As I gaze out my office window I see, fittingly, lovely orange plastic temporary fencing separating a small construction area on the Joe Johnson and John Ward Pedestrian Mall on the campus of the University of Tennesssee.  (A portion of it is even nicely framed by the now empty show poster holder on the plaza outside the Clarence Brown Theatre…)

Rumor has it that a statue of some sort is to be erected there, at the center focal point of the Pedestrian Mall (or where the ”A&A” leg of the Mall joins the “Andy Holt Avenue” portion of the Mall to make a “Power T”).  A circle of paving stones has been removed to provide for the statuary base, possibly with a rumored circle of flowers, to break up the monotony of the straight Andy Holt Avenue leg and make it less convenient for walkers. 

Actually, in addition to the circle, there is a little rectangular “key” that juts out from the circle, oriented roughly to the East (to spark conspiracy theories), or perhaps aimed at the McClung Tower, Humanities Building, or, probably, toward Neyland Stadium.

As I understand the “metal” statue has been completed, and I did not sit for it, someone else must have been honored.  Not sure if it is Dr. Johnson or John Ward, or if it’s perhaps Dolly Parton, Layla Kiffin, Manny Ramirez, Oprah, or Nick Bonacker, or perhaps another?  Do you know???  I have heard that the statue was donated, so it’s All Good.

The place is buzzing with anticipation.

We’ve been very fortunate.

Over the years I’ve been in the Clarence Brown Box Office, we have employed a number of UT students as Box Office Associates.  Some of these have been Theatre students; some not.  With extremely few exceptions, they have been wonderful people who have provided wonderful service to our patrons.

As much as we would like to keep them all, most of them eventually find a way to graduate and move on with their careers.  Some have scattered around the country, some even working in theatre, and even a few in ticketing-related positions!

I personally feel blessed to have known them all.

Last Friday, The University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences held its Spring Commencement in Thompson-Boling Arena.  Many watched the ceremony via the Internet, perhaps because of the speaker, East Tennessee’s own Dolly Parton.  She was, of course, wonderful.  However, I was watching for another reason — since I couldn’t be there in person, I wanted to see two of our Associates, Amy and Jo Jo, receive their Bachelor of Arts degrees. 

Jo Jo Nanney Cruce has been with us all four years of her time at UT.  There’s no mistaking JoJo — her exuberance, friendliness, and curiosity set her apart.  Unfortunately for us, she is leaving Knoxville with her husband, who recently returned from Iraq and is leaving the Army to become a student at NC State.  We will miss you, Jo Jo!

Amy Loyd has been with us a long time, on and off.  We’ve seen Amy go through a lot of life’s adventures over the years, and were really excited to see her return to school and now receive her degree.  Amy doesn’t hide her feelings, so you know where you stand with her!  She is a keen observer of people, and is skilled at making observations with unmatched sense of humor.  She’s also a great mother and a good friend.  We’re not sure what her next step is, but value her greatly.

I’ve been neglectful in recognizing our graduates in the past.  We’ve been lucky to have a couple of recent ones still helping us out — the talented Rachel Winfrey, who received her degree last December, and the very organized Elizabeth Hendrich Margle, who graduated last year.

One update — the irrepressible Tracy Eileen Bowden, a UT graduate a couple of years ago, is now working at the Performing Arts Box Office at Duke University!

And of course, we haven’t forgotten those of years past, either.  We love you too!

It took a while, but my show photographs from The Clarence Brown Theatre production of The Who’s Tommy  are now loaded onto my flickr account.

There are lots of photos there!

(There may still be a few photos out of order, and I’m still working on some of the descriptions.  If I’ve mislabled a photo or left your name out (or called you someone else!), please let me know!0

Click here to view the Tommy slideshow.

Click here if you’d rather view the set in raw form.

And of course you may access all my CBT show photographs from the Photos menu item on this intranet. 

Today was a great day in Chicago Cubs history — the Cubs honored two of its greatest retired players but only had to retire one number!

Jersey Number 31 has been retired, and flags are now flying from both the left and right fair poles (what most of you call “foul” poles, but they’re part of fair territory) to honor two former pitchers — Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux.

Fergie, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was one of those pitchers who didn’t need relieving. He would pitch and pitch — and did it very, very well. We won a Cy Young Award, completed 154 games, and threw over 2000 strikeouts!

Greg Maddux just retired last year and will be a first-round Hall of Famer. I know, some of you Braves fans (if there are any left…) will claim him as yours, and of course he did have a great career there as well. But he came up with the Cubs, won his first game with the Cubs, won his first Cy Young Award with the Cubs, and won his 300th game with the Cubs. As far as I’m concerned, he will always be a Cub, and he seemed quite happy to be in Chicago for the ceremony today.

