Calendar of Events

by Leslie Kimbell and directed by Joe Johnson

Retired Burlesque queen Beatrice Shelton desperately needs a vacation - and NOT another trip up to Helen, GA to see that "precious little German village for the umpteenth time." A Sassy Seniors Cruise through the Caribbean may be just the ticket if she can convince her best friend Eaddy Mae Clayton to stop praying and go with her.

Unfortunately, things have not been very pleasant at Magnolia Place Assisted Living since Nurse Pat Jones began working there. Newest resident Imogene Fletcher is suddenly losing her memory. Maude Jenkins is obsessed with her favorite soap opera and planning her own funeral. Sam Smith, retired Elvis impersonator, keeps trying to bed every woman in the building. A mystery unfolds with laughter as the gals try to outsmart evil nurse Pat Jones and figure out why so many residents have been moved to "the dark side", what exactly IS that mysterious pill and what happened to Doctor Head? Hilarity ensues as Imogene goes undercover and Maude enters the Miss Magnolia Senior Citizen pageant to throw Pat off their trail.

If they can solve the mystery, they may make it to the cruise ship after all!

First presented in a public reading as part of the Tennessee Stage Company's New Play Festival, Knoxville, 2015
Audience Choice Winner - New Play Festival, Theatre Victoria - Victoria, Texas, 2017
First Place Winner - New Play Festival, Centre Stage Greenville, 2016

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

"Country Music" - New Woodcuts and Drawings by Emmett Merrill

The reception is on Friday, August 31st from 6-9pm. Gallery 10/10 is located at 1150 McCalla Avenue, Knoxville TN, 37915.

The exhibition will be up Friday through Sunday 12 - 4 pm.
https://www.facebook.com/events/281738589306839/

The BlairXperience

Alive After Five is a unique live music series that takes place in the smoke-free, casually elegant setting of the Ann and Steve Bailey Hall in the Knoxville Museum of Art. There is a live band on stage, seating at tables, two cash bars, food from area restaurants, free freshly popped popcorn, and free parking. Audience members can enjoy listening to music, dancing, and browsing the museum’s art galleries. Admission is $15 for general and $10 for museum members and college students with ID. Ages 17 and under are admitted free.

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

with HIGHER LEARNING

Prepare for an evening of existential psych jams with Papadosio! Asheville natives return to Knoxville for a performance that will undoubtedly blow your mind. Grab your tickets and get ready for blast off!

The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917. Tickets/information: http://themillandmine.com

East Tennessee’s Own WDVX and the Clayton Center for the Arts present The Smoky Mountain Jamboree, a live variety radio show debuting Friday night August 31 at 7:00PM at the Clayton Center for the Arts in Maryville, Tennessee. The live radio show will be 90 minutes in length with a second set for the Clayton Center theatre audience to follow. Tickets will be $25, $20 for Seniors and Groups of 10 or more, and $10 for students. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 865-981-8590 or at claytonartscenter.com.

The Smoky Mountain Jamboree will be hosted by Scott Hinds and produced by WDVX’s Tony Lawson. Conceived by Lawson to be a monthly show, Clayton Center for the Arts General Manager, Blake Smith, has been in talks with Lawson about the concept since last fall. “When Tony approached us with the Live Radio Variety Show idea last fall, I was very interested. We have partnered with WDVX in the past with great success. After several meetings where Tony laid out his intent for the show at the Clayton Center to focus on Blount County, I knew it would enhance our community and partnering with WDVX would help bring it all together. think it will be a boon for us to highlight all Blount County has to offer and to expose more people to the Clayton Center and the talent and businesses that call Blount County home.”

The first show of this planned series features the multi-talented Darrell Scott …. Author and Actor Eugene Wolf with new tales and music from his one man play “The Book of Mamaw”.... Blount County’s Own songbird Robinella as well as surprises from Pistol Creek Catch of the Day. Lawson, General Manager of WDVX, said “WDVX is very excited to produce a program that improves and highlights our quality of place through live music and culture. Collaborating with the Clayton Center for the Arts is a natural for WDVX to give Blount County and the region a platform for localism and community pride.” Each show is planned for the last Friday of the month. Some months, shows may be taken on the road to a different location and the plan is to produce shows 10 months out of the year.

