WISH-LIST WEDNESDAY: Knoxville
- James Tradgett
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
PREMIERED: 2022 (Asolo Repertory Theatre, Florida, USA)
SCORE: Lynn Ahrens / Stephen Flaherty
BOOK: Frank Galati
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From the timeless classic of our last excursion to a musical that is still in its relative infancy, this week we dive into the latest exponent of Lynn Ahrens (lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music), the team behind "Ragtime", "Seussical" and "Anastasia". Conceived originally by playwright Frank Gelati, the trio have adapted the novel "A Death in the Family" by James Agee to the stage, with the story being narrated by a fictionalised version of the book's original author Agee, who recalls his childhood in 1915, as a 6-year-old trying to cope with his father's untimely death in a car crash. This forces him to tackle difficult, complex emotions, and come to terms with grief, faith, and how these affect him and his family.
The original autobiographical novel won Agee a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for literature, and has since been adapted countless times, including into a 1960 play by Tad Mosel, itself also winning a Pulitzer, this time for drama, marking a rare instance of a novel and its adaptation both winning such awards in two different categories. As is often the case, composer Flaherty proves why he is an undisputed master of blending together different musical genres, this time incorporating elements of bluegrass and American folk with more traditional musical theatre songs.
After an initial workshop reading in 2019 featuring broadway favourite Claybourne Elder, the musical had its full world premiere in Florida three years later, at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, the same house where "Bonnie & Clyde" also had one of its pre-broadway tryouts. In spite of a university production two years ago, "Knoxville" is yet to see further life on the professional stage, however with the prestige and popularity of Ahrens and Flaherty, especially in the wake of the Tony Award win for "Ragtime" earlier this year, one has to believe that their newest project will be hitting the stage once again sooner than later...
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