Commissioned and first produced by Asolo Repertory Theatre,
Michael Donald Edwards, Producing Artistic Director,
Linda M. DiGabriele, Managing Director.
THE ARTISTS
Associate Director and Choreographer – Trina Mills ♦
Orchestrations Bruce Coughlin
Music Supervisor – Caleb Hoyer
Music Director – Ming Aldrich-Gan
Associate Music Supervisor – Terry D. Alford
Scenic & Costume Designer – Robert Perdziola ‡
Lighting Designer – Kenton Yeager ‡
Sound Designer – Joe Payne ‡
Casting Director – Stephanie Klapper
Dialect Director – Karen A. Sabo
Stage Manager – Patrick Lanczki *
Assistant Stage Manager – Nia Sciarretta *
Artistic Director, Department Head – Kenneth Martin
Managing Director – Tom Cervone
Production Manager – Susan L. McMillan
The production of Knoxville is made possible
by a generous grant from:
♦ The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
‡ Represented by United Scenic Artists, local USA-829 of the IATSE.
* Members of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Advisories:
This production contains sudden loud noises, low lying fog, and haze.
FRANK GALATI (Author) was born in Highland Park, Illinois in 1943. His adaptation of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath began at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and went on to Broadway, where it won Best Play and Best Direction Tony Awards in 1990, and is currently playing, to critical acclaim, at the National Theatre in London. He was also nominated for another Tony, for his direction of the original production of Ragtime in 1998. As Associate Director of the Goodman Theatre, he directed The Winter’s Tale and wrote and directed She Always Said, Pablo, text adapted from Gertrude Stein and images of Picasso, which went on to a successful run at the Kennedy Center. He was Artistic Associate at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, where he adapted and directed the musical Knoxville, from James Agee’s novel A Death in the Family. He directed at the Metropolitan Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for The Accidental Tourist in 1988. Galati was Professor of Performance Studies at Northwestern University for over 25 years. Before his passing last year, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
LYNN AHRENS and STEPHEN FLAHERTY have been creating musicals together since 1983. For the Broadway premiere of Ragtime (directed by Frank Galati), they won the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. They are four-time Grammy nominees and received nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film, Anastasia, which they also adapted for Broadway. Their many mutual theatre credits on and off Broadway include Once On This Island (2018 Tony Award, Best Revival of a Musical); Seussical (one of the most produced shows in America); Rocky; My Favorite Year; Chita Rivera-The Dancer’s Life; A Man of No Importance (Outer Critics Circle Award, Best Musical); Dessa Rose; The Glorious Ones; Lucky Stiff and Little Dancer. They’re delighted that their latest show, Knoxville, is being presented right here in the city where the story is set, and would like to thank the cast and everyone at the Clarence Brown Theatre. Ahrens and Flaherty serve on Council for the Dramatists Guild of America, where they co-founded the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers. In 2014 they were awarded the Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. www.ahrensandflaherty.com.
On November 27th, 1909, just one mile away from this very theater, James Rufus Agee was born in his childhood home at Highland Avenue and 15th Street, presently renamed James Agee Street. His father, Hugh James Agee, came from a family of southern Appalachian yeomen and lived most of his life in Knoxville, while his mother, Laura Whitman Tyler, hailed from an educated family originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan. They married in 1906 and, after James, had one other child, a daughter named Emma Ferrand Agee.
When James was only six years old, his father suddenly died in an automobile accident. This event not only changed James as a person, but the trajectory of his entire life, and culminated in the writing of one of the most acclaimed English novels of the twentieth century, A Death in the Family.
After his father’s death, Agee went through rigorous schooling. He first attended St. Andrews School near Sewanee, Tennessee, where he met a lifelong mentor and friend in Father James Harold Flye. Flye and Agee exchanged letters for the duration of Agee’s life, with Flye filling a paternal role that Agee was missing. After a brief attendance at Knoxville High School in 1924, Agee traveled with Flye in Europe for one year before landing at Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he discovered his passion for literature and writing and published many short stories, plays, and poems in the school’s newspaper, for which he eventually served as editor – a trend that was continued in college, where he served as editor-in-chief of The Advocate at Harvard University.
Upon graduating, Agee lived in New York and wrote for many major magazines. He worked as a reporter for Fortune and made a career in writing book reviews for Time, at some points reading and reviewing up to six books a week. Most notable, however, was his pioneering work in the field of film criticism, which he began writing for in Time before taking a position as film critic for The Nation. This led him to lend his creative talents to Hollywood, contributing to the writing of several successful screenplays, such as 1951’s The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, and 1955’s The Night of the Hunter, an adaptation of David Grubb’s bestselling novel, starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish.
Outside of his work in film, Agee did not receive much commercial recognition for his creative writing projects. His talent was apparent to those who had access to his work, as evidenced by his winning the Yale Younger Poets award in 1934 for his only published poetry collection, Permit Me Voyage, but his debut novel sold a meager 600 copies in its original publication before being discontinued. Beginning as a scrapped project for Fortune, the novel was titled Let Us Now Praise Famous Men and was first published in 1941. It details a novelized account of sharecropper families living in Alabama during the Great Depression. Agee traveled to Alabama with photographer Walker Evans, who documented the families Agee wrote about in a series of pictures. Though it has since received critical acclaim in modern republications after Agee’s death, its original failure discouraged him, and he abstained from publishing many of his fiction works in the years following.
