{"id":65657,"date":"2025-02-12T10:30:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T15:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=65657"},"modified":"2025-02-26T08:43:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:43:43","slug":"bluegrass-appalachia-and-a-story-worth-singing-bright-star-musical-coming-to-utc-theatre-co","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/bluegrass-appalachia-and-a-story-worth-singing-bright-star-musical-coming-to-utc-theatre-co\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluegrass, Appalachia and a story worth singing: \u201cBright Star\u201d musical coming to UTC Theatre Co.\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Liam

Liam Phillips (left) as Billy Cane and Miller Richardson as Margo Crawford.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready for my life to begin. I\u2019m ready for it all to start.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These lyrics from \u201cBright Star,\u201d a bluegrass-inspired musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, strike a personal chord with University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman Liam Phillips.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are also the lyrics he will sing on stage as one of the lead characters, Billy Cane, at the UTC Theatre Co. production of \u201cBright Star.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I can embody that character pretty well,\u201d said Phillips, a creative writing major from Franklin, Tennessee. \u201cIt feels so true to how I\u2019m feeling right now at this point of my life.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharing the stage with Phillips will be senior Pearson Smith, playing the role of Alice Murphy. While Phillips will make his first appearance on the UTC stage for a musical theatre performance, it will be Smith\u2019s last.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very sad because I pretty much only do musical theatre, so I\u2019ve been in a musical for the past three years now,\u201d said the theatre entrepreneurship major. \u201cI cry at the end of every performance on any closing night. It\u2019s so sad because you get so close with your cast and you get so close with the character that you\u2019re playing, and it kind of feels a part of you.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similar to their own lives, Phillips\u2019 and Smith\u2019s characters experience both loss and new beginnings. Murphy, a literary editor with a concealed past, and Cane, a young soldier-turned-writer searching for his voice<\/span>, find their lives intertwined. As their paths cross, buried secrets emerge, revealing a profound connection that changes everything.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Inspired by actual events, the story takes place in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina spanning the 1920s and 1940s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith, who hails from Ringgold, Georgia\u2014a geologic region of the Appalachian Mountains\u2014and Phillips also have geological and cultural ties to the musical.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up watching Andy Griffith which is all set in the North Carolina and Appalachia region,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cMy grandma lived in North Carolina for a lot of her life. It feels like I\u2019m in connection with my roots.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

**************************************************************<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBright Star\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/a> runs at 7:30 p.m. from Feb. 25-March 1\u2014with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, March 1, at UTC Fine Arts Center\u2019s Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tickets can be <\/span>purchased online by clicking here<\/span><\/b><\/a> and through the UTC Box Office\u2014in person or by phone (423-425-4369). Tickets are $25 for general admission and $20 for students (with proof of student ID) and seniors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

**************************************************************<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pearson

Pearson Smith (center) rehearses with the cast of UTC Theater Co.’s “Bright Star.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Director Steve Ray, head of the Department of Theatre and artistic director of the UTC Theatre Co., said the score by Martin and Brickell weaves bluegrass instrumentation with a pop sound.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unusual for musicals to have this many catchy singable tunes\u2014and this one does,\u201d Ray said. \u201cYou can\u2019t walk away from this production without singing the songs in your head.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s more emotional than you would think. You hear bluegrass-inspired and bluegrass-infused, and you have a certain notion of it. But it weaves between heartbreak and hope and takes you on a real emotional journey.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With a cast that Ray described as \u201cthe best voices that we\u2019ve probably ever had in a musical,\u201d Smith said the audition process felt a bit \u201ccutthroat.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is obviously very supportive of each other,\u201d she said, \u201cbut there was so much talent.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Phillips felt the same level of artistry from his peers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did not expect to get such a large role so early in college,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Without any spoilers, Smith said the musical has several twists, turns and time hops. She said it tells a sometimes sad\u2014but hopeful\u2014story.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m most excited to tell the story,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to step into someone else\u2019s shoes, and a lot of it is based on a real story, so I love getting to portray that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After several UTC Theatre Co. productions\u2014including \u201c9 to 5 the Musical,\u201d \u201cInto the Woods\u201d and \u201cThe Threepenny Opera\u201d\u2014Smith said it would be hard to say goodbye.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is sad,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I\u2019m excited to see what\u2019s next for me and I\u2019m excited to come back and watch all the people that I\u2019m in the show with perform again.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Phillips said his biggest takeaway from the show is the strong sense of comradery among the cast. As for the audience, he hopes they resonate with an important message.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSimilar to Steve Martin, what he wanted the audience\u2019s big takeaway to be was that people from Appalachia and from the South aren\u2019t just from a stupid hick town in the middle of nowhere,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s got a story regardless of where they\u2019re coming from.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he is excited for his lead role in the show, especially with the unwavering support from the cast and Ray.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to do this show and the material justice,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really is an epic story.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBright Star\u201d cast<\/h4>\n
\"\"

Pearson Smith and Liam Phillips<\/p><\/div>\n