http://metropulse.com/news/ae-reviews/theater/?partner=RSSMetroPulse Stories: Theateren-usae-reviews/theater/news/ae-reviews/theater/?partner=RSShttp://metropulse.com/feeds/headlines/ae-reviews/theater/2008-11-21T15:14:30.071580Copyright MetroPulse, 2008http://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/12/dancing-about-architecture/?partner=RSSbarrettc@metropulse.com (Chris Barrett)Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/12/dancing-about-architecture/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater139732008-11-12T17:00:002008-11-12T17:00:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008One of the lessons to be learned from the example of Pilobolus, the esteemed Connecticut-based dance company, might be to think long and hard about the possible consequences of your youthful larks and distractions. Four decades later you might find yourself addressing the board of directors that has assembled to help you manage what has become an international force, within a discipline you’d never thought much about as a young man. Knoxville, TNChris BarrettDancing About ArchitectureMetroPulsedancing-about-architecturehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/05/heaven-stage/?partner=RSS ]]>Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:00:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/nov/05/heaven-stage/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater139382008-11-05T17:00:002008-11-05T17:00:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008I often fantasize about a Knoxville in which theater and football have switched places. Leading up to game days we would see Phillip Fulmer—or whoever the head coach will be—frantically pleading with small businesses for a few dollars in sponsorship, enough perhaps to buy a quarter-page advertisement in the local paper so people know the game is happening. A handful of forlorn fans, ignoring taunts that sports aren’t for “real men,” try in vain to explain that there’s more to football than just watching a bunch of clumsy zealots squabble over a prolate spheroidKnoxville, TNHeaven on StageMetroPulseheaven-stagehttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/sep/10/dramatic-misbehavior/?partner=RSSAin’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show. The final word in the subtitle was presumably inserted by the lawyers, since while the production is certainly a show—and unquestionably musical—it is in no sense a musical, lacking as it does plot, drama and, in all but the very broadest sense, characterization. ]]>Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:00:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/sep/10/dramatic-misbehavior/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater137002008-09-10T17:00:002008-09-10T17:00:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008The Clarence Brown Theatre opens its new season with an odd choice, <em>Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show</em>. The final word in the subtitle was presumably inserted by the lawyers, since while the production is certainly a show—and unquestionably musical—it is in no sense a musical, lacking as it does plot, drama and, in all but the very broadest sense, characterization.Knoxville, TNDramatic MisbehaviorMetroPulsedramatic-misbehaviorhttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/jul/23/thin-air/?partner=RSSWed, 23 Jul 2008 21:00:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/jul/23/thin-air/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater135412008-07-23T17:00:002008-07-23T17:00:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008Shakespeare on the Square dares to bring the Bard’s English into the humid arena of Market Square. Stratford-upon-Avon’s own Kieron Barry is there to catch all the action.Knoxville, TNInto Thin AirMetroPulsethin-airhttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/may/14/theater-cruelty/?partner=RSSWed, 14 May 2008 21:00:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/may/14/theater-cruelty/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater132822008-05-14T17:00:002008-05-14T17:00:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008I have a recurring fear when at the cinema. On screen, the hero gives his “hoo-hah” turnaround speech in Act Three and the assembled athletes, factory workers, or grateful villagers that have thronged about him break into a riot of applause. At this point I discover that I, too, having momentarily forgotten my status, am on my feet, loudly joining the euphoria in an otherwise motionless auditorium. To complete the torture I must then make my choice between hacking through the confusion of knees around me in a bid for the aisle, or sitting back down under the icy deluge of contempt.Knoxville, TNTheater of CrueltyMetroPulsetheater-crueltyhttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/apr/16/neon-lights-are-bright/?partner=RSSTheater: After seeing Philip Seymour Hoffmann’s stunning off-Broadway production of The Little Flower of East Orange last week, I thought it a safe bet I wouldn’t emerge so exhilarated from a theater for some time. But in Guys & Dolls, of course, safe bets generally prove no such thing. In Terry Silver-Alford’s production of the classic gamblers’ fable, now playing at the Clarence Brown, we have an immensely lovable rendition of one of the greatest American theatrical works of the 20th century, and it provides as joyful an evening as one could hope for. ]]>Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:00:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/apr/16/neon-lights-are-bright/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater131802008-04-16T18:00:002008-04-16T18:00:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008<strong>Theater: </strong>After seeing Philip Seymour Hoffmann’s stunning off-Broadway production of <em>The Little Flower of East Orange</em> last week, I thought it a safe bet I wouldn’t emerge so exhilarated from a theater for some time. But in <em>Guys & Dolls</em>, of course, safe bets generally prove no such thing. In Terry Silver-Alford’s production of the classic gamblers’ fable, now playing at the Clarence Brown, we have an immensely lovable rendition of one of the greatest American theatrical works of the 20th century, and it provides as joyful an evening as one could hope for. Knoxville, TNThe Neon Lights Are BrightMetroPulseneon-lights-are-brighthttp://metropulse.com/news/2008/mar/06/frilly-underthings/?partner=RSSIntimate Apparel is set in the America of the early 1900s, a world in which if you can’t be male you’d better be white, and if you can’t be white you’d better be attractive. Probing this obnoxious pecking order, Andrea J. Dymond’s assured, fluid production provides all the elements of a worthy drama except, by and large, drama itself. ]]>Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:29:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2008/mar/06/frilly-underthings/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater131192008-03-06T18:29:002008-03-06T18:29:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008Lynne Nottage’s <em>Intimate Apparel</em> is set in the America of the early 1900s, a world in which if you can’t be male you’d better be white, and if you can’t be white you’d better be attractive. Probing this obnoxious pecking order, Andrea J. Dymond’s assured, fluid production provides all the elements of a worthy drama except, by and large, drama itself.Knoxville, TNFrilly UnderthingsMetroPulsefrilly-underthingshttp://metropulse.com/news/2007/dec/06/god-bless-us/?partner=RSSThu, 06 Dec 2007 20:48:00 -0000http://metropulse.com/news/2007/dec/06/god-bless-us/?partner=RSSae-reviews/theater139712007-12-06T15:48:002007-12-06T15:48:00Copyright MetroPulse, 2008The Clarence Brown Theatre is the most sturdy of cultural lifelines thrown to us poor wretches clinging to the artistic driftwood of East Tennessee. Simply by existing it compensates for the aesthetic death of a thousand cuts that is a journey down Kingston Pike, and when in good health it provides sufficient spiritual antioxidants to fight both the toxins of the multiplex and the malignancy of college football.Knoxville, TNGod Bless UsMetroPulsegod-bless-us