite memories is when, “I was eating at the downtown Tomato Head during one of my exhibits a few years ago, and I saw a family in the middle of the room looking around and discussing my paintings. At one point a little girl, maybe 8 or 9 years old, went up to look closer and immediately turned around and with a frown said, ‘Mommy it’s already sold.’”

Jessica grew up in Knoxville as the youngest of six in a long line of artists, and drawing and painting were hobbies that she came by naturally – both her father and grandmother spent their free time putting color on canvas. But while she took art classes and thought at times that her career might veer toward the arts, it was only after she took a degree in Social Work and Women’s studies and started a path to law school that she felt a tug to a more creative vocation. It was in the week of her 25th birthday while she sat outdoors when she committed to a different way of life: “I spent my birthday weekend sitting and observing so many beautiful things that had been around me for a long time. I felt an intuitive pull to change my life in a drastic way.” Promptly thereafter, Jessica joined Americorps where her urge to create found expression in the earth as she worked to help establish Beardsley Farm; later the same urge would lead her to study cooking, until finally through a variety of online courses and her own drive, she found both an approach and technique for painting that helped unlock her artistic life.

She says: “A huge thing I learned from artist Flora Bowley, after taking her online course Brave Intuitive Painting, is to keep painting until something works.” This approach helps keep Jesssica’s creative energy in flow, and it works in conjunction with her technique of layering. Jessica’s technique results in vibrant and multi-faceted imagery that contains the genuine chaos of natural creativity that, she says, eventually evolves into order. One of the most fun aspects of Jessica’s art is that her paintings often shine. The color, the variety of imagery, not to mention the playful use of glitter and mica, give our featured artist’s work a liveliness that almost leaps from the walls in a joyful celebration of the beauty that surrounds us and lives inside us, too. Don’t let it pass you by.

On view at the downtown Knoxville Tomato Head on Market Square through August 3rd.

Tomato Head, 12 Market Square (865-637-4067) and 7240 Kingston Pike, Suite 172 (865-584-1075), in Knoxville. http://thetomatohead.com

Opening reception on Fri Jul 14, 6:30-8:00 PM. Free and open to the public. Judged by Dr. Chad Airhart, Carson Newman.

Exhibit viewing hours: Tu, Th 9-5; W, F 10-5; Sat 9-1. Fountain City Art Center, 213 Hotel Ave, Knoxville, TN 37918. Information: 865-357-2787, www.fountaincityartcenter.com

Knoxville Children’s Theatre, in partnership with The Ritchie Company, will present the Young Performers’ Edition of “The Wizard of Oz,” based on the classic book by L. Frank Baum and the classic motion picture owned by Turner Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros.

The live stage play will be performed July 14 - 30, Thursdays and Fridays at 7 PM; Saturdays at 1 PM and 5 PM; Sundays at 3 PM.

This musical play contains all the favorite songs and scenes from the famous film, with the timeless characters of the book: Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch of the West and more. The score by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg contains some of the most iconic songs of the theatre: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” “Follow The Yellow-Brick Road,” and We’re Off To See The Wizard.”

The play is performed by 29 talented young actors, from ages 8 to 17. Isabelle Hannah plays Dorothy, and Kennis Van Dyke plays her nemesis, The Witch. Ethan Turbyfill, Keegan Spurr, and Andrew Fetterolf play the Scarecrow. Tin Man, and Lion, respectively.

Dennis E. Perkins directs the production. The musical director is Paul Jones. Knoxville Children's Theatre, 109 E. Churchwell Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: 865-208-3677, www.childrenstheatreknoxville.com.

Showtimes
Fri Jul 14, 2017 | 8:00PM
Sat Jul 15, 2017 | 8:00PM
Thu Jul 20, 2017 | 8:00PM
Fri Jul 21, 2017 | 8:00PM
Sat Jul 22, 2017 | 8:00PM
Sun Jul 23, 2017 | 2:00PM
Fri Jul 28, 2017 | 8:00PM
Sat Jul 29, 2017 | 8:00PM
Sun Jul 30, 2017 | 2:00PM

Strike the band up and pull the stops out! Hallelujah, it’s Mame! Celebrate the kick-off of the Playhouse’s 75th Anniversary with one of Broadway’s biggest, brassiest musicals. It’s the height of the Roaring 20’s and the indomitable Auntie Mame becomes the guardian for her ten-year-old nephew, Patrick. While her life is turned up-side-down and many of her priorities change, Mame stays true to her mantra “Life is a banquet!,” and takes on the establishment with style and panache, living life to the fullest while opening new windows to the eyes of her young charge.

Oak Ridge Playhouse, 227 Broadway, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Information and tickets: 865-482-9999, www.orplayhouse.com

Encore Theatrical Company will present the musical masterpiece “Ragtime” July 14-23. Based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow, “Ragtime” is a musical that inspires everyone through its poignant and epic story and a score of show-stopping musical numbers.

It’s the turn-of-the century, everything is changing and anything is possible. “Ragtime” follows the lives of three American families and their communities through the promise-filled early 20th century. Set against the backdrop of the volatile melting pot of New York City, the musical weaves together three distinct American stories—a determined Jewish immigrant father, a daring Harlem musician, and a stifled woman of privilege—united by their courage, compassion, and belief in a better tomorrow. Together they confront what it means to be an American at the dawn of a new century.

Encore’s cast of 50 local actors are from all over the East Tennessee region. Performances run for two weekends with evening performances on July 14, 15, 21, and 22 at 8:00 p.m. and matinee performances on July 16 and 23 at 2:00 p.m. Performances are located at the Jefferson County High School Performing Arts Center, located at 115 W. Dumplin Valley Road in Dandridge.

For tickets and more information about the production, please visit www.etcplays.org or call 423-318-8331.

Shakespeare on the Square annually features two of the magnificent plays of Williams Shakespeare, comedies, tragedies and histories, rotated nightly outdoors on Market Square in the heart of downtown Knoxville. From mid-July to mid-August a blanket or a camp chair is all you need to view these performances. Or treat yourself to reserved VIP seating for just $15 per person, including a complimentary bottle of water and local merchant goodie bag. While we perform with no admission charge for general seating, we do appreciate your donations – we’ll pass a basket nightly and suggest a $10 donation per person. We also accept cash or credit cards at the “front of house” table.

2017 Schedule
July 13 – August 13, Thursday to Sunday, 7:00 PM nightly

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)
July 13, 15, 21, 23, 27, 29, and August 4, 6, 10, & 12

Two Gentlemen of Verona
July 14, 16, 20, 22, 28, 30, and August 3, 5, 11, & 13

Special performance at Blount County Library in Maryville on July 31!

Indoor Matinee Performances
July 23: Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)
August 6: Two Gentlemen of Verona
Our indoor matinees take place in the luxuriously air conditioned and well appointed Scruffy City Hall at 32 Market Square. Both shows begin at 2:00 p.m. and admission is $15.00 at the door.

Tennessee Stage Company: 865-546-4280, www.tennesseestage.com