Though he did not revisit Knoxville much in his later life, the impact his birthplace had on Agee is prevalent in many of his writings. He became distanced from Christianity with age, but much of his work reveals a deep understanding and compassion for the role that faith played in the lives of his family and upbringing. He had an ongoing battle with his mental health throughout his adult life and fell in and out of alcoholism. Despite this, he touched the lives of many. Over the course of three marriages, he had four children and forged friendships with fellow writers and creatives that lasted until the end of his life.
At the age of 45, having fallen into ill health after suffering a heart attack, James Agee died in a taxicab in New York City, on his way to a doctor’s appointment. The date was May 16th, 1955, only two days before the 39th anniversary of his father’s passing.
Written by Brady Craddock
What inspired you to go into theatre?
LA: I’ve been a copywriter, a jingle writer, a television writer. But when I joined a New York musical theater workshop and began to write for story and character, I fell madly in love with this particular form. I met Stephen Flaherty in that workshop, and forty-some years later, here we are!
SF: I fell in love with the theater at age twelve when I saw a road company of the musical “Godspell” that came through my hometown of Pittsburgh. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be part of telling stories through music and wrote my first musical soon thereafter.
What is your favorite part of your job?
LA: I love the actual process of writing, of pushing words and music around like pieces of a musical jigsaw puzzle until they form a perfect story. And I love collaborating with inspired theater folk!
SF: Dreaming up musical worlds and bringing them into being with my partner Lynn and
my collaborators.
You have been a part of many incredible productions. What makes the production of “Knoxville” unique?
LA: The fact that we’re doing a show called “Knoxville” in the city of Knoxville, based on a novel by a Knoxville native and funded by the Roy Cockrum Foundation right here in Knoxville. As a line from the show goes: “If there are any such thing as miracles, then that is surely miraculous.”
SF: This is the first time we’ve worked on a musical in the location where the musical is actually set. It’s all rather meta.
What is your creative process like?
LA: Finding a story that grabs me by the heart is always the beginning. Then it becomes about bouncing ideas back and forth until the shape and tone of the story begin to reveal themselves.
SF: It differs with each piece. The source material and its content always define the process. For me, it always has to do with finding my way into the world musically. I feel like a detective, always looking for musical clues.
How has your experience been while working on this production in Knoxville and at CBT?
LA: There’s been a lot of laughter and kindness in the rehearsal room. We’ve been implementing a few trims and changes, and from stage management to cast to our incredible director Josh Rhodes, it has been a joy.
SF: At its heart, “Knoxville” is about community. And the community at CBT has been so warm and welcoming. We hope we’ve all done the city of Knoxville, James Agee and Frank Galati proud with this production.
What do you hope the audience will take away from the experience?
LA: I hope they’ll hold their loved ones tight and realize that every moment and detail of our lives matter, and that “home” is the unique story we each have to tell.
SF: That family is precious. And that beautiful things can be made from struggle and adversity.
What do you hope for in the future?
LA: More philanthropists like Roy Cockrum, more visionaries like Frank Galati and James Agee, more theaters committed to great work like the Clarence Brown, and more theater that can change the world.
SF: Unity and shared purpose as our we and our country move forward. And more theater that nourishes us.
James Agee’s novel, A Death In The Family has been successfully adapted to plays, films, even operas. What is more dramatic than the meditation on death? Will any of us miss its stings and devastation? It is no shock that Agee’s work resonates with artists from so many different disciplines who wish to reach into the prose and usher in a new way to hear it, experience it. But why a musical? The obvious answer is that the pages of the novel practically sing. You don’t read this novel, it sings to you. Agee seems to have generously laid his thoughts on a blanket of music. It’s not hard to imagine a violin vibrating along with Agee’s opening words, “We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child.” No wonder artists flock to this great work.As we raise the curtain on this extraordinary work, I am reminded of the unique power of collaboration in the world of theater. This show began in the mind of Frank Galati, a giant in our art form, and travelled to the desks of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Together, they and the amazing artists at the Asolo Repertory Theatre breathed life into this work for the first time and allowed it to sing.
Tonight, you will see another group of artists – some from the original production, some new – take the work that has already begun to find its voice and, with this new production, explore, refine and deepen that voice. In revisiting this show, we have had the privilege of delving deeper into the characters, the themes, and the world they inhabit. We have asked new questions, explored new possibilities, and found new meaning in places we hadn’t seen before. This process has been a collaborative journey, with our creative team and cast bringing fresh energy and perspectives that have breathed a different life into the material.
Frank Galati’s book brings a depth of vision that is both intimate and grand, capturing the story in a way that is unique. Lynn Ahrens’ lyrical genius breathes life into this world with words that resonate deeply, echoing the hopes, dreams, and struggles of the characters with poignant beauty. And Stephen Flaherty’s music — soaring, haunting, joyous—binds it all together, creating a score that will linger in your heart long after the final note has been played.