Clayton Center for the Arts: 502 East Lamar Alexander Parkway, Maryville, TN 37804. Information/tickets: 865-981-8590, www.ClaytonArtsCenter.com

With guest exhibition by Lynne Ghenov

Opening First Friday August 3, 6-9pm
Closing August 31, 6-9pm

A1LabArts @ the Center for Creative Minds, 23 Emory Place, Knoxville, TN 37917. Information: www.a1labarts.org

KNOXVILLE’S MUSICAL HISTORY - AUGUST 31, 2018 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
From Tribal to Techno - Knoxville’s story has always been set to music, from the time when the poetic rhythms of the native Cherokee tribes still echoed in the hills and the ballads of the Scots-Irish settlers were sung around campfires on the riverbanks. Immigrants from all over the world brought new instruments and tunes to enliven the song and East Tennessee became known as a home to musicians of every genre, whether classical, jazz, R&B, rock-n-roll, Americana, or the avant-garde sounds of ska, techno, and whatever’s unveiled at this year’s Big Ears Festival. Meet in the Knoxville Visitor Center, 301 S. Gay Street.

SHADOW SIDE - AUGUST 31, 2018 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Knoxville Ghosts - Hanged killers, tragic fires, reanimated corpses, cold-blooded murder, and sweet revenge. It all happened in Knoxville and restless spirits still haunt the city streets. If you enjoy a chill in the evening, walk with us to Knoxville’s shadow side. The city’s history echoes with the sound of gunfire and restless spirits are rumored to walk the streets. Visit their haunts and shiver as you listen to local legends of scary spooks and supernatural phenomena. Meet in front of The Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain, 418 S. Gay St.

Knoxville Walking Tours last approximately 90 minutes. Adults: $15. Children 6-12: $10 (Group rate available). For more information or to book your tour, please visit the Knoxville Walking Tours Website at http://knoxvillewalkingtours.com/. Proceeds from many tours help to support the Knoxville History Project.

Friday, August 31, 6-8PM

The UT Downtown Gallery is pleased to present the work of the MFA Class of 2021. Come see their work and welcome them to Knoxville!

Printmaking
Erin Wohletz, Reno, NV – BFA, University of Nevada
Conor McGrann, Pittsburgh, PA – BFA, Syracuse University
Mary Climes, Chicago, IL – BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Time-Based Art
Lauren Terry, Stafford, VA – BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University
Kate Clark, Minneapolist, MN – BFA, University of Minnesota
Alissa Walls, Fayetteville, AR – Ph.D. Art History, Pennsylvania State University

Ceramics
Gina Stucchio, Lutz, FL – BFA, University of South Florida

Painting + Drawing
Lilly Saywitz, Brighton, MA – BFA, Boston University
Kelsie Conley, Ridgewood, NW – BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University
Quynh Nguyen – Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture

Sculpture
Nyasha Madamombe, Belvedere, Harare, Zimbabwe – BFA, Chinhoyi University of Technology
Jacob Miller, Macomb, IL – BFA, Western Illinois University

UT Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St, Knoxville, TN 37902. Information: 865-673-0802, http://web.utk.edu/~downtown

CBT Mainstage

Searching throughout the Old and New World for his beloved Cunegonde, Candide’s philosophy of Optimism is challenged by catastrophe after catastrophe.
The CBT and KSO are proud to perform Leonard Bernstein’s Candide in 2018, the 100th anniversary of his birth year. Bernstein’s brilliant and beautiful score deepens Voltaire’s great satire with contributions from the greatest lyricists of the 20th century.

By Voltaire. Music by Leonard Bernstein.
Directed by Artistic Director Calvin MacLean. Conducted by Music Director Aram Demirjian.

Clarence Brown 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

Graphic designer Aggie Toppins is the first featured artist in Pellissippi State Community College's art series this fall.

