The Female Box Or Seven Ways to be a Good Woman
7:30 pm Saturday and Sunday, February 25th and 26th, and March 4th and March 5th, 2023
Talkback Sundays
At Dragonfly Aerial Arts (New Location)
509 Dutch Valley Dr. Knoxville, TN
Free Event – Donations Accepted
Please carpool if possible as parking is limited.
Read the Full Article Here: The Torchbearer, by Cassandra Sproles December 14, 2022
Ask Tramell Tillman (’14) what it’s like to be a celebrity and he’ll humbly say that he doesn’t know—he certainly doesn’t feel like one. But after his work on the critically acclaimed Apple TV show Severance and walking the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, it’s hard to deny that Tillman’s time in the spotlight has come—and it’s just getting started.
While Tillman was excited to see celebrities like Oprah Winfrey at the Emmy Awards, he says he was surprised by other celebrities saying they were nervous to approach him in case he was like his Severance character Seth Milchick, whom Tillman describes as “an enthusiastic company man.” More…
“If it weren’t for those generous souls who supported and truly saw me, I am not sure I would be the artist I am today. Over time I learned to open and eventually trust. Trust is vital in the tender work we do. If there’s no trust we suffer, the work suffers.” – TRAMELL TILLMAN
First Take Co. exists to help multi-disciplinary artists explore the emerging facets of their creativity in a professional, supportive environment. We believe there’s joy and learning in all steps of the making process, and invest in artists unafraid to embrace the unknown. This year, three members of our Resident Artists are offering early glimpses into work that they will continue to develop, either with our team or in personal practice. A visceral exploration of music and nostalgia; a nightclub turned social sparring ground; a haunting exploration of Appalachian sounds in a post-electric future. Each performance time offers a snippet of all three pieces! October 22-23 in Knoxville. Tickets available at linktr.ee/firsttakeco
Ethan Graham Roeder (’16), Hannah Jones (’16), Laura Clift (’17), and Grace Belt (’18), UTK theatre department alumni, started a theatre company with artists met on contracts across the country.
Their first full production is happening in Knoxville October 22-23 (homecoming weekend). It’s called PROOF OF CONCEPT, and it features three pieces of theatre-in-development at their earliest realized state.
Grace has begun work on an Appalachian musical; Ethan Roeder’s play explores the death of the Knoxville club scene; and a colleague from Great River Shakespeare is featuring a devised piece centered around nostalgia. The cast is composed almost entirely of UTK Theatre Department alumni and current students. It’s going to be a great time. We’d love to see any and all of you there!
Once the football schedule for the 22 is set, we’ll be adding performances, but if you grab a ticket now you can easily change your performance time. We’re trying to get something of an “Industry night” on Sunday, if we can.
If you have any questions let us know! Hope to see you there!
Join The UT Theatre Department for
Q&A with Tramell Tillman (Mr. Milchick in Severance)
Sept 16, 2022
2:00-3:00
Carousel Theatre
Reception to follow
All theatre faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend.
Tramell Tillman (MFA ’14) has appeared On Broadway in The Great Society (Lincoln Center Theatre). His Off-Broadway credits include Carmen Jones (Classic Stage Company) and Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Red Bull Theater). Regional credits include Sweat (Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Arena Stage); All the Roads Home (Cincinnati Playhouse); Hamlet, The Wiz (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); A Raisin in the Sun and The Tempest (Chautauqua Theatre Company). Clarence Brown credits include Spamalot, The Whipping Man, The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee, Kiss me Kate, and A Christmas Carol. Television credits include Severance (AppleTV+), Dietland (AMC), Godfather of Harlem (EPIX), The Hunt (Amazon), Elementary (CBS), and Difficult People (Hulu).
Ashlee Latimer (’16) won her second Tony Award on Sunday, September 26, for her work co-producing The Inheritance. She won her first Tony in 2018 for co-producing the revival of Once on This Island.
