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Fall used to be time for hog killin'

What
Dreamgirls

When
October 11, 12, 18, and 19 at 7:30 p.m. and October 12, 13, 19, and 20 at 2:30 p.m.

Where
Bijou Theatre Center; $16-$22 for adults, $8-$12 for children under 18 and students. Call 1-877-868-8710 for tickets.

The Bijou revisits its past and invests in its future

by Paige M. Travis

Like its neighborhood of downtown Knoxville, the Bijou Theatre has seen many changes in its 93 years—some good, some not so good. Right now, the Bijou and its board are trying to pay the theater's sizable debts while focusing on the facility's artistic future. At the helm of that vision is executive director Jim Crabtree. Crabtree, who already runs one of Tennessee's most respected theaters, the Cumberland County Playhouse, now has his hands full.

Crabtree has made some changes with money-making in mind. Several plays on the Bijou stage in the past season have been shared productions with the Playhouse, taking advantage of that theater's stock of seasoned actors and props. Smoke on the Mountain has been a longtime favorite at CCP, and the 2002-2003 season-opener Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat was successful in Crossville years before the Knoxville production wowed local audiences.

Future productions at the Bijou promise to be equally interesting and somewhat different from those appearing on other Knoxville stages. With the upcoming musical productions of Dreamgirls, Cotton Patch Gospel, and Paul Robeson, more African-American actors in roles written for black characters will be featured than in previous years. This multicultural approach is one of Crabtree's visions for creating the Bijou's niche in Knoxville theater and reaching out to various communities.

"The Bijou is an inner-city organization," Crabtree says. "And it seems to me that it is entirely appropriate for an inner-city organization like that to be an organization about which the inner city has a strong sense of ownership." When people care about their neighborhood, they become invested, emotionally and financially. And that kind of investment is the kind of support the Bijou needs right now, he says.

One significant member of Crabtree's team from Crossville is Bijou associate producer Lar'Juanette Williams. "From the outset, Lar'Juanette and I determined that our programming was going to be inclusive. That's why when we started advertising for Joseph, it seemed to us that the spirit of the scriptural basis of Joseph [could inspire us] to find the Bijou's own niche in the community and truly help the Bijou connect to the community...to embrace and encourage and celebrate diversity and multicultural programming."

Williams, who is currently in rehearsals for Dreamgirls, is a vivacious and outgoing actress whose enthusiasm is contagious. She was a cast member in the off-Broadway touring production of Dreamgirls and has performed the role of Effie in more than 500 shows. She played the role of Dolly in the CCP's Hello, Dolly! a while back, plus she appeared on the Bijou stage in Honk!

The Bijou is particularly important to the history of African Americans in Knoxville. The theater's second balcony is the section where black people had to sit during performances. In Heart of the Valley, a History of Knoxville, Tennessee, Dr. George Davis is quoted: "[T]he Bijou was the only Knoxville white theater in the 1930s that admitted black patrons. Blacks were required to purchase their tickets on the Cumberland Street entrance rather than at the main entrance on Gay Street and then proceed up three flights of steps to the second balcony."

Williams, who is African American, has been touched by these historical details. "When I was asked to come as associate producer, I went and sat up there, and I was overcome with emotion, realizing where our people had come from," she says.

The view isn't the greatest, she contends, but the sound is spectacular. She has taken several visiting African-American performers to the balcony, and they have all felt the effect of hallowed ground. Terry Norman, who is also starring in Dreamgirls, visited the balcony with her eight-month-old baby. "She said, 'Gosh, this is where we really had to sit. And now we can sit anywhere,'" Williams says. As part of the continuing renovations of the Bijou, Crabtree and Williams are interested in renovating the balcony and the separate staircase that led to it.

"It's a living artifact important to many African Americans in Knoxville," Crabtree says. "Many people from the African-American community who came to Having Our Say said to me, 'No, I haven't been in this theater in a long time. Last time I was here, I was up there.'"

Both Crabtree and Williams envision the Bijou as just a part of a bigger downtown Knoxville that is growing to become more multiculturally diverse and inclusive. Because it's the hub of government, downtown is a place that brings together every aspect of a community. "If you want to make an impact on all of the cultures, this would be the best place to do it," Williams says.

To solidify the theater's multicultural niche, the staff has focused on outreach to the African-American community. Williams has recruited four new black board members. Quinn Fortune, acting coordinator of marketing and development, has signed on several African-American business owners as sponsors of Dreamgirls, in addition to the Knoxville Black Pages, a sponsor of productions since Having Our Say.

On an even larger scale, Knoxville is just a corner of East Tennessee and a patch in the artistic culture quilt that makes the region vibrant with creativity and talent. Perhaps the drive across the Cumberland Plateau from Crossville to Knoxville has given Jim Crabtree a lot of time to think about his place in the world, his vision for the future. It might need a few tweaks here and there, but he's settled on something pretty grand. �

"Our goal is nothing less than to help build East Tennessee as an employment hub and as a place for professional artists to live and work," Crabtree says. With its collaborations and partnerships with the Bijou, the Tivoli in Chattanooga, the Carpetbag Theatre, and other local theater companies, the Playhouse has created a network that makes our region something of a theater hub that supports and perpetuates the performing arts. He points out that famous performers who came from East Tennessee—Dolly Parton, Roy Acuff, John Cullum and many others—had to go to Nashville or a bigger city to have their talent acknowledged and get their big break.

"Imagine what our community would be like if all aspiring architects had to leave Knoxville to make a living," he asks, hinting that if his vision comes to pass, talented performers of every race could stay right here and help make East Tennessee one of those places talented people go to "make it big."