Review of reviewers

I came across this article yesterday: "New service aims to offer arts tickets at lower prices."

While I am excited that you can get price-gouged for slightly less now, I find it odd that they couldn't get the website up-and-running on time. They only have ONE merchant, after all. A super-secret inside source reveals that they switched banking services at the last minute with complete disregard as to how that would affect their website's capability. Thus it came as a total shock to them that they weren't able to take orders. I digress.

Speaking of Doug Mason, who is reviewing in this town anymore?

Is Doug? I saw in the knoxnews archives that he did put up quickie reviews of Henry V and Taming of the Shrew, so I guess he's still at it.

Paige Travis? No longer with the Metropulse, apparently Paige has hung up her reviewing hat for awhile.

The Metropulse? Loot got a certain Knoxville biographer to review the show under pseudonym, and Leslie Wylie just came off of a Theatre Knoxville review as well as two previews for ETSS and the Co-op.

Anyone I'm forgetting? Does the Sentinel have anyone else that reviews? It seems like the Metropulse has had random people write reviews over the past year. Can anyone help fill this picture out?

Polls of the Week

Boy am I now obsessed with blogging. I've decided to debut Fun Theatre Polls every Sunday, house right of the center aisle. I may never sleep again...

the power of the blog

Guess who just updated its website...

[insert theatre company]'s website blows

The News-Sentinel ran this piece yesterday about the Carpetbag Theatre:

Theater question to council again

I realized when reading it that I know absolutely nothing about the Carpetbag Theatre. Have they been on break recently? Their website advertises a new piece (one assumedly celebrating the Carpetbag's 30+ years), but it doesn't say when or where the show is being put on. I also realized that I would like to rank the Knoxville Theatre Websites, from best to last.


1. Oak Ridge Playhouse

Theatre interest generated: ****
Professionalism: ****
Up-to-date-ness: ***

Sometimes I think the website is more polished than the choreography onstage. My only complaint is that the Archives section is always under construction, and I want to look at all the pretty pictures, dammit.


2. Clarence Brown Theatre

Theatre interest generated: *
Professionalism: ****
Up-to-date-ness: ****

The Clarence Brown ONLY comes in at number two due to the rest of the competition sucking so hard. The site used to be more interesting, but about three years ago it got sucked into the mainframe of the UT system's website, and thereby lost its individuality. Now it looks just as likely to be a Bursar Office page as it does a Theatre Department page. The excitement about theatre generated by the CBT's website is low. Very low.


3. Morristown Theatre Guild


Theatre interest generated: **
Professionalism: **
Up-to-date-ness: ***

While not the most complicated of sites, the Guild's page is updated regularly and can be counted on when looking for show and ticket information.


4. The Carpetbag Theatre

Theatre interest generated: **
Professionalism: ***
Up-to-date-ness: *

While generally not badly done, the site doesn't ever mention when any shows are. Do they even do anything in town?


5. Tennessee Stage Company

Theatre interest generated: **
Professionalism: **
Up-to-date-ness: **

Not exactly an HTML smorgasbord, at least the site kinda mentions what's generally going on with the Company.


6. The Actors Co-op

Theatre interest generated: **
Professional-ness: ***
Up-to-date-ness: *

Their ranking would dramatically rise if they would update the site into the new season! The Co-op redeems itself, however, through their use of myspace.

Thank you, Jesus

Here's a little pet peeve of mine that I think deserves some conversation: Thanking God in theatre bios. If you are unfamiliar with this Southern trend, let me give you a few examples:

From a Morristown Theatre Guild program:

"...[Actor] would like to thank God for saving him and giving him the opportunity to do what he enjoys..."

From an Oak Ridge Playhouse program:

"...Thank you to Terri, Naomi, Cami, Natasha, Jack, Reggie, Samantha, his brother/stage manager Lucas, and Jesus."

"...[Actor] thanks his parents for their never-ending support, Rachel for her friendship, and Jesus for his undying love."

It's not just community theatre players that love giving a shout out to the Big Guy; I have seen a program at the Clarence Brown where Jesus was thanked more than once for his saving properties.

I'm glad that Jesus is represented and all, but isn't it a tad tacky? And if God is reading your bio, wouldn't he be ticked off that he got mentioned last? When I look at a bio, all I want to know is what shows the actors have been in, where they went to school, and, if they're under the age of 6, whether or not they like dogs or candy.

Furthermore, all you community theatre thespians out there, a bio is not the place to list your future wikipedia entry. A recent MTG program ended with, I kid you not, "[Actress] also adores senior citizens, horses, cats, painting and the outdoors." (This came from a grown woman who (self-purportedly) did professional work in New York.) Really? You think it's important that I know that you adore old people? And does your heart start bursting only once they get their AARP cards?

Congrats to the Tennessee Stage Company for a Shakespeare on the Square program largely absent of anything annoying.

