Student Excellence at Industry Conferences

June 14, 2023

The Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) is a nonprofit theatre membership organization with a full spectrum of services for members and organizations across 10 states in the southeast region of the United States and beyond. Every year, students from the theatre department attend the conference to participate in — and sometimes present — workshops, interview at the largest theatre job fair in the country, and submit their projects in the design competition.

Winners from this year’s SETC Conference Competition were: 

Sound Design

• 3rd place – Amoirie Perteet, Blood at the Root
• 2nd place – Allison Bucher, Men on Boats

Projection Design

• 2nd place – DJ Pike, She Kills Monsters

Graduate Scenic Design

• 2nd place DJ Pike, Murder on the Orient Express
• 1st place Sophie Smrcka, Men on Boats

Graduate Lighting Design

• 2nd place- Joshua Mullady, Trouble in Mind

Graduate Costume Design

• Honorable Mention- MJ Hromek, Murder on the Orient Express
• 3rd place- Alex Heder, Adaptive Radiation
• 2nd place- Kaelyn Williams, Men on Boats

Founded in 1960 to promote dialogue, research, and learning among practitioners of theatre design and technology, the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) is the leader in life-long learning opportunities for the entertainment design and technology industry. It connects performing arts design and technology communities to ensure a vibrant dialog among practitioners, educators, and students.

At the annual conference, students who are in the last year of their training or have graduated from a program in the last year, are given the opportunity to submit for a Young Designers, Managers, and Technician Award. Each design area offers a nationally recognized sponsored award. Students separately submit to participate in the juried Emerging Creatives Showcase. Students and professionals alike can enter the Design Expo for a chance to be one of ten designs to be featured in the TD&T Summer Issue.

This year’s winners of USITT competitions were:  

Zelma H. Weisfeld Costume Design and Technology Award: MJ Hromek

Emerging Creatives Showcase: DJ Pike & Kaylin Gess

Design Expo selections to be featured in TD&T Summer Issue: Joshua Mullady, DJ Pike & MJ Hromek

Schellinger Selected for Prestigious Prague Quadrennial

June 14, 2023

Kyle Schellinger, the staff cutter/draper at the Clarence Brown Theatre, has been selected to show his half-scale period costumes at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design in Prague, Czech Republic, June 8–18, 2023.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and realized by the Arts and Theatre Institute, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is the largest international festival event dedicated to scenography, performance design, and theatre architecture. Since 1967, the Prague Quadrennial has been an exchange, networking and educational platform exploring the best works in scenography and design for performance.

“Being chosen to showcase your work at the Prague Quadrennial is an immense honor for Kyle. His work is quite stunning and will be showcased alongside work from all over the world at the preeminent international exhibition of live performance design work,” said Kenneth Martin, theatre department head and CBT artistic director. “Kyle is a great example of the caliber of artists and artisans that work at the Clarence Brown Theatre and train the students of UT theatre.”

A total of 23 artists from 16 countries were chosen to participate in the curated exhibition, three of them from the United States.  The selections for the Fragments II exhibit were chosen by Tony award nominated designer Klára Zieglerová.

“When I began working in half-scale during the pandemic, I had no idea it would lead to the honor of my work’s inclusion at the Prague Quadrennial,” Schellinger said. “Showcasing my work alongside that of amazing artists from around the world is such a thrill. I am so excited to highlight the already exemplary names of the Clarence Brown Theatre and the UT Department of Theater at such a distinguished exhibit.”

Schellinger’s work will feature six period costumes in half-scale, ranging from the 1400s to the 1800s, all of which stand at approximately 30” in height, including period appropriate undergarments and hand-crafted miniature jewelry. The half-scale dress form, usually a tool used by costume designers to study the technical aspects of complex garments, is used in his work to trick the eye and to show the intricacies of the history of Western costume. 

With a dual mission to train the next generation of theatre artists and to provide top quality theatre, the Clarence Brown Theatre is a professional theater in residence at the University of Tennessee. Under the leadership of CBT Producing Artistic Director and Department of Theatre Head Kenneth Martin, and Managing Director Tom Cervone, the CBT season runs from August through May and features six productions ranging from musicals to drama.  

For more information or tickets, call the CBT Box Office at (865) 974-5161 or visit us online at clarencebrowntheatre.com. Stay connected to the Clarence Brown Theatre on Facebook (Clarence Brown Theatre), follow us on Twitter (@ClarenceBrown) and view Clarence Brown videos on YouTube (Clarence Bro).