Fergie and Greg join Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and current Tennessee Smokies Manager Ryne Sandberg as Cubs whose numbers have been retired and fly over Wrigley Field.

Now let’s win today, Cubs! (Thanks for the Home Run, Mike Fontenot, as I was writing this!)

And thanks to technical difficulties, I can add “Thanks for the GRAND SLAM, D-Lee!”

Jack Kemp, former Congressman, Housing Secretary, Vice-Presidential Nominee, and Pro Football Quarterback, died last night (May 2, 2009) at the age of 73.

Versatile enough to be both the American Football League MVP and the leading spokesman for what became the Reagan Tax Cuts, Kemp attracted attention from all kinds of Americans.  He maintained a consistent conservatism based on low taxes and using capitalism as a way of enriching Americans of all backgrounds.  He made some knee-jerk Republicans nervous.

I only met him once, in his Congressional Office on Capitol Hill.  I came with my boss at the time, Hon. John H. Buchanan, Jr. (R-Ala) as part of signing onto Kemp’s tax-cut bill.  Kemp impressed me as one of the nicest Members of Congress I ever met. 

And of course his office was the only one I can recall that featured a football…

He will be missed.

I really have no idea how big a deal this is, but it sounds like some sort of milestone — my photographs have no been viewed on flickr more than 10,000 times!

Here’s a link to my photostream.  For best viewing of my Clarence Brown Theatre show photos, use the “slideshow” feature to show ‘em big! 

(Of course, you can also access all this from the photo menu item on http://www.uttheatre.org or just going to http://www.uttheatre.org/flickr.php.

The Clarence Brown Theatre production of The Who’s Tommy  has achieved its single ticket goal!

In spite of the economic downturn, we’ve had great single ticket sales this year. We thank all our patrons!

The response to Tommy  has been terrific — with the best “buzz” in years. We did have maybe a half dozen people who voiced objections to the “disgusting” elements of life presented on stage, but literally hundreds who told us it was their favorite CBT show in recent times.

But all good things must end — Tommy  closes Sunday afternoon!

Earplugs are still free…

We love Tommy.

Audience members love Tommy.

And then there are reviewers…

Actually, the Clarence BrownTheatre production has received some great reviews from The Knoxville News-Sentinel  and The UT Daily Beacon.  Now, Kieron Barry writing in Metropulse  joins the chorus.  He says in part:

Director Sams serves also as choreographer, and it is here that her gifts truly come alive, with ensemble dancing that is high-spirited and rugged yet wholly disciplined. The most outstanding moments are those using wires, and Jonathan Visser’s Tommy is given almost carte blanche with these. His early flight to the roof by hanging onto a small balloon is but a prelude to the balletic, hypnotic extravagances of the second act.

Visser once again proves himself an actor worth watching. He happens to have a strong resemblance to Conan O’Brien, and indeed shares a manic, twitchy alertness with the comedian, which he uses here to his advantage, most especially in the climax to Act One, when, pinball-bound at last, he jerks and tremors in endless tactile frisson.

It is “Pinball Wizard,” of course, that is the high point of Tommy, and the pedalled crescendo in the build-up to this song is as unbearably exciting as anything by Rossini. The music reaches its apotheosis when the most famous phrase in the show is sung with unbelievable intensity by the leering, mohawked Quinn Q. Cason. Here he is given just a few syllables, but the effect is mesmerizing.

For all its minor flaws, the show is a glorious, messy, lovable production that is so strongly felt and urgently delivered that it’s difficult not to be won over by the sheer passion of the artists and the grandiosity of its vision. It’s the first show I’ve seen in the Clarence Brown that makes the space seem too small.

The Who’s Tommy  runs through May 3.  Tickets are still available for most performances — call the Clarence Brown Theatre Box Office at (865) 974-5161 or online at http://www.clarencebrowntheatre.com/.

June Adamson has passed away.

Ms. Adamson was a longtime faculty member in the School of Journalism at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville — I met her in class!  I was a Broadcasting major and not really that interested in the (newspaper oriented) News Writing course I was required to take, but I came to appreciate from her how carefully choosing words can make the difference between copying a police report and telling a meaningful story about people, no matter what the medium.  I also appreciated her sharing some of the tough times in her own life.

After I returned to UT to work at the Clarence Brown Theatre, I was happy to find that she was a season subscriber, although she was not able to attend recently.

She will be missed, but remembered.

Here’s a story about her in the UT Daily Beacon.