Henrietta I

When one doesn't work for while, one gets quite used to the notion of not working. So when I made it back to my day job for the first time in about a week, I couldn't fathom actually working my entire shift. So I didn't. Instead, I headed down to the newly-r(enov)aided Market Square for some beer and Shakespeare.

And then I realized I was a dumbass. Henry V started at seven, not eight, and I was already running 5 minutes late. So I didn't watch it. Starting to watch a play half-way through is like watching Season 3 of 24 without having seen Kim Bauer almost eaten by a wildcat twenty minutes outside of L.A. Actually it's not like that at all. It's just not any fun to have missed the first half. So instead I went up to a party over the Oodles building and watched the stage pictures down below. While I watched, I got philosophical.

Why in the world does Tennessee Stage Company have so much money? Okay, here's my take on TSC's reputation in town: They are very well-funded, but put on a LOT of stinkers (Girl in the Boat, anyone?). I can't say I've seen many TSC shows, but I can't say I've ever really wanted to. (On a side note, TSC almost gave me my first paying job back in the summer of '01, playing Lenox in Macbeth. Instead, World's Fair Park got renovated, Macbeth got the axe (hee), and I directed Bent instead.)

Does anyone really, really like Shakespeare enough to endure 90-degree-plus heat to watch a production in Knoxville? The answer is obviously yes, as I myself was planning to watch it. But I'll be honest, Shakespeare in such a setting feels like more of theatrical duty than a pleasure. I really had more interest in supporting friends like Leigh Monet (formerly Hruby) and Jess Milewicz (anyone see Oliver! at the CBT?). For me, Shakespeare has to be engaging in a novel way for me to will my brain to work through the dialogue. Maybe I was spoiled during my time in Stratford-upon-Avon when I got to see several productions by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Okay, I was spoiled.

Are Leigh Monet and Betsy Greer going to kiss? Yes.

Is Knoxville theatre irreparably splintered in this town or is that in my imagination? That conversation is a blog entry waiting to happen.

Without critiquing the show as a whole, because I did not see it, I will make this comment: with as much money as the actors are getting paid (which is awesome for a non-CBT Knoxville theatre to afford to do), there shouldn't be one soul up there who speaks poorly. And there was. It's Shakespeare. To sell an audience on a Globe-like, minimalist production of one of the Bard's shows, there better not be an actor it can't understand. Or else, in my case, my brain will start focusing on the trees or the homeless or the fact that Earth to Old City isn't open.

Again, my goal is not to bitch, but to get a constructive dialogue going about the state of theatre in this town.

A very Hedwig weekend

It is early Monday afternoon, and I'm just now coming down from the high I got from a weekend full of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. While it's no secret that I have a certain attachment to this one, and while I'm certainly prone to self-promotion, I do think this show is something special. For two years I've wanted this production to happen. For it to have finally come to fruition is mind-boggling.

Preview night was Thursday, the 13th. The crowd, which included friends of mine in the screamo band sadville, as well as Scott and Bernadette West (go figure), was electric. Everything --the songs, monologues, costumes-- culminated into something much greater than its parts.

Opening night came with a weird case of opening-night-specific jitters. Perhaps it was seeing old theatre friends like Tony Cedeno (anyone see Bent?) and Brandy Eleazor (anyone see Clue?) in the audience, or die-hard Hed-heads like Sarah Campbell, but something made me start out a little tentative. I think I settled down once the show got rolling. Anyway, if my neighbors from the bookeddy blabbed about it, and if Carl from Carl's Salon says he loved it, it must have been just as good as preview night.

Saturday night was the show that blew me away. The chemistry between the audience and me was crackling. And so many weird things happened...the house lights coming on when some lady in the bathroom hit the wrong switch, the lady who had to pee during (essentially) Act 3, the goddamned bra...but each potential hiccup worked its way beautifully into the script. And I'm pretty sure I saw some celebrities from UT in the audience. Exciting times.

Hello, Costumes!

I went to see Hello, Dolly! at the Oak Ridge Playhouse tonight. My friend was the driver, and having not been to Oak Ridge any other way, took the only route he knew: the winding highway that runs parallel to the Clinch River. The Clinch, flat and picturesque, is a mecca for local rowing enthusiasts (and Chinese food enthusiasts, strangely enough). I was ashamed I'd come this way not once in the five hundred times I've driven to Oak Ridge, but glad I now knew yet another local scenic diversion.

Speaking of scenic diversions (and segues), the ORP's Hello, Dolly! is one of the best costumed shows I've seen in quite some time. DeWayne Kirchner, the resident designer and costume shop manager, has a very impressive professional resume -- hell, he costumed the real Dolly --under his belt, enough that one wonders why we're lucky enough to have his talents here in the Knoxville area. From the opening curtain to the bow, this production was a visual orgasm. Dolly's signature evening gown at the top of Act 2 almost brought the house down (and almost touched the roof).

