Clarence Brown Theatre — Attraction in Knoxville

I may be a bit biased having worked there for seven years, but having been in entertainment for 20+ years also makes me a bit judgemental.... having said that, the Clarence Brown Theatre is a treasure.

Theatre is an experience and the CBT delivers.... free parking, excellent curb appeal, plenty of bathrooms (you heard that right--they went from 4 to 14 women's stalls this year), great sightlines from every seat in all three theatres, amazing acoustics, disability accommodations of every form, and an unparalleled team of artists (resident, student, and from around the globe) all of which delivers better than most major venues be it Atlanta, Chicago, LA, or New York.

There's something for everyone at the CBT whether it's produced by the company or someone else, and the prices hover in the realm of a night at the Cinebar with concessions a quarter of the price.

I'm frankly at a loss as to how anyone in the region doesn't take advantage of this jewel and amazed at how the company manages to sustain such production value.

Whether you live here or you're just passing through, check out...

We saw A Christmas Carol at the theatre last night. This review is not about the wonderful play but about the theater itself.

During the play I was sat next to a giant man in every proportion. I was not able to use the arm rest on my left due to his size. He held his coat on his lap throughout the entire performance and it encroached onto my lap many times. Every time he moved my seat bounced like a fairground ride and I thought it was going to break from the noises it made a few times. By the end of the play I was feeling very achy and pained from the somewhat uncomfortable seats; this would have happened regardless of who was sitting next to me.

My wife was sat on the other side of me in seat P2. This is the end of the row where seat P1 is reserved for the usher. The usher sat in their seat throughout the show and nervously bounced their foot on the floor and rocked back and forth the entire time. This was extremely distracting for my wife.

Other than that the staff and overall...

They always put on great shows here. I married into season tickets and found that I actually enjoy going to live theater. The stage sets for every play are always amazing, even if they are very simple. Concessions are available in the lobby, but they aren't your typical theater fare. They have items like fresh fruit, granola bars, Magpie's cookies, coffee, water, etc. No popcorn here. I would definitely recommend catching at least one production here. You never know. You may end up liking it. Update: The 2023 version of A Christmas Carol was much better than the woke 2022 version. I almost walked out at intermission on that one. I'm glad to see they brought back the...