Walters Renovations Completed

June 14, 2023

We are thrilled to share with the world our newly renovated spaces in the Walters Academic Building. We now occupy 12 rooms on the third floor, which is the main level off of the pedestrian bridge, and eight rooms, including some faculty offices, on the fourth floor. The renovated spaces house the entire graduate design program and most of the undergraduate program in one location, which has been monumental for us. 

The Walters renovations happened in two phases. Phase I was completed just before the pandemic in late 2019. The second phase was completed in fall 2022, which we moved into right before classes started this past fall. We continued to outfit all the spaces with equipment throughout the semester. By spring 2023, we gained an acting classroom, lined with black curtains and a fitness room floor, with an adjoining props storage room with rehearsal furniture and stacks of chairs for scene presentation audiences. We also gained a smaller acting coaching room, for scene study. This room contains backdrops and a lighting system for audition self-taping and acting for camera training. 

We were able to complete the graduate workspaces and studios by adding space for the sound and media design students, which included a recording studio and an office. The completion of the Walters renovations finally allowed us to move out of water damaged spaces in the basement of the Alumni Memorial Building. These spaces included our computer lab and our lighting, sound, and projections Media Lab, which are now in full swing supporting most of our undergraduate design and technology courses. 

Last, but certainly not least, we were able to give our undergraduate students a commons area where they could hang out between classes, use a microwave to heat up their lunches, do a little homework, and post signs for upcoming student projects and presentations. 

Watch videos and learn more about our facilities

Department Graduation Celebration

April 28, 2023

Graduation Awards for the undergraduate students who are graduating this Spring, Summer, or Fall.

Wednesday, May 10, 4-6pm CBT Lobby

Hiring: Student Actors for the Law School

March 9, 2023

Calling all future Lawyers, Actors, and Public Speakers.

As a student actor, you are given a small character case packet. You will attend law classes and answer questions the students ask for their grade. You are asked some intake/interview questions. This is very easy and you can use notes! An amazing opportunity to gain public speaking skills and meet UT Law faculty. This is a paid opportunity.

Application Link

ACT Musical Theatre Review

February 22, 2023

All Campus Theatre Presents: 

Musical Theatre Review

Saturday, March 4 at 8pm, Cox Auditorium, Alumni Memorial Building

A night of Time Warp, Jet Set, and More!

Department Meeting 1/27/23 2pm

January 19, 2023

A Welcome and Information Event

WHO: All Theatre Students, Faculty and Staff theatre majors, minors, and friends are welcome!

WHEN: Friday, January 27 from 2pm until 3:30pm

WHERE: Carousel Theatre

Join us to hear important information about theatre scholarships, special classes, new faculty, the plan for the new Carousel Theatre, and the 23-24 Clarence Brown Season. There will be Q&A time too, so bring your questions. And pick up your department T-shirt!

Clarence Brown Theatre to Receive $15,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

January 10, 2023

Knoxville, TN The Clarence Brown Theatre is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grants for Arts Projects award of $15,000. This grant will support the hiring of guest artists for the Clarence Brown Theatre’s production of “Trouble in Mind.” This grant is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects such as this one with the Clarence Brown Theatre strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”

The Clarence Brown Theatre strives to build and nurture a culture where inclusiveness is a reflex, not an initiative.

“We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives, and stories create a stronger and more creative environment, inspire us to change, teach new ideas, help us to be engaged, feel included and valued. Being able to tell the story of “Trouble in Mind” helps us to include voices not heard enough. Voices that need to be heard,” said Kenneth Martin, Clarence Brown Theatre Artistic Director and UT Theatre Department Head.

“Trouble in Mind,” a comedy-drama written in 1955, was planned for Broadway but canceled when Childress wouldn’t tone down its message. The play was finally produced in 2021 and received four Tony nominations. It will run on the CBT mainstage February 8 – 26, 2023.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

With a dual mission to train the next generation of theatre artists and to provide top quality theatre, the Clarence Brown Theatre is a professional theater in residence at the University of Tennessee. Under the leadership of CBT Producing Artistic Director and UT Theatre Department Head, Kenneth J. Martin, and Managing Director, Thomas Cervone, the CBT season runs from August through May and features six productions ranging from musicals to drama.