Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga

09/02/2026

the next chapter...

"I think the sky is falling. And here it comes again... and again... and again"

Before I launch back into and create a somewhat truncated version of what I had typed before, can i just point out that we had not even reached the ten year mark yet up to this point and it is just incredible to look back and see all that we had done. I start to wonder when DID we sleep? We found time, but we were following big dreams, chasing rainbows, living out fantasies and having a grand ole time.

This next period, though, from middle of 2015 through the end of COVID really tested our resolve. We fell, got back up, fell again, got back up, fell again, and got back up. Lots of bumps and bruises in this next chapter.

We will start with finding our way from Eastgate to the 21st Century Academy which was under new managment and was being converted into a community for area youth. With the charm similar to the St Andrews Center and the functionality similar to the Eastgate Towne Center, we thought we had found the perfect space. and SPACE is what it had. We had an entire wing to ourselves and several classrooms on the second floor. A scene shop, a box office, an organized prop storage, the beginnings of an organized costume storage and costume shop, a rehearsal studio, an acting labratory, an intimate theatre and a huge auditorium. We didn't get to see all of our dreams come truew with this space and when we lost it, we ended up getting rid of more than 90% of our assets. Some we sold off through an ESTAGE SALE (a great capstone to our biannual yard sale fundraisers over the years), some we donated, but most of it we filled two giant 18' dumpsters full of stuff.

We left the 21st Century Academy and for nine months we were dark. I thought we were done. But we met and we talked and we kept dreaming and we reorganized and re-energized and brought in some blood and tossed around some new ideas and found a new place. The city had just opened a new facility on the Eastgate property called the Family Justice Center. They had two big conference rooms and allowed us access to them to present our shows. But this too would be short lived.

Who should step up to the rescue, but none other than Ann Law and Barking Legs Theater. Chattanooga's premier intimate venue and where we had our start.

Then COVID... We pivoted, we figured some stuff out, we took some chances.

But from mid 2015-end of the COVID it was all we could to hang on and we did.

We had help from the places mentioned above, Arts Build (of course), National Endowment for the Arts, Humanities Tennessee, Orange Grove Center, RISE Chattanooga, the Sankofa Fund, and the Chattanooga State Theatre Department

New people who would have profound impacts on ETC showed up like Nor Caissie, Zach Green, Kashun Parks, Joel Sanchez, Math Wynnemer...and of course my beloved little friend Noah Phillips

We continued partnering with the Hunter Museum on few more CASTING THE CANVAS series; we partnered with Artisti Affimatti (an opera company); we partnered with the Chattanooga Autism Center (such great work cut short by COVID); we partnered with Playful Evolving Monsters and we finally did our last summer of GLEE-T-C Camp (6 summers I believe of helping kids discover creativity through song, dance and storytelling) all during this period

Here are the shows we produced

21st Century Academy:
VIOLET (musical)
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHT PLAYS (spin off of the Short Attention Span series)
THE LITTLE PRINCE
FURRY TAILS WITH A TWIST / THE THREE LITTLE PIGS (opera)
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGAENT EVER
GODSPELL (performed at Northside Presbyterian)

Family Justice Center:
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
NEXT MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
ALL MY SONS
DRIVING MISS DAISY
CRIMES OF THE HEART
NEXT TO NORMAL

Barking Legs Theater:
DANCING AT LUGHNASA
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME
HONK
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT (remind me to tell you the story of the email we received from Terrence McNally, the award winning playwright, bc of this show)
A LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME
BILLY ELLIOTT
SIDE SHOW
THE CHRISTIANS
KISS FOR CINDERLLA
URINETOWN
DUST (World Premiere)

COVID: (all digital)
LIGHTS UP! Season One (podcast)
ACTORS GONE WILDE: A Drunken Experience (IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE and AN IDEAL HUSBAND)
10x10x10 (10 days, 10 plays, 10 minutes)
DAYS OF POSSIBILITIES
NEVERMORE: Readings of Poe
FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: Greatest Hits

keeping track:
musicals-9
full length plays- 14 (4 readings, 1 world premiere)
short plays- 26

08/25/2026

Onto what we affectionately call our golden years

We kicked 2013 off in a new space at Eastgate Towne Center. Relationships I had begun cultivating in 2003 helped us get the conversation kicked off with the move to Eastgate. But what sealed the deal was in 2012, when we produced EQUUS at Barking Legs. We had stepped away from Saint Andrews Center for that production because of the nature of the show and the subject matter. Thankful to Barking Legs for allowing us to briefly relocate. This wasn't the first time they helped ETC and it wouldn't be the last.