This musical is not just a performance; it is a journey, an exploration of the human spirit, and a celebration of the resilience that often defines us. This production is a testament to the power of storytelling and the impact of art on our lives. It invites us to see the world through new eyes, to feel with new hearts, and to understand with new minds. It is an honor to share this journey with you, and to present a work that speaks so profoundly to the human experience.
As we embark on this adventure together, I invite you to open yourselves to the magic of the theater, to the emotions that these characters will stir within you, and to the timeless themes that this musical so beautifully illuminates. This is not just a new musical — it is a living, breathing work of art that will inspire and move us all.
Thank you for being here with us, for supporting the arts, and for being a part of this incredible moment. Welcome to the show.
Amanda Parker – Cello Alternate
Knoxville – Author, Company
Father to Son – Jay
Ralph’s Here – Ralph, Jay
Outside Your Window – Author, Jay, Men
Ordinary Goodbye – Mary
Life is in a Store – Aunt Hannah, Rufus, Author, Company
The Ferryman – Ferryman, Jay
The Lunchroom of the Night – Author, Ferryman, Jay, Company
Walking in Darkness – Author, Jay, Mary, Ferryman, Company
That’s What I Believe Jay
A Cotter Pin – Jay, Andrew, Man at Scene, Mary, Company
Simple Biology – Victoria, Rufus
Black Dress – Sally, Jessie, Catherine, Aunt Hannah, Mary
All the Way Home – Victoria, Company
The Dressmaker and the Milliner – Catherine
Stillness – Author, Rufus, Company
In His Strength – Mary, Author Rufus, Aunt Hannah, Company
The Butterfly – Author, Rufus
Finale – Mary, Jay, Author, Company
JOSH RHODES (Director/Choreographer – Based on the Asolo Rep production directed by Frank Galati) Josh is honored to be here in Knoxville working on such a beautiful piece of NEW musical theater. Josh recently directed and choreographed the Broadway revival of SPAMalot after a successful run at the Kennedy Center. Other directing and choreography credits include Dear World, Mack & Mabel, and Grand Hotel, (Encores!) Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville, and Guys and Dolls, (Old Globe), Cabaret,The Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls, Knoxville, and Evita (The Asolo Rep) Jersey Boys, Chess (The Muny) andTommy (Kennedy Center). On Broadway Josh choreographed Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, It Shoulda Been You, First Date, and Bright Star. On London’s West End, he choreographed Carousel for the English National Opera and Sweeney Todd starring Emma Thompson. Josh recently made his film director debut with the musical film, Beau. The film has garnered multiple laurels and awards in festivals all over North America. The creative father of this production, our dear one, Frank Galati, would have a sparkle in his eye and an enormous smile were he here watching his show come to life. We owe everything to Frank for inspiring us to investigate this material with enormous passion, while having a “marvelous” time doing it. Thank you, Frank.
TRINA MILLS (Associate Director/Associate Choreographer) Born and raised in Seattle, Mills is thrilled to be in Tennessee for the first time at the Clarence Brown Theatre! Her choreography experience includes The Sound of Music at The 5th Avenue, Assassins at ACT Theatre, Public Works: The Odyssey and The Tempest at Seattle Rep, Little Shop of Horrors at Pittsburgh Public, String at Village Theatre, Dogfight, American Idiot, and Sweeney Todd at ArtsWestand guest choreographer for the Seattle Seahawks Dancers. Mills is honored to be back to work on this beautiful piece again. Thank you to Josh Rhodes for inviting me along!
BRUCE COUGHLIN (Orchestrations) has orchestrated over 100 shows and operas including Ahrens + Flaherty’s A Man of No Importance (2023), The Light in the Piazza (co-orchestrator), Urinetown, The Wild Party (LaChiusa), How to Dance in Ohio, War Paint, 9 to 5, Grey Gardens, Floyd Collins, Giant, S&M2 (mega-concert with Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony), and Annie Live! on NBC TV. More info: brucecoughlin.com
CALEB HOYER (Music Supervisor) served as music director for the world premiere of Knoxville (Asolo Repertory Theatre) and the off-Broadway revival of A Man of No Importance (Classic Stage Company), as well as being the founding music director of the acclaimed concert series If It Only Even Runs a Minute (Bistro Award). Broadway credits as a pianist/conductor include New York, New York, Anastasia, Merrily We Roll Along, and Dear Evan Hansen. Regional: Boop!, The Flamingo Kid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. National tour: The Bridges of Madison County. Film: The Little Mermaid (2023). He was the recipient of The Alan Menken Award for his musical theater writing.
MING ALDRICH-GAN (Music Director) has been a pianist/keyboardist on 13 Broadway shows including Hamilton, Aladdin, and The Book of Mormon. He has conducted Dear Evan Hansen both on Broadway and on the national tour (including here in Knoxville), and has worked on the national tours of Wicked, Hamilton, Cats, and An American in Paris. He is also an avid arranger and orchestrator, and participated in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a composer. He currently splits his time between New York and Nashville, where he lives with his wife and 7 children.
