2014-2015 Clarence Brown Theatre Season tickets now on sale

KNOXVILLE — All tickets to the 2014/2015 40th Anniversary Clarence Brown Theatre season are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased online at clarencebrowntheatre.com or by phoning or stopping by the Box Office. The Box Office number is (865) 974-5161 and it opens at noon.

“Our 40th Anniversary Season is drawing near – an eclectic season of plays has been hand-selected for the Knoxville community and we look forward to sharing them starting this September. In addition to our loyal family of subscribers, we anxiously await welcoming many others from our community as individual ticket holders this season,” said Managing Director, David B. Byrd.

The 2014-2015 40th Anniversary Season includes:

Hank Williams: Lost Highway
by Randal Myler and Mark Harelick
September 4-28, 2014
Directed by Karen Kessler
Carousel Theatre

“The best example of a musician’s bio put on stage that I’ve seen!” The New York Post

Follow the music legend’s rise from his humble beginnings at the Louisiana Hayride to his triumph at the Grand Ole Opry to his untimely death at the age of 29. With more than 20 of his famous hits including I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry, Move It On Over and Hey, Good Lookin’, you will be humming all the way home.

The corporate sponsor is UT Medical Center with additional funding from The City of Knoxville. Media sponsors are Knoxville News Sentinel, WUTK, and WUOT.

The Miracle Worker
by William Gibson
October 2-19, 2014
Directed by Kate Buckley
Clarence Brown Theatre

“One of the most well-crafted, suspenseful, and poignant plays ever written.” Houston Chronicle
Adapted from the true story of her life, this inspirational drama chronicles Helen Keller’s miraculous journey from her trapped and silent world to one of knowledge and freedom with the help of her beloved and gifted tutor Anne Sullivan.

Corporate sponsors are Schaad Companies, Pilot Flying J, UT Federal Credit Union, and Rotary Club of Knoxville with additional support from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Media sponsors are Knoxville News Sentinel, Comcast, WBIR, B97.5, WUOT and WUTK.

4000 Miles
by Amy Herzog
October 30 – November 16, 2014
Directed by Lise Bruneau

Starring Carol Mayo Jenkins
Carousel Theatre

“A funny, moving, altogether wonderful drama…” The New York Times

After losing his best friend during a cross-country bike tour, Leo lands on his grandmother’s West Village doorstep. Named “Best Play of the Season” by Time Magazine, this Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama explores the funny, frustrating and ultimately life-changing relationship between a grandson learning to face his life and a grandmother who is starting to forget hers.

Corporate sponsors are Pilot Flying J and the Clayton Foundation. Media sponsors are Knoxville News Sentinel, WUOT and WUTK.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
Adapted for the stage by Dennis Elkins
November 26-December 21, 2014
Directed by Micah-Shane Brewer
Clarence Brown Theatre

“Don’t miss this one….it’d be like celebrating the season without a Christmas tree or carols or gifts.” Knoxville News Sentinel

Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghosts return in our long-running and most popular production. Join us for music, dancing and Dickens’ timeless tale of love and redemption.

Corporate sponsors are Schaad Companies, Pilot Flying J, and the UT Medical Center. Media sponsors are Comcast, WBIR, Knoxville News Sentinel, WUOT, B97.5 and WUTK.

“Master Harold”…and the boys
by Athol Fugard
February 5-22, 2015
Directed by Kristine Thatcher
Carousel Theatre

“One of those plays that has lasting relevance and can survive any test of time…” New York Post

A white South African teenager has grown up in the affectionate company of two black waiters employed in his mother’s Port Elizabeth tea room. When he learns his racist, alcoholic father is coming home from the hospital, an ensuing rage unwittingly triggers his inevitable passage into the culture of hatred fostered by apartheid.

This production contains strong language and content and is recommended for high school and up.

Media sponsors are Knoxville News Sentinel, WUOT and WUTK.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
February 19 – March 8, 2015
Directed by John Sipes

“Shakespeare’s most enchanting comedy.” The New York Times

Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius – but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia. When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods and wander into a dispute between the king and queen of the fairies. In Shakespeare’s family-friendly comedy, anything is possible when young lovers – human and fairy royalty – and an amateur theater troupe reel through romance and spell craft in a moonlit Athenian forest.

Corporate sponsors are Schaad Companies, Pilot Flying J, the UT Medical Center, and Stowers Machinery. Media sponsors are WBIR, COMCAST, Knoxville News Sentinel, B97.5, WUOT and WUTK.

A Shayna Maidel
by Barbara Lebow
March 26 - April 12, 2015
Directed by Terry Silver-Alford
Lab Theatre

“…a tribute to the sustaining power of family and to man’s indomitability.” The New York Times

A powerful and deeply affecting portrait of a family in the aftermath of the Holocaust: two sisters, one a survivor of Nazi concentration camps, the other brought up as an American, meet in 1946 after a separation of almost 20 years.

Media sponsors are WUOT and WUTK.

The Threepenny Opera
Book and Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht
Music by Kurt Weill
April 16 – May 3, 2015
Directed by Calvin MacLean
Clarence Brown Theatre

“The greatest musical of all time.” Newsweek

With a haunting jazz score and biting lyrics, the “haves” clash with the “have-nots” in Brecht’s sharp critique of Capitalism. This brilliant masterpiece of epic theater originated the popular songs The Ballad of Mack the Knife, Solomon Song, and Pirate Jenny.

The corporate sponsor is Schaad Companies. Media sponsors are WBIR, COMCAST, B97.5, Knoxville News Sentinel, WUOT, and WUTK.

With a dual mission to train the next generation of theatre artists and to provide top quality professional theatre, the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee Knoxville is one of only 12 academic LORT (League of Resident Theatre) institutions in the nation. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Calvin MacLean and Managing Director David B. Byrd, the CBT season runs from September through May and features eight productions ranging from musicals to drama.

Stay connected to the Clarence Brown Theatre on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Clarence-Brown-Theatre, follow on Twitter at twitter.com/ClarenceBrown and view Clarence Brown videos on YouTube (Clarence Bro).

Published August 12, 2014