Isn’t this a great time of the year?

Whatever your religious convictions, you’ve got to admit that Christmas rocks.

I love driving on Neyland Drive and seeing the lights by the river and on the Henley Street Bridge, and of course the ‘trees’ on all the taller buildings’ rooftops.

Many organizations set up events to help us celebrate, including schools, churches, and arts groups.

There was an article in the News-Sentinel  last Sunday about the annual production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  Producer Jeff Delaney reportedly thought the show was the second-best attended Christmas event in the area, and article write Doug Mason mildly disputes it, bringing up other events that may outdraw it, but forgets others.

I have absolutely nothing against the play — it’s a cute story (and I was asked to consider a part in the cast a few years ago), but there are a few other Knoxville Christmas traditions to remember.

One example is the Nativity Pageant of Knoxvlle, reported in today’s News-Sentinel.  It probably draws twice the numbers of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

And of course there is something closer to my heart — the Clarence Brown Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol.  There have been multiple sell-out performances for this year’s version, and although the 7,000 to 8,000 attendees for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is impressive, we’ve already sold over 11,000 tickets for our performances of A Christmas Carol (including five school performances), and we still have seven shows left (during our “Bonus Week” — through the 22nd.  Some great seats are still available!)

Oh, there was one more review of A Christmas Carol — this one from The Tennessee Journalist’s  Briget Hardy:

The production of “A Christmas Carol” is currently playing at the Clarence Brown Theatre on campus to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

And I’d like to remember some friends of mine who are travelling far away from the area for Christmas — Carson-Newman College’s A Cappella Choir and members of the Knoxville Choral Society will spend Christmas Eve singing on Nativity Plaza in Bethlehem.  Both groups are directed by Eric Thorson, simply one of the best choral directors anywhere, and a friend for a number of years.  A News-Sentinel article will tell you about the trip, and WBIR-TV video will show you (and you can hear a sample of their singing!)

Several interesting items (to me…)

Gene Wojciechowski has written an nice piece about UT Lady Vol Candace Parker on ESPN.com.  Gene is one of my favorite writers — and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a UT grad and a Chicago Cubs fan.

According to the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Broadway in Knoxville will go dark next season.

Roane State Community College is holding auditions for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. in the Theatre on the Roane County campus.  Actors are asked to prepare a 1-2 minute monoluge.  For more information, call Michael Golebiewski at 865-882-4589.  The play will be performed Feb. 14-16 and Feb. 22-23 at 7:00 p.m., Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m., and Feb. 17 at 2:00 p.m.

There’s another review of the currently-running Clarence Brown Theatre production of A Christmas Carol, this one in Metro Pulse.  Once you get past reviewer Kieron Barry’s somewhat self-indulgent and condescending asides, he says some interesting things about the show:

And indeed there is much to enjoy.  Edward Morgan’s sprightly, lovable production is spirited in all senses.  With a lavish set by James Kronzer and Beverly Emmons’ blissful lighting design, its production values are approaching the stratospheric.  The cast, by and large, lives up to this promise, some of them even gamely attempting an English accent here and there.

The Clarence Brown Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol  continues to draw glowing comment from those who have seen its early performances.

For example:

Last night was the most enjoyable night I have ever spent at CBT (in 30 years). It was absolutely wonderful in every respect, and indeed, was CBTs gift to all of us.
  
Brenda Madigan

And this one:

Dear Clarence Brown Theater,
 
     I am a new student here at UT, and “A Christmas Carol” was my first time going to a show at the CBT. I just wanted to let you know, that is was amazing. It was such a great choice for the holiday season. Being away from home, it hasn’t felt much like Christmas yet. But, seeing that play really put me in the holiday spirit. The whole production was superb. I hope you all will consider doing another holiday play next year. (like maybe “Miracle on 34th St.”, It’s a Wonderful Life”, or “White Christmas”) I would most definitely go back!
 
Sincerely,
 
Meredith Machen

Keep those cards and letters coming!

We really like the version of A Christmas Carol  that we’re doing at the Clarence Brown Theatre this year.  It’s very traditional yet fresh — and people love it!

But there are some very different takes on the old tale out there.  The Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. is presenting A Christmas Carol 1941, set in our nation’s capital just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Scrooge character is instead a war profiteer, and instead of the three Ghosts of the original story, there are the statue-like Victory, Freedom, and Grief.