Costumes aside, the show wa.... No, there's no such things as costumes aside when it comes to Hello, Dolly! Were the actors as big as the hats they had to fill? Some were, some weren't. Local favorite Dan Owenby was reliably funny as Horace Vandergelder and Dana Wham had the pipes for Dolly, but a lot of clumsy blocking and set changes (can someone please oil the casters?) got in the way of much chemistry. Many of the ensemble were new --brand new-- to the stage, so the audience got to enjoy more than its fair share of deer-in-headlight expressions. However, it's the burgeoning talent in young high school kids like Jodi Freeman and Max Souza that makes community theatre such a joy to watch. I only wish Knoxville had good institutes to train young thespians and paying jobs to keep them performing.

All in all, a trip to the Playhouse is just as much of a trip to see old friends as it is a trip to see a show. The audience there is warm and appreciative, and can forgive missed notes, missed lines, and hazardous set pieces. They are there to laugh and applaud and see their friends up on the stage. And in this production, their friends look pretty dang good.

Top Ten Lists Are Fun

Because I'm slightly obsessed with reading other people's categorizations of movies, especially come Oscar time, I feel it's only appropriate for me to create a top ten list of my own.

Top Ten Most Anticipated Shows of Summer '06!


10. Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love (The Actors Co-op)

This risky venture marks the Co-op's first foray into live gay sex. Kidding. Kinda. Knoxville theatre hasn't been this gay since the News Sentinel had ACT's Corpus Christi on the front page above fold back in '03.

9. The Guys (Oak Ridge Playhouse)

Timely, passionate theatre is always more interesting that non-timely, dispassionate theatre, so this production has the potential to be great. It is my hope that patriotic flag waving won't get in the way of portraying the real strength and grief of the boys of the NYFD in this production that commemorates the WTC attack.


8. Henry V (Tennessee Stage Company)

The only reason I want to see this is to watch Leigh Hruby as the titular character. If she can pull it off, someone get her a ticket to Broadway. If you saw her brilliance in Proof in the CBT lab, that may be all the proof you need...

7. Momma Mia (Broadway in Knoxville)

So, okay, this isn't exactly local theatre; it's the non-Equity tour that's rolling in to the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. But hey, I'd still like to see why the hell people love this show so goddamned much.

6. Hello Dolly! (Oak Ridge Playhouse)

Dana Wham is one of my favorite musical singers to sit and listen to. Dammit, I only have a couple more days to see it...

5. Born Yesterday (Clarence Brown Theatre)

Okay, so I'm not really looking forward to this. But pickings are slim when you're trying to name 10 Knoxville theatre productions in one literal season that you want to see. In fairness, CBT shows are always pretty, even if they are sometimes badly acted (for a prof. company), badly directed (for a prof. company), and completely pandering to the blue hairs with all the money. With new artistic director Calvin MacLean at the helm, it'll be interesting to see if the CBT returns to its liberal Nazi-play glory days of the recent past or if we get yet more Always, Patsy Clines.

4. West Side Story (Morristown Theatre Guild)

Micah-Shane Brewer is one of the most talented theatre treasures we have working in the Knoxville area, and he's not really even in the Knoxville area. Setting up camp in Morristown, Micah-Shane runs The Theatre Guild, one of those small-town troupes that has been around since the crack of dawn. This production makes the list (even though it closes tomorrow afternoon) because it was so suprisingly good. Yes, it's community theatre. I mean, c'mon, it's Morristown. But Micah-Shane has a knack for making you forget where you are and for making sure that you thoroughly enjoy yourself.

3. Urinetown: The Musical (Morristown Theatre Guild)

Why is it that all the cool shows are way out in Morristown? Micah-Shane Brewer. Last year it was Bat Boy, this year it's the show about pee. And next year? It wouldn't surprise me if Spamalot ended up on the playbill.

2. The Miracle (The Miracle Theatre)

You've seen the giant billboards on your way to Asheville. Maybe even on your way to Dollywood. I can't think of a potentially better night than to go to Gatlinburg, throw a few back, and crawl on into the Miracle Theatre and see the spectacular Spectacular about the Greatest Showman of All, Jesus.

1. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Actors Co-op)

I friggin' love Hedwig. Here's hoping the music rocks!

opening statement

I love to talk about local theatre. I love to talk about plays, bitch about bad actors, dish the latest gossip about who's directing what, where, when, and why. I can't get enough of it. But other people who have less specific addictions, like movies or porn, have places, many places, to while away their time on the internet. I do share a passion for film with many others out there, and I thank the film gods that I have imdb.com, rottentomatoes, boxofficemojo, and thefilmexperience to study and memorize and talk about and obsess over, respectively.

But where do I go to talk about local theatre? Hell, where do I even go to obsess about theatre in general? I'm sure there must be some site I'm missing, but the various theatre IMDB-knockoffs, theatrehistory, and American Theatre Web just don't cut it. Perhaps it's just hard to get into gossiping over productions that one hasn't seen. But I have seen shows in this town, and I want a place to talk about them. Mayhaps Knox theatre people will Google themselves, find that they are referenced here, and participate in this crazy forum that is blogging. One can only hope...