TERRY D. ALFORD (Associate Music Supervisor) Terry is a Distinguished Lecturer in Theatre and teaches Musical Theatre Performance and Honor’s Introduction to the Theatre and Acting. Prior to joining the UT faculty Mr. Alford held the positions of Director of Musical Theatre at The University of Tulsa, and Director of Musical Theatre at The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. He has worked professionally as a performer, director, musical director, and composer at theaters across the country, including the California Theatre Center, Madison Repertory, Omaha Playhouse, Augusta Barn, Fireside Theatre, Light Opera of Oklahoma, and the Clarence Brown Theatre. Terry has directed or musically directed numerous productions and has created the scores for four original musicals and a variety of chamber and vocal music pieces. He is a member of the Clarence Brown Professional Company and regularly directs and musically directs for the Clarence Brown Theatre. Terry is the director of the CBT Summer Acting Workshop and serves as co-facilitator of Outreach and Education hosting Theatre Tours and Talk Backs.
ROBERT PERDZIOLA (Scenic/Costume Designer) Robert has designed sets and costumes for American Ballet Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Boston Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Australia, Opera Boston, Metropolitan Opera, Opera Monte Carlo, Saito Kinen Festival, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Santa Fe Opera, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Among these designs have been Capriccio and Il Pirata for the Met, Giselle for the Bolshoi, Arabella for Opera Australia, and Anna Karenina for Florida Grand Opera. In 2023 he created sets and costumes for Die Tote Stadt with Opera Colorado, La Boheme for Veroza Opera in Japan, and Don Giovanni for the Hyogo Performing Arts Center.
KENTON YEAGER (Lighting Designer) Kenton heads the Master’s Program in Entertainment Lighting Design and Technology and is Head of Undergraduate Studies. Being busy over the past 40 years, Kenton has designed or produced more than 700 events for the Corporate World, Theatre, Dance, Music, Weddings, Industrials, Festivals, and Tours both nationally and internationally. He is also the creator of Yeagerlabs, a classroom theater system used in teaching theatre. His theatre design credits include work for: Walnut Street Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Rep, St Louis Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, Riverside Theatre, Pioneer Theatre, Round House Theatre, Folger Shakespeare, The Clarence Brown Theatre, Virginia Stage Co, Arden Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Asolo Theatre, PlayMakers Rep, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Rep, Theatre by the Sea, Pennsylvania Stage, National Shakespeare Co, Camden Shakespeare Co, The Flynn Theater for the Performing Arts, and American Music Theatre Festival. Kenton has designed corporate events for IBM, AIG International, The Olympic Ski Team, University of Tennessee, Vermont Fine Wine and Food Festival, and ESPN. Kenton has also designed concerts for Suzanne Vega, Dave Matthews, John Prine, They Might Be Giants, George Winston, The Kronos Quartet, Bobby McFerrin, The Roches Charles Mingus Big Band, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, George Winston, Slide Hampton, Canadian Brass, Johnny Clegg, James Carter, Sweet Honey in the Rock and, Stephane Grappelli. As an educator, he has taught design master classes at more than 40 Universities, taught lighting design at Penn State, and was Chair/Artistic Director of Interlochen Arts Camps’ Department of Theater. He has taught lighting workshops in Berlin, Munich, Salzburg, Prague, Mexico City, Avignon, and Amsterdam.
JOE PAYNE (Sound Designer) runs the Sound and Media Design MFA program for the Department of Theatre. He has designed sound, projections, and/or composed music for more than 250 professional productions throughout the United States, including twenty seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, Syracuse Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Round House Theatre and Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD), Marble City Opera, ten years at Pioneer Theatre Company (SLC, UT), Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Virginia Stage Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Utah Opera and Symphony, The Fulton Opera House (Lancaster, PA), and others. Joe is a member of United Scenic Artists USA Local 829, and the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, and is the Commissioner of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology Digital Media Commission.
STEPHANIE KLAPPER (Casting Director)’s award-winning work is frequently seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, on concert stages, film, tv and streaming media. She and her extraordinary team are dedicated to the growth of arts education, the development of new talent, new work, and the reimaging of established works. This is a dream come true. Thank you, Kenneth, Tom, Josh, Lynn and Stephen and CBT. www.klappercasting.com
KAREN A. SABO (Dialect Director) is a dialect coach, teacher, director, actor, and writer. She was the resident dialect coach at the Barter Theater in Virginia where she also directed and acted. Karen has worked at the New Victory Theatre, the York Theatre in NYC, Pioneer Theatre Company (Utah), Theatre Rhinoceros, Kentucky Rep, and others. She currently teaches in the BFA acting and musical theatre programs at Missouri State University. She has a B.A. from Hampshire College, an M.A. from East Tennessee State University, and an MFA in Directing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Karen is a 28-year member of Actors’ Equity, belongs to SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society), and to VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association). www.karensabo.com
PATRICK LANCZKI (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be back for his eleventh season at the CBT and his eighth as Production Stage Manager. His regional stage management credits include five years as resident stage manager at Asolo Repertory Theater, as well as multiple seasons at Arkansas Repertory Theater, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Northern Stage, and several Off-Broadway productions. As an actor, starting at age 16, he has appeared in numerous national and international tours, including seven tours of Jesus Christ Superstar, television, movies and voiceovers. A special thanks to my stage management team: Mayson, Belle, Gideon, Rachel, and Nia for all of their hard work on this production. Patrick has been a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association since 1984 and dedicates his work on this production to Peter and Frank. AHFOL to Katie, my best friend, favorite actress, and wife.