Here’s a picture from the show — notice former CBT’er Connan Morrisey as Freedom (in the center, looking like the statue on top of the U.S. Capitol).

And if you’re in the mood for something less Christmas-y and more swashbuckling in the Washington area, you can head up to Bethesda to Connan’s husband (and former CBT Artistict Director) Blake Robison’s theatre, the Round House Theatre, for their holiday production of Treasure Island.  The lighting design is by our own Kenton Yeager! Blake directs; Jeff Modereger (who designed Oliver! at the CBT) is the set designer.

From The “Official Release”:

The Lorayne W. Lester Award was established in 2002 by the University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences’ Board of Vistors/Associates, faculty, staff, and friends to honor Dr. Lester for her dedicated service and leadership as dean from 1996-2002.

The annual award recognizes a faculty or staff member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the University of Tennessee, the College of Arts and Sciences, or any of the various constituencies reached locally, statewide, or nationally.

James T. Brimer — known to all as Jimmy — has served in many roles since joining the UT Theatre staff in 1963 as musical director.  Mr. Brimer personifies a long tradition of theatrical excellence, an anchor for the many students who worked with him and the many audiences who enjoyed his musicianship or encountered his graciousness in his other capacity as house manager.  As musical director, he has been responsible for the many orchestras that provided accompaniment to innumerable musical productions and has helped countless students learn to sing a song — one of the scariest tasks one might have to do.  As one of his many student admirers has said,

It is the University of Tennessee’s great good fortune that after a career that saw him performing to acclaim in venues around the world, Jimmy chose to return to Knoxville and share his gifts with those who appear on UT stages.  When they meet Jimmy, visiting professionals realize immediately they are working with one of the very finest in the business, and graduates who choose a life in the performing arts quickly come to think of him as the standard by which they judge all other musicians, no matter where, no matter who.  He is a treasure beyond value.

This writer knows Jimmy from sharing an office with him over the past ten years, as a colleague working together to meet the needs of the Clarence Brown Theatre patrons, as one who enjoys Jimmy’s dry wit, and as one who values him as a friend.

One last clue about Jimmy: The Lorayne W. Lester Award is not only a great honor, but provides a financial reward.  Jimmy certainly is entitled to enjoy the money, but he chose instead to use it to establish a scholarship for a Theatre student with interests and talent in musical theatre.  If you would like to honor Jimmy with a contribution to his scholarship, please contact Pauline Laffitte at the UT College of Arts and Sciences, 2524 Dunford Hall, Knoxville, TN  37996, or email her at plaffitt@utk.edu.

As much as we’d like to, we can’t please everyone with our stage offerings.

Or maybe we can with this production of A Christmas Carol!

We’re getting rave reviews from all kinds of folks, coming at it from all perspectives.  (We’re selling a lot of tickets, too!)

Knoxville super-blogger Tish of The Kat House writes

As you know, I’m quite the theatre geek. I see plays all the time, and it is rare to find one that I don’t enjoy. But this play was absolutely fantastic - the best one I’ve seen in a very long time!

Though it wasn’t a musical per se, the play was filled with traditional Christmas songs. The set was incredible, and the actors were genius. My eyes welled with tears several times. The standing ovation at the end was well deserved.

And Knoxville News-Sentinel reviewer Doug Mason compared our Holiday performance offering to the usual commercial promises made at this time of the year:

But when University of Tennessee theater department head Cal MacLean stood up in front of a sold-out Clarence Brown Theatre before Friday’s opening-night performance of “A Christmas Carol” and said “This is our Christmas gift to the community,” he wasn’t blowing smoke up anybody’s chimney.

I take it as a gift. And I say thank you, thank you, thank you for it.

Finally, after a lifetime of wanting it, I have been given an outstanding stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas tale. It’s as fine a Christmas present as I could wish for.

There’s more there — read the whole review. 

OK, just one more quote to close:

There are more pleasures than I have space to tell - including a flying ghost! You will not find a better Christmas entertainment this season. So don’t deprive yourself.

Forgive me for telling you that you can obtain tickets by calling the Clarence Brown Theatre Box Office at 865-974-5161 or via the Internet at http://www.knoxvilletickets.com/venues.asp?venueid=34.