Christmas Theatre:
Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre will host The Best Christmas
Pageant Ever tonight through Dec. 17. A Bijou Theatre tradition,
this comedy is the story of a woman and her husband who put on their town’s
annual Christmas pageant, despite having to cast the Herdman kids, the
meanest kids in the world. Public performances will be tonight at 7:30
p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. This schedule repeats next
weekend, Dec. 9-11. Admission is $4 for kids and $6 for adults.
The Trouble With Christmas, an original comedy by Knoxville
playwright Mark Hatmaker, is currently showing at the West Side Dinner
Theatre. The play takes place during the office Christmas party at
Sanders Greeting Cards, where employee Leo is having a bad holiday. His
fiance just left him, a rabid Chia pet is loose in his office and he’s been
invited to dinner with his bizarre boss. The cast includes UT students Todd
Moss, Stephanie Stone and Jeff Vincent. The bar opens at 6:30 p.m. , the
buffet starts at 6:45 p.m. and the play begins at 8:15 p.m. “Liberal”
discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Reservations are required
and can be made by calling 966-8768.
University Music:
The UT Music Department’s annual Christmas Concert will
be Saturday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 4, at 3 p.m. at the Bearden
High School Auditorium. This year’s special guest will be Rick Benjamin of
WATE-TV 6, who will narrate the story “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa
Claus.” The part of Virginia will be played by Katie Fillingim. The concert
features the UT Concert Choir, the Women’s Chorale, the UT Singers, the UT
Civic Orchestra, UT jazz groups and the Suzuki Strings. Tenor George Bitzas
will solo. Admission is $6 for adults and $3.50 for kids and senior
citizens.
The annual UT Jazz Christmas Concert will be Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7
p.m. in the UT Music Hall. The concert is a benefit for the Toys for
Tots campaign, a national U.S. Marines program designed to provide
Christmas presents for needy children by collecting new toy donations.
Admission price to the concert is a new and unwrapped toy, which will be a
gift for a less fortunate child on Christmas morning.
Opera:
This weekend offers local musicians the chance to appear in UT’s
original rock opera Dracula, Prince of the Dark. Auditions
are Saturday and Sunday in the UT Music Building Auditorium. To make an
audition appointment, call Thomas Cervone at 974-0964.
Also, the UT Opera Company will present The Postman Always Rings
Twice this weekend at the Clarence Brown Theatre. Showtimes are
tonight and Monday at 8 p.m.
Jubilee Community Arts:
This Saturday, Dec. 3, at 8 p.m., JCA presents guitarist Steve Kaufman
at the Laurel Theatre. Kaufman is the only three-time winner of the
National Flatpicking Championships. Tickets for the show are $6 for JCA
members and students, $7 for the general public in advance, $8 on the day
of the show, and $3 for kids.
JCA will once again host the annual Old English Christmas Fete on
Saturday, Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 11, at 4:30 p.m. The event
will be held at the Laurel Theatre. Old English-style dancing and the
Knoxville Early Music Project will be featured. Advanced tickets are
recommended, since seating is very limited for this production. Ticket
prices are $7 for JCA members and students, $9 in advance for the general
public and $10 on the day of show.
Tickets for Jubilee Community Arts presentations can be purchased at Cat’s
CDs, Lynn’s Disc and Dat, The Printer’s Mark Bookshop and the UT Central
Ticket Office.
Ballet:
The City Ballet, Knoxville’s only professional ballet company, will
present the Nutcracker on Dec. 9-11 at the Civic Auditorium. The
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will play the Tchaikovsky score in
accompaniment to the ballet.
On the Club Scene:
The Mercury Theatre hosts Mule tonight at 10 p.m. This
acclaimed group hails from Detroit, Michigan. The concert is sure to be a
good one. Admission is $5.
Acoustic duo Amelia Earhart Returns appear at Manhattan’s
tonight at 10 p.m. Admission is $5.
Slaphappy will perform at Gryphon’s tonight at 10 p.m.
There’s no word on whether or not this band has anything to do with
Nashville psychodelic group Lovebucket and Slaphappy Superfly. Admission is
$5.
At Flamingo’s tonight, Kings of the Killer Fish will perform.
The show is at 10 p.m. and admission is $5.
Saturday, Dec. 10, at Flamingo’s, guitar virtuoso Derek
Trucks will perform. This teenager has received accolades from
guitarists three times his age.
Saturday, Dec. 10, the Electric Ballroom presents Rock for
Tots. Performers will include the Jazz Liberation Quartet,
Superdrag, Immortal Chorus, Hypertribe, Sandbox
and Terry Hill. The U.S. Marines will be there to take donations of
$5 or a new, unwrapped toy. This all ages concert will start at 7 p.m.