NIA SCIARRETTA (Assistant Stage Manager) Nia has been with Knoxville since 2019 and is thrilled to be a part of this production bringing Knoxville (the musical) to Knoxville (the city). Previously, Nia served as resident Production Stage Manager at Asolo Rep in Sarasota, FL, stage managing more than 40 productions in her time there. Nia has also worked with the Signature Theatre (NYC), Creede Repertory Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Flea Theatre, and more. Ithaca College graduate. Love to the Knoxville SM dream teams of past and present and to all whose collaboration has made Knoxville so extraordinary, especially Frank.
HANNAH ROSE (Child Supervisor) Hannah is so ecstatic to be working on Knoxville the show in Knoxville, TN! As a Child Supervisor, Hannah’s work includes: (Asolo Repertory Theatre) Josephine!, Music Man, Sound of Music, Knoxville, Incident At Our Lady Of Perpetual Help, and (Neel Performing Arts Center) The Civil War. Hannah inherited her love for children and for theatre from her mom, Susan, who passed on three years ago. Hannah would like to dedicate this run to her. Instagram: @itsmehannah.rose
KENNETH MARTIN (Department Head, Artistic Director) Ken comes from the University of Missouri, at Kansas City, where he was the Patricia Mcllrath Endowed Professor and Chair of the Theatre Division. His 26-year career in academia also included nearly 18 years serving as chair of the theater departments of Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina and Ashland University in Ohio. Tremendously successful as an administrator at both institutions, Martin navigated curricular revisions and development, managed resources effectively and efficiently, created innovative collaborations, cultivated significant enrollment growth, and forged international partnerships. A member of United Scenic Artists, his designs have been seen at theatres across the country including Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, New Theatre, Ohio Light Opera, Cleveland Ensemble Theatre, Ocean State Theatre and many others. He has also designed shows for many colleges and universities including Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Coastal Carolina University, Cuyahoga Community College, and The Ohio State University. Martin has actively served his profession as a respondent for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, as a consultant for several regional theaters and through active participation in organizations like the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Educational Theatre Association and the Southeastern Theatre Conference.
TOM CERVONE (Managing Director) Tom is grateful and honored to serve the Clarence Brown Theatre as Managing Director. Cervone has also served as executive director for both Dogwood Arts and the Historic Tennessee Theatre Foundation, but the CBT/UTK Theatre Department is Tom’s administrative and artistic home. Cervone arrived in Knoxville in 1989 as an MFA candidate in acting and was hired in May of 1993 as the company manager, then promoted to managing director in 1995. And for his brief foray downtown, Tom has been in this chair, blissfully, ever since. Tom is and has been very active within the UTK community, having served as Exempt Staff Council chair for many years, co-chair of the LGBT Commission, a member of the Diversity Council and many other UTK organizations. Cervone is a long-time board member of the WordPlayers and continues to evangelize on behalf of the art and culture community locally and nationally. Tom received the Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Service to the University in 2010. Cervone holds his undergraduate degree in Speech and English Education with an emphasis in Theatre from West Liberty University in West Virginia and a Master of Fine Arts and an MBA from UT. He is a graduate of and was selected as the Class Representative of the Leadership Knoxville class of 2011, the best class ever. Cervone was inducted into his undergraduate alma mater’s class of 2015 Wall of Honor and was appointed by the Governor of WV in 2021 to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of WLU.
SUSAN L. McMILLAN (Production Manager) is in her eleventh year as Production Manager at the CBT and UT Department of Theatre. In addition, she teaches Stage Management. Prior, Susan was the Production Manager and Stage Management Instructor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for 6 years. Susan is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and was a Stage Manager at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 18 years. Additionally, she has stage managed at the Guthrie Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, PCPA, Rogue Valley Opera, Portland Civic Theatre, and has toured to the Kennedy Center. Through science (B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Biology from Oregon State University) and music (cellist), Susan found her way into theatre (Minor in Theatre from OSU). She is incredibly grateful for all the opportunities and adventures along the way, inspirational mentors, artistic and talented colleagues, amazing students, and the love and support of her family and friends. And very grateful for Molly – woof! This season is fully dedicated to her beloved, beautiful, and deeply missed mother, Grace – a shining light forever.