We invited the General Manager for Eastgate Towne Center to EQUUS after our initial conversation. And he said "If that is the quality of performance you guys are known for producing, then we definitely want you at Eastgate." The irony of ETC at ETC (Eastgate Towne Center) was not lost on us, and we jumped into that opportunity ready to take Chattanooga by storm.

There was a featured spread in one of the local community newspapers, we were featured on the cover and prominently in multiple State of the Arts issues for The Pulse and perhaps one of our crowning moments came when Mark Blankenship (a dear friend and theatre journalist among many other things) pitched an article featuring the growing professional theatre community in Chattanooga to the American Theatre magazine (the top periodical publication of our industry) and it landed. (September 2013 is the publication date I believe).

Our audiences grew like mad, our talent pool was overflowing, we had a full team, and we had a full board all ready to push ETC into the success we all wanted and knew it had.

We even set a world record, surpassing what is **listed** in the Guinness World Records... however we never got our paperwork turned in but we know we did it and to my knowledge it has yet to be broken... bragging rights aside (we still take the pride).

We also were met with an extreme tragedy when one of our actors (amazing person and talent) was tragically killed in a car accident. RIP Jordan Guess.

Here is what we produced:
AVENUE Q (opened the new theatre with a sold out performance)
PILLOWMAN (still considered by many to be one of our finest)
SCRAPS, The Ragtime Girl From Oz
BABE, the Sheep-Pig
JEKYLL/HYDE
COLUMBINUS (second time which we toured to Alma College in Michigan which was also our second time touring there)
THE COLOR PURPLE (extended 2 more weekends, sold out 13 of 16 shows)
RAGTIME
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
THE VELVETEEN RABBIT
DUSTY AND THE BIG BAD WORLD
RUMORS (the only Neil Simon we did)
THE SCARLET LETTER
DEAR BRUTUS (one of my personal favorites)
ALL IN THE TIMING
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN: Christmas Edition
A REKINDLED FLAME (world premiere)
COLONEL PILATE (world premiere)
CHATTING WITH THE TEA PARTY (workshop of new play)
FAT PIG
HOME ON THE MORNING TRAIN
ANDROCLES AND THE LION
THE TEMPEST
OTHELLO (with an all female cast)
TALKING WITH...
SIGHT FOR SORE EYES (another ETC original)
THE BALD SOPRANO (the world record, 33 hours continuous loop, same cast)
SEVEN
KEELY AND DU

With CHATTING WITH THE TEA PARTY, A REKINDLED FLAME, and COLONEL PILATE we launched the Brave New Works New Play Development Program.

For two years we also hosted the Professional Actor Training Program's capstone productions (3 in one year and then one the following).

We started a wildly popular 24-hour play festival (which we produced two different times in this space).

We started the even more wildly popular IMPROV-A-LOT, late night competition improvisation.

We started a multi-year event with the Hunter Museum of American Art called CASTING THE CANVAS where we took local writers into the museum and they created short plays based on paintings or exhibits or locations within the museum and then took the audience on a walking tour of the museum stopping to perform the pieces along the way.

We launched LUNCH MONEY as an arts integration experience taking the devised process of creating that specific show into several middle and high schools in the area to create both a microcosmic understanding of the bullying epidemic as it pertained to their school and a performance piece. This was a partnership with Students Taking a Right Stand (STARS), Hamilton County DOE and ArtsBuild.

We did a fundraising murder mystery improvisation event for the Chattanooga Humane Education Society, which turned out to be a lot of fun and a big hit.