The Inheritance came away with awards for best play, best direction of a play, best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play, and best actress in a featured role in a play during the ceremony covering the 2019–20 season. The awards were delayed due to COVID-19.
In January 2020, the New York Times lauded Latimer’s deft use of Twitter in promoting The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.
“It has been a difficult couple of years with Broadway closed,” said Latimer. “I am humbled to be a part of the producing team for The Inheritance and share in this Tony win.
“It’s a true delight to see the hard work of this entire company recognized, and I’m thrilled for Matthew Lopez, who wrote the play and is the first Latine playwright to win Best Play in Tony Award history.
“As always, I remain grateful for the theatre education and mentorship I received in Knoxville.”
“Ashlee has a creative spirit,” said Professor of Theatre and Interim Department Head Casey Sams, “always putting her seemingly limitless energy into making the world a kinder, more understanding place. We are all incredibly proud of her second Tony win, and we can’t wait for the release of her first children’s book, Francis Discovers Possible, this spring. Congratulations on all your successes, Ashlee!”
Project In Lieu of Thesis by MFA Sound and Digital Media candidate Chandler Oppenheimer.
Lacuna follows one person’s journey from memory loss to realising who they were and the consequences of that realization.
Director, Producer, Story Idea, Editor, VFX, Sound Design, Director of Photography by Chandler Oppenheimer
Written by Artie Kaye
Starring Christine Sage and David Brian Alley
Additional voices by Michael Najman
Web Application Programmer – Jacob Frye
Lighting Design by Helen Garcia-Alton
Prop Prosthetic by DJ Pike
Lacuna: A limited run virtual interactive theatre experience. Be part of the live experience from April 23rd-25th at https://www.twitch.tv/shadowmarionetteproject
Micah-Shane Brewer (MFA, 2014) whose performances are remembered in SPAMALOT, SWEENEY TODD, OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, a Radio Play, and others is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi. Also an accomplished director, who directed A CHRISTMAS CAROL for the CBT, Micah-Shane’s latest production is URINETOWN at Ole Miss. For those who are interested we are proud to share some of the work of our former students and good friends.
“Brother’s Keeper,” a short film written, directed and produced by UT Theatre alumni Owen Squire Smith is now available on You Tube.
Congratulations, Owen! Proud of you!
Greetings specters, spirits, and spooks, and welcome to Mighty Frightening Audio, a collaborative collection of short stories and micro radio plays written, voiced, designed, and produced by Master of Fine Arts in Theatre candidates at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Each audio segment is written and voiced by one of our MFA actors and designed, edited, and produced by one of our MFA sound designers.
Now, turn the lights down, check the locks, and turn up the volume to hear seven spine-tingling tales to leave you affrighted and afeared.
Or listen to the collection on Youtube
Individual Credits
We’re so pleased you tuned in. Now double check those door locks, check under the bed, and good luck getting a good night’s sleep…
In Spring 2020 Mike Moreno, MFA 2010, taught a remote class with the MFA theater department focused on teaching MFA actors about to graduate about the business.
“Hello! Welcome to The Actor CEO. I’m Mike Moreno. I’ve done over 100 interviews with industry pros for one reason. After growing up in Los Angeles, getting a BFA and MFA in acting, and moving to NYC to “hustle till I made it” I knew there had to be something missing. That something is the knowledge and skills that allow actors and artists to embrace their creative entrepreneur spirit and the reality that you both run and own your own business from the moment you choose to be a professional. Our goal is to understand how an acting career is like running your own business, and using the insights we learn to create our own success.”
“As a UT MFA Theater alumni I would love to share the success of The Actor CEO Podcast and ActorCEO.com with the department. The podcast and platform is built to bridge the gap between craft and career for actors coming out of school. With guests like Sean Astin and legendary director John Badham, Actor CEO reaches over 12K actors worldwide and has achieved over 110K downloads.” —Mike Moreno