The Cast
JASON DANIELEY*
AUTHOR, James Agee
NICK BARRINGTON
RUFUS FOLLET, the child hero of the work
ALAN CHANDLER*
JAY FOLLET, husband
HANNAH ELLESS*
MARY FOLLET, wife
CHRIS HOCH*
RALPH FOLLET, Jay’s brother
SHINNERRIE JACKSON*
AUNT HANNAH LYNCH, Mary’s aunt
CLAY COOPER
ANDREW LYNCH, Mary’s brother
LILI THOMAS*
Woman #1: SALLY, Ralph’s wife / Others
KATY WOLFE*
Woman #2 : CATHERINE, Mary’s Mother / Others
LAURA BETH WELLS*
Woman #3 : JESSIE, Jay’s Mother / Others
McKINLEY MERRITT
Woman #4 : VICTORIA, Mary’s young friend / Others
EVIE ANDRUS
Knoxville Fiddler
SAMMY PONTELLO
Man #1 : MAN AT THE SCENE / Others
BRIAN O’NEILL*
Man #2 : JOEL, Mary’s father / Others
DWELVAN DAVID*
Man #3 : THE FERRYMAN / DOCTOR DEKALB / Others
UNDERSTUDIES
SAMMY PONTELLO
AUTHOR (James Agee)
OLIVIA BIRKBECK
RUFUS FOLLET (the child hero of the work)
CLAY COOPER
JAY FOLLET, husband
LILI THOMAS*
MARY FOLLET, wife
CHIP MORRIS
RALPH FOLLET, Jay’s brother
Man #2 : JOEL / Others
KATY WOLFE*
AUNT HANNAH LYNCH, Mary’s aunt
ERIC SORRELS
ANDREW LYNCH, Mary’s brother
Man #1 : MAN AT THE SCENE / Others
ALIAH MAHALATI
Woman #1: SALLY / Others
Woman #4 : VICTORIA / Others
DEANNA SURBER
Woman #2 : CATHERINE / Others
Woman #3 : JESSIE / Others
MATTHEW E. MIMBS
Man #3 : THE FERRYMAN / DOCTOR DEKALB / Others
* The actors appear through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
EVIE ANDRUS (Knoxville Fiddler) has been performing since she was 6 years old. Her family band, Family Ties, toured around ND and Canada throughout her high school years. Andrus is a graduate of the East TN State University Bluegrass, Old Time and County Music Program. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Musicology at University of Tennessee Knoxville. She has worked as a performer at the Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud as well as performing with other acts such as Foriegner, Il Divo and appearing on HBO’s “The Outsiders”. Andrus is a co-founder and President of the East TN Bluegrass Association. Andrus released an album of original tunes in May 2022, Evie’s Great Adventure.
NICK BARRINGTON (RUFUS FOLLET, the child hero of the work) from New Jersey, is thrilled to be working alongside such inspiring artists. Favorite past performances were Ralphie in Bristol Riverside Theatre’s A Christmas Story, Michael Banks (Mary Poppins) and Michael Darling (Peter Pan) at Spring Lake Theatre. Nick is lucky to have the support of his parents, siblings and large extended family. Special thanks to the creative team behind this beautiful show, especially Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, Josh Rhodes and Stephanie Klapper. Thanks to Allen Fawcett, Melanie Hope Long and all Nick’s teachers at SLTDA for sharing their expertise. Nick is grateful to Nancy and Bonnie at Carson-Adler Agency. @nickbarrington_theater
OLIVIA BIRKBECK (U/S RUFUS FOLLET , the child hero of the work) is a rising 6th grader at Clinton Elementary School. She has participated in productions with Knoxville Children’s Theater such as Aristocats, Annie, Snow White, Magic Treehouse, Beauty and the Beast, Matilda, and Aladdin where she played lead role Jasmin. She has also acted in a Recendez Productions short film titled Secret City and can be seen in Anakeesta commercials. She will be featured in the upcoming film Treasure Trackers produced by The Garcia Brothers. She has been dancing for 8 years in ballet, modern, jazz, and tap and took a masters dance class with Anthony Lee Bryant, Broadway swing for Wicked tour.
ALAN CHANDLER (JAY FOLLET, husband) Regional: Cabaret (The Old Globe), Knoxville, Cabaret (Asolo), Time Stops! (Michael J. Moritz), Oliver!, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Lone Star, Arsenic and Old Lace (HART Theatre), A Streetcar Named Desire, Arcadia, Drowsy Chaperone, The Great God Brown, Dracula (Loessin Playhouse). Education: BFA Prof. Acting ECU School of Theatre and Dance. @alan_chandler1
CLAY COOPER (ANDREW LYNCH, Mary’s brother ‘ / Understudy – JAY FOLLET, husband) is so excited to be back on the CBT stage for Knoxville! You might have seen Clay recently in the CBT production of Kinky Boots as Harry/Crispin, The Giver or as Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol. He holds a B.A in theatre education from Appalachian State University and previous stage credits include: Bright Star! (Jimmy Ray), The Moors (The Mastiff) and The {W}right Sister (Oriville Wright). In his free time he enjoys hiking, cooking and serenading his dog Sophie on guitar. To see what he is working on next follow his instagram @claycooper11.