Toppins' recent work, titled Palimpsests, will be on exhibit Aug. 27-Sept. 14 at Pellissippi State's Bagwell Center for Media and Art Gallery.

Opening reception for Toppins' exhibit will be held 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, with an artist lecture to follow at 7 p.m.

Palimpsests is a series of collage-based prints rooted in the practice of psychogeography.

"I use extant materials that pass through my life while traveling to construct compositions that index my experience while attempting to capture the ways experience leaves its trace on me," explained Toppins, who is head of the art department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Hardin Valley Campus of Pellissippi State: 10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville, TN 37932. Bagwell Center Gallery hours: M-F 10-6:30. Information: 865-694-6405, www.pstcc.edu/arts

Visitors to Zoo Knoxville will receive $10 admission in exchange for recycling bottles and containers made of #1 PET and #2 HDPE plastics beginning Monday, August 27, through Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018. The discount is an initiative by the zoo and Waste Connections to raise awareness about the dangers of single-use plastic items to wildlife and to promote recycling and reducing personal use of plastic.

Nearly half of all plastic ever manufactured has been made since 2000, with a total of more than 450 million tons created in 2015 alone. In the same year, Americans purchased about 346 plastic beverage bottles per person—111 billion plastic bottles in all. On average, only 9% of those bottles were recycled. Production of plastic is outpacing our ability to manage it in a sustainable way, with between 10 and 20 million tons of plastic debris ending up in our oceans each year. Roughly 80 percent of that comes from inland rivers that eventually transport it to the coast. Plastics in our oceans are taking a devastating toll on animals, with more than 700 species estimated to have been affected. Discarded plastic is drowning marine mammals and turtles. Sea life such as birds, reptiles and fish are mistaking algae-covered plastic debris for food, resulting in malnourishment, chronic hunger and death.

“Zoo Knoxville and the entire community of zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) have the opportunity and responsibility to lead by example. As an organization, we are working on finding alternatives to single-use plastics,” said CEO and President Lisa New. “We also feel it is important to challenge our guests to recycle and reuse. By doing so, they are leading a change to protect wildlife and wild places. This is a symbolic way to make everyone more aware of their consumption and disposal of plastics.”

To redeem the $10 general admission ticket, guests should present a recyclable plastic container made of #1 PET or #2 HDPE plastic at the zoo’s ticket window between August 27 and Sept. 2, 2018. Special thanks to Waste Connections for their support of this campaign.

Currently, the zoo is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Admission and ticket sales stop one-hour before the zoo closes. Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open every day except Christmas. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

More than 40 paintings and drawings from public and private collections around the country celebrate the life and achievement of this well-known Knoxville native.

Joseph Delaney (1904-1991) rose from humble beginnings in Knoxville to establish himself as a tireless and prolific painter of Manhattan’s urban scene. Over the span of his 60-year career, Delaney displayed a remarkable ability to express the city’s vitality using the loose brushwork of gestural abstraction, which at the time represented the cutting edge of studio practice, without sacrificing the narrative content many of his contemporaries had abandoned. The works featured in On the Move represent the variety of ways in which he used this hybrid method to infuse his painted scenes with vibrant energy, and intricate patterns of movement.

While capturing the ebb and flow of life on the boulevards and back alleys, Delaney’s vigorous brushwork also reveals his restless spirit and insatiable creative drive. On the Move has been organized by the KMA in the hopes of generating newfound appreciation and scholarly attention for an artist who captured his time and place with uncommon energy and a fiercely independent spirit. In depicting Manhattan’s urban scenes, the artist trains his ever-shifting vantage point on gleaming plazas and gritty nightspots with equal intensity and familiarity. In some compositions, near-panoramic views emphasize the pulse of crowds within vast architectural arenas. In others, the artist focuses on specific urban structures—subway cars, bridges, and roadways—that make movement possible.

The public is invited to celebrate the art and life of Joseph Delaney at the KMA Family Fun Day on Saturday, August 25 from 11am to 4pm. This event is free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of Katherine and Joe Fielden.

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