At Knoxville’s inaugural “Music Festival” in 1883, which of the following was an eagerly awaited part of the program?
A – A performance of Pirates of Penzance.
B – A bluegrass hoedown, with more than a dozen fiddlers.
C – An inspiring political speech by Bob Taylor.
D – An ecumenical gospel chorus, with the best singers from local churches.
A – The comic Gilbert and Sullivan musical was already popular here and had been performed by a local group the year before. This time, the female lead was Fay Templeton, a teenager from Little Rock—17 years before her debut on Broadway, where she became an early 20th-century star.