JASON DANIELEY (AUTHOR, James Agee) Over 30 years of originating roles in new musicals Knoxville, Floyd Collins, The Full Monty, Curtains, The Visit, Pretty Woman, Secondhand Lions. Other starring roles on Broadway: Next to Normal, Chicago, and Candide. He has been a soloist around the world with major symphony orchestras, and cabaret performances, PBS Specials: South Pacific, Carousel, Sondheim! The Birthday Concert, Ring them Bells: A Kander & Ebb Celebration. As a director: Lynn Ahrens: A Lyric Life (92ND Street Y), The Mystery of Edwin Drood!, and for The Boston Pops – A Celebration of Sondheim; Symphonic Ragtime; Broadway Today! Broadway’s Modern Masters. JasonDanieley.com
DWELVAN DAVID (Man #3: THE FERRYMAN/DOCTOR) Off-Broadway: Emojiland, Till, Standby. Tour: Disney’s Aladdin, Finding Neverland, The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. Regional: Knoxville, Spamalot, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Sweeney Todd, The Wiz, Caroline, or Change, Ragtime & others TV: American Sports Story: Gladiator, Poker Face, Russian Doll, Gravesend & more BFA: Millikin University. AEA Proud. @dwelvandavid Dwelvandavid.com
HANNAH ELLESS (MARY FOLLET, his wife) starred on Broadway in the most recent revival of Godspell and created the role of Margo Crawford in Steve Martin’s musical Bright Star. She also originated the role of Jess in Jack Thorne’s Tony Award Winning Broadway adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Ms. Elless is a Craig Noel Award nominee for creating the role of Joon in the musical Benny & Joon. Broadway: Bright Star, Godspell, A Christmas Carol. Off-Broadway: Summer and Smoke, Come Back Little Sheba, Picnic, The Other Josh Cohen. TV: “Glee” (FOX), “The Deuce” (HBO). You can find her on social media @HannahElless.
CHRIS HOCH (RALPH FOLLET, Jay’s brother) Broadway: A Christmas Carol, War Paint, Amazing Grace, Matilda, La Cage Aux Folles, Shrek The Musical, Spamalot, Dracula and Beauty and the Beast. Off-Broadway: Clueless: The Musical (The New Group), Far From Heaven (Playwrights Horizons), Die Mommie Die!, Nantucket Sleigh Ride (Lincoln Center) and Face the Music (Encores!). National tours: Jagged Little Pill, A Christmas Carol, Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast. Regional: War Paint (Goodman Theatre), Guys And Dolls (Asolo Rep), Blackbeard (Signature Theatre), A Christmas Story (Paper Mill Playhouse), Dracula, Zhivago, Palm Beach and Private Fittings (all at La Jolla Playhouse), Far From Heaven (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The Drowsy Chaperone (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera), Kiss Me, Kate (Sacramento Music Theatre), Candide (Prince Music Theatre), Next To Normal (Hangar Theatre) and Picasso at the Lapin Agile (City Theatre). Film/TV: “30 Rock”, “Guiding Light”, “All My Children”, “One Life to Live”, “The Good Wife”, “Gossip Girl”, “Braindead” and “God Friended Me”. B.F.A.: Carnegie Mellon University.
SHINNERRIE JACKSON (AUNT HANNAH LYNCH, Mary’s aunt) earned her Bachelor’s of Music at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and her MFA at the University of Tennessee where she is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre. She can be seen in 30 Rock and in Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress. Previous theater productions include A Night with Janis Joplin (Arena Stage), Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Cincinnati Playhouse, St Louis Rep), Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill (Weathervane Theater).
ALIAH MAHALATI (U/S – Woman #1: SALLY / Woman #4 : VICTORIA / Others) is a senior at the University of Tennessee studying Theatre and Political Science. She has been active in theatre in Knoxville since 2020, through All Campus Theatre, the Clarence Brown Theatre, and Tennessee Stage Company. Some of her favorite roles in the past few years have been a Tribe member and Jeanie’s understudy in Hair, #7 in The Wolves, Nasreen and Belen in Anon(ymous), Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Sampson in Romeo and Juliet. Aliah is very excited for the opportunity to work on this production and with this cast and crew, and wants to thank everyone involved for the chance to grow and learn from them. She hopes you enjoy the show!
McKINLEY MERRITT (Woman #4: VICTORIA, Mary’s young friend / Others), a UT theatre alumni and Nashville native, is so excited to be a part of Knoxville after returning to the Clarence Brown stage in Trouble in Mind and Hair during the 2022-23 season! Her favorite roles include Lauren in Kinky Boots, the ensembles of Kiss Me, Kate, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and Sweeney Todd, as well as Logainne in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee all at the Clarence Brown Theatre. You can often find McKinley interning at a cappella conventions, singing with her 90s cover band, Teen Spirit, and probably laughing too hard at something really silly. Stay healthy, be safe, and, most importantly, enjoy the show!
MATTHEW E. MIMBS (U/S Man #3 : THE FERRYMAN / DOCTOR DEKALB / Others) holds a Bachelor of Music with a Minor in Theatre from CNU. He made his CBT debut in 2018’s Candide, in which he understudied the title role. Other credits include Ragtime (Tateh), Souvenir (Cosme McMoon), End of the Rainbow (Anthony), Follies (Young Ben), 25th…Spelling Bee (Barfee), Sunday in the Park with George (Franz/Lee Randolph), Into the Woods (Rapunzel’s Prince), Seussical (Horton), My Fair Lady (Freddy), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Music Director). Matt currently serves as Director of Music and Arts at 2nd Presbyterian here in Knoxville, and as a collaborative pianist at WSCC.
CHIP MORRIS (U/S – RALPH FOLLET / Man #2 : JOEL / Others) is a Chattanooga native and UT alumnus. He was most recently seen on the Clarence Brown stage in Kinky Boots. Previous CBT credits include Sweeney Todd, Man of La Mancha, A Christmas Carol, and Assassins. Other local theater credits include Tennessee Stage Company’s Romeo and Juliet (Friar Laurence) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Snout), and Theatre Knoxville Downtown’s Night of the Living Dead Live! (Chief McClelland). It’s good to be home!