We also overwhelmed ourselves, as you can imagine, and the space (through no fault or control of our own) was a short-lived experience that we learned a lot from.

Keeping Track:

To be honest it is so difficult to simply categorize all the experiences... but hopefully you can see it was A LOT.

This period started in 2013 and ended in March 2015 (just 27 months)

08/20/2026

Onto the next chapter of ETC, I like to call this "creating a monster"

After those fateful meetings at Panera, where Christy Tipton (then Gallo) and John Thomas McCecil (then just Cecil) and I carried libraries of scripts and piled them around our table while supped soup and drank sweet tea, we finally came up with that first season. Wrapped in a theme relating directly to our mission statment. For the 2010, 2011, 2012 seasons we kept ourselves and our artists extremely busy. We performed to sold out houses on uncomfortable seats, and we performed for on Intro to Theatre Student and her proabbly unwilling boyfriend. The gamut. We added musicals to repertiore, but remained focused on creating and providing work like Chattanooga never had seen.

We had one set of patrons (The Kaplans) who came to 90% of the shows we produced at the St Andrews Center. The 10% they didn't attend were shows "they could have seen somewhere else..." Like our version of ROMEO AND JULIET which was incredibly unique, they felt like ROMEO AND JULIET (no matter the interpretation) was overdone. They wanted to be reminded of their days as young adults in the East Village, which is how they equated us.

There was also another reglar patron, Waylon. Came to almost everything, usually alone but sometimes with his daughter. He just happened upon us once and never stopped coming, followed us all over chattanooga.

We welcomed students from Lee, Chatt State, UTC and Covenant while we here. We partnered with The Latino Arts Festival, The Creative Discovery Museum, The Hunter Museum of American Art, The SAC After School Arts program, the Chattanooga Homeless Coalition, Tennesse Valley Pride and Chattanooga Cares. We toured to Atlanta, to Michigan, to several area elementary schools and even non-traditional performance venues within the city all while redefining not only the space we inhabited from a recreational room to operation black box, but also the culture of theatre arts in chattanooga.

Jeremy Wilkins, Eric Red Wyatt, Casey Keelen, Maggie Williams (then Bradshaw), Kyle Dagnan, Ellen Poole, Ryan Laskowski, Evie Durant and a host of other young artists who have helped shaped the creative culture here in Chattanooga climbed on board and said let me help. It was an awesome and insanely fulfilling three years.

We also lost Sileybot, our lovable little mascot who despite my constant griping, pulled more than his own weight... (which was like 16lbs at his heaviest)

Here is what we produced:
2010
THE DEADLIES (devised piece)
DELIRIUM OF INTERPRETATIONS (avant garde published work about Rodin)
THIS IS NOT A PIPE DREAM (2nd time, youth presentation)
MIXED MEDIA (devised piece using sculpture to influence the creation of four plays which then influenced the creation of four paintings and all were presented within a singular performance, toured around Chattanooga)
COLUMBINUS (new play about columbine high school shootings)
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN 2
AMUSE BOUCHE (three short plays we toured to Atlanta for the Drive By Theatre Festival)
ROMEO AND JULIET (4 actors, 2 dancers)
LA LLORONA: THREE TALES (devised using the students from the SAC after school arts program)
ENDGAME (the first time Kelly Lapczyinski partnered with us)
FURRY TAILS WITH A TWIST (youth)
SILENT CHRISTMAS (devised musical pantomime)

2011
AMUSE BOUCHE parts 2 and 3 (touring trio of shorts to Atlanta)
THREEPENNY OPERA (musical)
GHOSTS (classic drama)
STONING MARY (modern drama, European influence)
MY CHILDREN MY AFRICA (modern drama)
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN 3
LA LLORONA : THREE TALES (again)
COMEDY OF ERRORS (shakespeare)
LUNCH MONEY (devised)
I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT (compilation of coming out stoires and short plays)
THE GIVER (youth)
HAVE A SEAT (devised play about Chattanooga's homeless)

