Touched By Bluegrass: “Bright Star” At UTC Theatre Co.

Liam Phillips, left, as Billy Cane and Miller Richardson, right, as Margo Crawford in UTC Theatre Co.’s production of “Bright Star.”(UTC Theatre Co.)(Aired Tues 2/25/25)More than a decade ago, Steve Martin collaborated on a bluegrass album.The title song - “Love Has Come For You” - earned a Grammy, and their work inspired a musical: “Bright Star” - about a literary editor with a painful past who meets a young soldier returning home from World War II.“Bright Star” is the latest production of UTC Theatre Co. on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.It premieres Tuesday night - and runs through Saturday, March 1st - in the Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre in the Fine Arts Center.Steve Ray, who heads the Theatre Department here at UTC, is the director of “Bright Star.”Teagan Bartz, a sophomore, plays Jimmy Ray Dobbs.Pearson Smith, a senior, plays Alice Murphy.(UTC Theatre Co.)