BRIAN O’NEILL (Man #2: JOEL, Mary’s Father/Others) REGIONAL: Yale Rep, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Premier Stages, Penguin Rep; NEW YORK: Flea Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Lion Theatre, The Kitchen, St. Lukes, The RedRoom; TELEVISION: Guest Star & Recurring roles on American Sports Story: Gladiator, The Blacklist, Search Party, Mrs. America, Law and Order (all of them), FBI: Most Wanted, The Code, Blindspot, The Sopranos, Gotham, Unforgettable, The Corner (Emmy Award Best Mini–Series), Damages, Person of Interest, Elementary, and many others; FILM; Burn After Reading, Laws Of Attraction, Brooklyn Rules, Chapter 27, The Bourne Legacy, and the upcoming Relay, and Paradise. MUSIC: Co-founder, NYC based acoustic ensemble, Minus Ted. Four albums of original folk rock compositions. More info at brianhughoneill.com
SAMMY PONTELLO (Man #1 : MAN AT THE SCENE / Others / U/S – AUTHOR James Agee ) is an MFA Acting Candidate at UT and is thrilled to be returning to the Clarence Brown Theatre community. Originally from Central Florida, they’ve worked with Florida Studio Theatre and Orlando Shakes as an actor, teacher, and advocate of new plays, as well as at the Texas Shakespeare Festival as an actor and teaching artist. Previous CBT: Bob Cratchit, A Christmas Carol; Richard Bailey/Paddington, Kinky Boots. IG: @sjpactor | sammypontello.com
ERIC SORRELS (Music Assistant, U/S – ANDREW LYNCH / Man #1 : MAN AT THE SCENE / Others) is a songwriter, librettist, music director, arranger, and performer. Recent regional credits: Indecent, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Prom, Jersey Boys, The Great Comet. Eric is also a professional chorister and a member of AGMA, having performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and internationally with various choirs. His musical MĀYĀ (co-written with Cheeyang Ng) was a part of the 2023 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, and will continue development in London in Early 2025. Thank you to Ken, Stephen, and Lynn for letting me be a part of this unforgettable experience. BA: UT Knoxville. MFA: NYU. @eric_sorrels
DEANNA SURBER (U/S – Woman #2 : CATHERINE / Woman #3 : JESSIE / Others ) Deanna is a Knoxville native and happy to be a part of this special production. As a private voice and acting teacher, Deanna has had the pleasure and opportunity to teach and mentor many young performers for almost 15 years. Deanna is a proud graduate of the UT theatre department and has an MFA in theatre performance from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Previous roles include Louise in Always, Patsy Cline (on the CBT stage), Alice Murphy in Bright Star, Desiree in A Little Night Music, Marmee in Little Women, Abigail Adams in 1776 as well as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific.
LILI THOMAS (Woman #1: SALLY, Ralph’s wife / Others / U/S MARY FOLLET, his wife ) is fresh off her history making run as “Mama Morton” in Chicago on Broadway. Prior to that, she toured as Cynthia Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen (1st Nat’l). Off B’way: We’re Gonna Die (Second Stage), The Hello Girls (59e59), Only Human (St. Clements). Select regional: Great Comet (PCLO), Octet (Berkeley Rep), The Hello Girls (Kennedy Center), Cabaret (Milwaukee Rep), NY Philharmonic’s Garden of Light (Lincoln Center). Many thanks to DGRW, and to Josh, Lynn, & Stephen for inviting me to join this beautiful piece. This one’s for CCC and our own grief journey, love you. @thelilithomas
LAURA BETH WELLS (Woman #3 : JESSIE, Jay’s Mother) / Others) Broadway: Emily Osborn in Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark (original cast). Recent local credits include Trish in Kinky Boots (CBT), Alison Bechdel in Fun Home (River and Rail), and Patsy Cline in Always, Patsy Cline (CBT). Regional: Asolo Rep Theatre, Bridge St Theatre, CT Rep, AZ Theatre Co, Hangar Theatre, NC Theatre, and others. New York: Prospect Theatre Co, Musicals Tonight, Columbia Stages, Drama League. Teaching Artist/Directing credits include: UTK, Maryville College, TSC/Knoxville Shakespeare, Pellissippi State, Knoxville Children’s Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, Hangar Theatre, Cornell University, Syracuse University, SUNY Binghamton. LB holds a BA in Theatre from UTK and an MFA in Acting from Kent State University. Love you, Tiny Family, and Sing Out, Louise! For more info, go to www.laurabethwells.com or follow on IG: @thelbwells
KATY WOLFE (Woman #2 : CATHERINE, Mary’s Mother / Others / U/S – AUNT HANNAH LYNCH ) Most recently seen at River and Rail Theatre as Febb in The Burn Vote and Helen in Fun Home. As a company member with CBT for over a decade, Katy’s favorite roles include Marian in Music Man, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Kate in Kiss Me, Kate and the Beggarwoman in Sweeney Todd. Katy is passionate about bringing her training in bel canto vocal technique together with a deep study of text to actors and singers and maintains a thriving studio of singers in NYC. She holds degrees from Belmont University and University of Tennessee. www.katywolfe.com