2012
AMUSE BOUCHE parts 3 and 4 (touring trio of shorts to Atlanta)
FALSETTOS (musical)
EQUUS (modern play)
LIVING NEWSPAPER (devised based on the WPA program)
DOLLHOUSE (classic)
DRIFT (new musical)
MACBETH (we had planned to do LEAR, but had to pivot because of casting)
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN 4
THE CURIOUS SAVAGE (modern play)
GODS AND DISASTERS (devised collaboration using spoken word, dramatic texty, original music, modern dance as we explored four facets of natural disasters following the destruction of parts of Chattanooga from a tornado earlier in the year)
8 - National Staged Reading collaboration of play about Proposition 8 in California
LARAMIE PROJECT (number three toured to Michigan)

Keeping Count:
Musicals - 5 (one devised, one unpublished)
Youth and family - 5 (one unpublished)
Shakespeare - 3
Devised Plays - 7
Short Play Compilations - 8 (featuring 24 different plays and a host of new playwrights)
Straight Plays - 11
Staged Reading - 1
World Premieres (counted above) - 3

I think thats 39 projects... it gets hard to count when the creations were so creative and unique.

08/18/2026

There were three events that created the space for the creation of ETC.

1) The passing of my grandmother in 2006 - gave me resources
2) Being awarded an ArtsMove grant from Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga (now Arts Build) - gave me a goal
3) An unstated promise to Dana Colagiovanni to find her a show to showcase her talents - gave me a vision

With my grandmother passing, I received a small inheritance. It would in no way be enough to fund that first summer of shows as I had anticipated, but it was enough to create a confidence to take a chance.

The ArtsMove was $15,000 grant towards the purchase of a home in one of five downtown area neighborhoods, long before the gentrification we now experience in those areas. To accept the grant, there were two promises. Stay in the house for 5 years and contibute in some way to the cultural landscape in Chattanooga. To this day the contributions I have made to the cultural landscape of Chattanooga remain as one the greatest achievements of my life.

When I didn't cast Dana in my thesis production at Ole Miss, she came to my apartment later that night to visit. It was an emotional visit. But I realized in that moment, well only in retrospect I guess, that I had the ability to seek out and create opportunities where people could showcase their talents. Where opportunities that might escape them for a host of reasons, could instead be provided to them because of just one... they deserved it. ANGELS IN AMERICA was that show that I had picked for Dana.

I look at ETC in 7 distinct phases. I'll post about each of those individually.

This first phase i think I will call "FINDING OUR FOOTING"

2007-2009

Lots of people/organizations stepped up to see those first couple of years happen. Rex/Sherry/Brenda/Hob with the Professional Actor Training Program, Ann Law with Barking Legs Theater, Tommy Goddard with Ripple Productions & Diversified Arts, Chuck Tuttle with the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, Mike Feely with Saint Andrews Center, Allied Arts and the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, the MakeWork Foundation, Robbye Lewis, Rodney Van Valkenburg, Becki Jordan the list could go on. It clearly took a village.

In 2007 we produced ANGELS IN AMERICA by Tony Kushner, OBLIVION POSTPONED by Ron Nyswaner, MR MARMALADE by Noah Haidle and GOD SEES GOD by Bert V. Royal.

At the end of 2007, we produced SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD by Jason Robert Brown. As a New Year's Eve Party, no less....

All those five shows were performed at Barking Legs Theater

In 2008, we discovered the ST ANDREWS CENTER, an old methodist church in Highland Park. Mike Feely was converting it into a community center for the Hispanic population and had a room that he thought could be a theatre space. The moment I stepped into that old activities room on the secod floor was inspirational. A simple door in a simple hallway would for the next three years open up and reveal just how wonderfully magic the theatre can truly be.

If you saw a show in the SAC space, you know what I am talking about. When you saw the faces of the patrons as they came up the stairs and walked into what they thought was just another church classroom and instead found every other world imagainable...lets just say it was impossible to not feel like we were onto something pretty revolutionary for Chattanooga.

