In the nearly ten years of its existence, Founding Artistic Director Joshua Peterson says River and Rail Theatre has launched itself twice: Once in the beginning and again after the pandemic. In 2019 the group purchased a building for $650,000, added $250,000 in renovations, and transformed it into the Old City Performing Arts Center. Continuing their evolution, in a deal brokered by Will Sims for Oliver Smith Realty, they have now agreed to sell the building to Kenny Boghani for $2.25 million. It’s a step they hope will give them the financial footing to continue their growth. The sale will necessitate a move after their current season.
Joshua said their productions have outgrown the Performing Arts Center.
Our Town, for example, I’ve wanted to do for nearly ten years . . . The cast is large. We have eighteen, which is six more people than I’ve ever had in any show. Plus, I have a live band of six people. I have no dressing room, no green room, no artists’ bathrooms . . . We want to do some larger works, especially as we develop new work.
Josh said that in their time in the building they grew to having over 2,000 in attendance at each of the three shows before the pandemic. They shut down for well over a year and when they returned, they had only 351 come to their first show. Last season they finally arrived back at their pre-pandemic levels. Rental income for the center, which goes to River and Rail also tumbled. Over $100,000 in rentals were canceled and they’ve never quite recovered.
All this has slowed River and Rail’s ability to move forward with a major goal: Mounting new productions. “New work is foundationally who Amelia and I are as artists.” That requires budgeting years ahead while the works are in production. They are finally to the point that they are able to commission works and have commissioned a story of the life of Marcus Hall and have another planned on the Clinton Twelve. The latter is a compelling local story with national reverberations and it has never been the subject of a major dramatic production. He thinks it is important that Knoxville have a theatre that produces original play.
The kind of renovations that would address all these issues and more would be exorbitantly expensive. While Joshua said he would love to see a performing arts center in Knoxville, that isn’t on the horizon and the sale and move made sense for them in many ways. In the meantime, they are excited to engage what will be their final season in the current location.
The first production of the season, “Our Town,” just ended its run and next up will be “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play,” presented from December 5 – 22 (with a new cast and director). The new year brings “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” a one woman play focused on Billie Holiday’s last performances. The play features stories from her life, as well as music from that show and it runs from April 17 to May 4. The season ends with a co-production including Knoxville Opera. “Stuck Elevator” is a modern opera in English, based on a true story of a delivery man trapped in an elevator for 86 hours. It runs May 14 -18.
Joshua said they are not ready to announce a new location, but “We will have news on a new home as a part of our ten-year anniversary celebration in April.” Serious explorations of options are currently ongoing.