The Tennessee’s spectacular reopening

The Tennessee Theatre has recaptured its past grandeur, with a lot of help from a lot of Knoxvillians, and it’s about to reopen to a level of fanfare unprecedented for a single institution here.

Descriptions of the renovated theater are rife with superlative rhetoric: magnificent; lavish; marvelous; opulent; resplendent; a gem; a jewel...the grand entertainment palace it was when it opened in 1928 is a classic of its kind.

The Tenneessee’s Spanish-Moorish interior style is regarnished with attention to retention or duplication of its French chandeliers, Bohemian crystal highlights, Italian terrazzo flooring and Oriental-influenced draperies, plus its mighty Wurlitzer organ, ready to herald the entry of its first patrons since the $30 million restoration was begun two years ago.

Architects McCarty Holsaple McCarty of Knoxville worked with historic theater specialists Westlake Reed Leskosky and other consultants to get the detail down just right. Denark Construction took on the general contracting for the project. And all the work, now winding down, has paid off. Now the State Theater of Tennessee, by act of the General Assembly, the Tennessee is all of those adjectives above, and more.

News Sentinel Publisher Bruce Hartmann ably and vigorously led the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation in the fund drive that made the restoration and expansion of the backstage area possible.

Next month, under the management of Knoxville’s AC Entertainment, the playbill for 2005 will unfold. And it’s a fittingly spectacular one, woven around the scheduled performances of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Opera Company and the Appalachian Ballet. AC’s 2005 subscription series opens with Jan. 20 and 21 concerts by multi-Grammy winner Alison Krauss, the Miss Americana of the current music scene nationally. Krauss & Union Station, her band, headline the Acoustic Sessions portion of the 2005 program, which also includes Classic Jazz, Cultural Celebrations, and Southern Routes segments.

Second up is a Jan. 22 performance by folk rocker Steve Earle & The Dukes, followed on Jan. 30 by Jazz piano legend Dave Brubeck. Dance-illusionists MOMIX kicks off Cultural Celebrations Feb. 7, and Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen’s show is Feb. 11.

Mali to Memphis is the title of a Southern Routes blues extravaganza on Feb. 12, with Habib Koite and Bamada, Corey Harris and Guy Davis featured. Paco Pena’s Flamenco Dance Ensemble performs Feb. 20, followed on Feb. 23 by Jason Petty’s Hank and My Honky Tonk Heroes show. Feb. 24 is set aside for an evening with the incomparable song writers Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, John Hiatt and Guy Clark.

DJ Spooky brings his Rebirth of a Nation racial statement to the Tennessee on Feb. 25, and the Del McCoury Band turns the Tennessee stage into an acoustic showcase Feb. 26.

Buddy Guy’s classic Chicago electric blues comes to the Tennessee March 9, and Wynton Marsalis’ contemporary jazz horn blows in on March 12. On March 19, it’s Earle Scruggs, the three-finger banjo picking original, and his Friends.

More jazz, with Trios, plays April 11, followed by comic, author and NPR commentator David Sedaris on April 12. Tommy Emmanuel, the Australian guitarist and friend of the late Chet Atkins, comes to the Tennessee on April 16, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a New Orleans institution, plays April 23. Marian McPartland’s special brand of jazz piano wraps up the currently scheduled bill on May 20. But there’s lots more to come, rest assured, along with classic film showings and other inventive uses of the theater that has been resurrected so well. To him, says Ashley Capps the AC Entertainment man for all seasons, the Tennessee has been transformed into “a true world-class performing arts venue.

“We’re very pleased with the shows that we’ve been able to program at the Tennessee Theatre during its opening season, Capps says. “I think it stands as some of the highest quality and most ambitious offerings of any Fine Arts Center in the country. It’s almost unprecedented for a market of this size. But I believe that Knoxville and the East Tennessee region has a whole can and wants to support it. Certainly, the initial response indicates that people are very excited about the opportunity to see these shows.

“The Tennessee occupies such a special place in the memories of so many people in our community, and now, there’s a new opportunity for a whole new generation of people to experience some very special moments of their own [there].

“Based on what I’m seeing, Downtown Knoxville is experiencing a true renaissance. It’s been wonderful to see all of the new businesses opening and increasing numbers of people visiting and just hanging out downtown. There’s been a tremendous momentum developing and I think the reopening of the Tennessee Theatre will be a major new catalyst in downtown activity. It’ s both a link to the past and a road to the future for our community, and it’s very humbling and exciting to be part of it.”

Indeed. It’s exciting just being around it. Next, the Bijou....

December 9, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 50 © 2004 Metro Pulse