At the SAC we would present:

THE LARAMIE PROJECT (in 2008 and 2009);
THIS IS NOT A PIPE DREAM (also twice in 2008 and 2009);
THE ARKANSAW BEAR (also twice in 2008 and 2009),
A REKINDLED FLAME (staged reading),
New Play Tuesdays (a staged reading series featuring THE MADELINE PLAYS, A DIFFICULT TIME and THE LAND OF ROYAL BLOOD, and DUST),
LOVE LETTERS,
A WOMAN CALLED TRUTH (twice both in 2009, as a touring show and a sit down)
The first SHORT ATTENTION SPAN Short Play Festival (featuring plays from Marco Ramirez, John Bromels, Rob Smith, Derek Van Barham, Garry Lee Posey)
HAMLET (with just six actors and no singular Hamlet)
OUT, a release so long desired

John Thomas helped get ETC located in the Saint Andrews Center, muscle and passion and lack of sleep. His mother would also make us a boatload of black curtains from a bolt of fabric that had been donated. Some of those curtains still exist and everytime i fold them or use, I think of JT's mom.

Christy Gallo stage managed the first SAST and then helped financially produce HAMLET while she was away at school in England. She came back to Chattanooga, and firmly planted herself in my spare bedroom (from the house I bought) and also into the annals of ETC history.

Casey Keelen did everything. Heavy lifting, stage managing, acting, serving as an emotional support. Licking envelopes, making lists, sending emails. telling jokes, laughiing at my jokes...you get the idea

These three would provide the pillars for ETCs success for many more years to come.

JTMcC, Christy and I went to Panera Bread on Gunbarrel Rd several nights in December of 2009, trying to put together a season for a january 2010 launch.

It was Christy who suggested we use the five point of our mission statement to guide our season selection, a strategic move that we used diligently for 2010, 2011 and 2012 (which is the next chapter)

-23 full productions (1 musical, 1 shakespeare, 8 short plays, 6 plays for youth, 6 published plays and 1 original play)
-6 staged readings

08/16/2026

From ANGELS to ANGEL: the story of Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga. July 2007 - Tony Kushner’s ANGELS IN AMERICA : Milennium Approaches straight through to April 2026 - Jonathan Larson’s RENT.

As the word starts to spread, I want to stay in front of any narrative.

For 19 years, it has been difficult to separate Garry from ETC. In a strange way, we’ve each defined the other. Inextricably linked. For good and ill. So since I will be leaving Chattanooga at the end of the month, it seems fitting that ETC will cease operations officially.

Over the next two weeks, I’m going to do my best to post some pictures, some memories, some other content. And when I’m settled I’m hoping to do some sort of official review (podcast with guests; maybe a book; maybe a miniseries…lol, there’s certainly been lots of drama with puns intended)

I would love it, for anyone who has been involved with or experienced the Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga over the past 19 years, if you could post below or email me and I can post anonymously for you ([email protected]).

Whatever content is generated I hope to use in my official review (whatever that might be). I also could use the pick me ups, if I’m honest, as I say goodbye (for now anyway) to Chattanooga and ETC.

It’s been an honor and an awesome responsibility to have seen ETC succeed, grow, influence, create, generate, and be loved by so many. I’m not a heart broken, I am a heart full of gratitude.

Please share your memories, because those are ETC’s legacy!

- Garry

05/28/2026

Here is an opportunity for a new work based on a familiar story.

Looks like a paid opportunity, new musical, developmental staged reading.

I had the opportunity to provide some feedback on an earlier draft. Lots of great potential and the experience of developing a role from the ground up is both a rare one and exciting one.

If you’re interested

Audition Notice:
"The Man on the Middle Cross" - A Staged Reading of a New Original Musical (book in hand)
6 Roles Available (multiple characters for 4 roles): Male & Female (18+)
Paid opportunity

Audition Info
In Person only - July 13 & 14
Submission Deadline - June 5

Link to submit and full details:

Please click the link to complete this form.

05/02/2026

And that's a wrap for now!

This cast, crew, and band really showed up for each other. Every rehearsal, moment of doubt, and breakthrough. But it does not have to end here!

