The Grove Theater will host a fundraising talent show on Friday that will feature 10 groups from Oak Ridge and East Tennessee.
The show, called “Oak Ridge Has Talent,” starts at 7 p.m. Friday. It will mark the kickoff of Friends of the Grove Theater, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to maintain the Historic Grove Theater as a performing arts center for the Oak Ridge area.
Representatives from Sound Company Children’s Youth Choir will perform along with ensembles from Oak Ridge Community Band, Oak Ridge Symphony, and dancers from the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet. Bands will include the Ridge City Ramblers, an Oak Ridge Bluegrass band; the MOOD, a classic rock band; and an Irish music session representing the Traditional Irish Arts of Knoxville. Miss East Tennessee Scholarship Talent winners will also perform, and a distinctive surprise from the Emory Valley Center is planned. Comedian and humorist Tyler Gouch will serve as the master of ceremonies.
A silent auction with items from dozens of local businesses will be offered at the event, a press release said.
Ticket prices are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Children and students up to age 18 are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Special VIP tables are also available. Tickets can be bought online at www.thegrovetheater.org. Tickets are also available at the Ferrell Shop in Jackson Square and at Kittrell Paints in east Oak Ridge.
“All talent and time is donated, so 100 percent of the proceeds will be used to help maintain and preserve the large theater,” the press release said.
It said the Grove Theater is the largest of the Manhattan Project theaters, originally designed as a community meeting place with 1,000 seats. The theater was suitable for live performances and moving picture shows. A History of the Grove Theater display will be available at the concert, manned by some of the original ushers with photos and relics from old movie days. The history display will also feature a slide show of the renovation of the Grove and famous Ed Wescott photos of the theater.
Call Seaira Stephenson at (865) 250-3028 for more information.
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