No known copies exist of the film shown at the grand Tennessee Theatre when it opened in downtown Knoxville on October 1, 1928, but that won’t stop theater officials from sleuthing out other lighthearted vintage movies for this year’s 90th anniversary celebration, and charging the same price patrons paid back then: 40 cents for a matinee, 60 cents for an evening show.
Other activities include a free noon concert featuring the original Wurlitzer organ.
Built as a movie “palace,” the Tennessee Theatre wasn’t designed to host live performances. A $25 million renovation in 2005 expanded the space but left intact the Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers, Italian terrazzo flooring and high gold-domed ceiling, which, according to executive director Becky Hancock, gives the sense of “being inside a genie bottle.”
Since the facelift, an eclectic mix of entertainers, from Jennifer Nettles to 2017 Voice winner Chris Blue, have performed here. “Although it is ornate and historic,” says Hancock, “we have musicians that represent all genres and all decades and all tastes and all interests.”
For more info, visit tennesseetheatre.com.