Jonathan Larson wrote RENT as an urgent call to community. Where do you find your people, Chattanooga? A support group, a special action initiative, a charity drive, a political march, a drag brunch, a sing-along, a mutual aid meetup? If you feel comfortable, drop it in the comments, tag a group, or share it on your own page. Someone out there is looking for exactly what you have already found. Keep it moving. Stay connected. Community blooms where you show up.

On stage, behind the scenes, and in the seats, this one will stay with us. The response to this show has meant everything. Farewell for now, Chattanooga.🕯️

📸 Photos by Garry Posey, the cast (thanks Cody, Levi, and Que!), and ETC's social media team.

04/29/2026

The bohemians and artists weren't only on stage. Special thanks to — and from — the creative team and crew. One final post to come, folks! Stay with us.

🔥 Garry Lee Posey (Production Director & Designer) — With more than 75 productions over 19 years, Garry's vision for this production was to use RENT's 30th anniversary to draw a direct parallel to today's social unrest: gentrification, police brutality, and the political abandonment of marginalized communities. Decades-old struggles that have never left us. Every design choice was intentional, right down to the costumes he tailored himself.

🎨 Caleb Sexton (Social Media & Graphic Design) — Built this campaign's visual identity from scratch, rooted in Garry's vision of resistance as art, mutual aid, and community. In five years collaborating with ETC, he has never seen a production resonate like this one, and is immensely grateful to have played a part.

📋 Sarah Evans (Stage Manager) — The kind of fan who drives 2,000 miles round-trip to catch the final tour stop of her favorite show, and gets sent ARCs of q***r horror novels before they hit shelves. Sarah loves with her whole heart, and this production was the lucky recipient of that devotion.

⭐️ Que Howard (Light Board & Sound Cues) — ETC alum and familiar face on television's Snapped, American Detective, and Fatal Attraction. His wife Star Howard was in the ensemble, making this a true family affair.

***To those who showed up for closing week, thank you for jumping in and giving your all.***

🤘🏽 Kidron Bullock (Mic Tech/Sound) — ETC debut. Anyone who knows his passion for live performance won't be surprised he found his way backstage. We're lucky he did.

🎛️ Isaac Sammons (Sound Engineer) — Sound engineer, musician, and music producer, and fiancé to our very own Maureen, Sav Hale. Isaac laid the sonic foundation for this production and handed it off with care.

💃🏻 Wren DeWitt (Costume Dresser & ASM) — Back in the theatre world with full force, and it showed. Lightning-fast costume changes, made to look easy.

04/28/2026

A look inside the world we built.🕯️

What you're seeing is the work of Garry Lee Posey, Director and Production Designer, realized alongside a cast and crew who showed up and got their hands dirty. At ETC, the work behind the curtain is just as worthy of celebration as what happens on show night.

Set construction: Sarah Evans, Lillie Kilgore, AJ DeMary
Painting: Jess Leach, Lillie Kilgore, Nor Caissie, Brendan Ferguson
Lights: AJ DeMary, Avery Moore
Costumes: Jess Leach, Wren DeWitt, DeShanee Thomas, Sav Hale

Also pictured: Que Howard at the light and sound board — one of the many hands that made the magic happen from places the audience never sees. ✨

More to come as wind down draws to a close.

Photos by Garry Posey, the cast (thanks Cody and Jordan!), and ETC's social media team. 📸

04/27/2026

That's final curtain folks, and oof, we need a moment to come down from the magic of this weekend. Watching everyone sing Seasons of Love back to us during the encore. The last note still hasn't faded.

There's a specific kind of joy that only happens when a room full of people allows themselves, all at once, to feel something together. That was this show. That is RENT.

To the cast, band, crew, and every single person who showed up — thank you for being a part of it. And to everyone who liked, shared, and reposted along the way: you helped fill those seats and we don't take that lightly.

If you have photos you're willing to share, drop them in the comments or tag us. This story isn't just ours to tell. 🕯️

Special thanks to our stage manager Sarah Evans for grabbing the pre-show cast shot! 📸

More to come in this week's wind down.