TennesseePlayers.org

Tennessee Players, Inc., is a very unique non-profit performing arts organization founded in l986 by Thurston Moore and his late wife, Georgianna (1927-2002). Under Georgianna's theatrical direction the company presented productions throughout Middle Tennessee and neighboring states, including memorable presentations for Nashville's Two River Mansion's "Christmas Open House," where Georgianna's original Civil War Drama, Willie's Comin' Home, premiered.

Dr. Goodheart's Medicine Show was presented at the Nashville Convention Center and the creativity and talents of Tennessee Players were vividly showcased in 1988 when they presented An Evening of Entertainment to aid Nashville's PBS station's membership drive, featuring 29 performers in 24 theatrical skits: "To give or not to give."

In 1991 Tennessee Players rook their troupe to Hiawassee, Georgia, where they were commissioned by the elegant Fieldstone Inn to present Great Moments from Broadway Theatre. That show introduced Tom Dolan in his remarkable Mark Twain portrayal.

For several years Tennessee Players sponsored weekend bus tours to Outdoor Dramas with on-board and on-location entertainment. Their weekly radio program, The Theatre Scene, hosted by Georgianna, ran for more than three years and their acclaimed programs are in the archives of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation and the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City.

In 1992, Tennessee Players produced two major productions for the Middle Tennessee Theatre Festival, presented by the Middle Tennessee Theatre Alliance: An Evening of Theatre and A Theatre Anthology.

In 1993 Thurston's original drama, Lincoln and the Civil War, with Georgianna portraying Mary Todd Lincoln, premiered at the Tennessee Performing arts Center.

Words of Albert Schweitzer and the Music of Bach premiered in 1995 and in l996 Lincoln and the Fisk Jubilee Singers was presented with the world-famous singers at Fisk University, another Thurston Moore original production.

It was in 1958 when Thurston saw the Oscar-winning film for "best documentary," Albert Schweitzer, and became deeply influenced by Dr. Schweitzer's life and philosophy of Reverence for Life. Thurston's life's work is keeping Schweitzer's words and spirit alive, and one of his proudest accomplishments was his association with Norman Cousins for the book, The Words of Albert Schweitzer. In 2000 Thurston produced Symposium 2000 - World Peace through Reverence for Life, celebrating the 125th birthday of Schweitzer's birth and the 250th anniversary of Bach's death. That 16-day event in Nashville was sponsored by Vanderbilt University. Thurston first thought of a World Peace 2000 event back in 1987 with encouragement from Norman Cousins.

For most of their 58 years of married life the Moores were a unique team in the theatre world. Georgianna's love for the theatre goes back to December, 1937, when her aunt took her to the Cox Theatre in Cincinnati to see Helen Hayes in Victoria Regina. Georgianna, only 10, told her aunt, "I want to be an actress."

Georgianna and Thurston have worked in theatre in Kentucky (where they were born), Colorado, Connecticut, and New York City, before moving to Nashville in 1983. In Connecticut, Georgianna was the director for three seasons of the Children's Theatre Wing of the famed New Canaan Town Players. Memorable productions she directed for Tennessee Players, and produced by Thurston, include Harvey, Death Takes a Holiday, and You Can't Take It With You.

Critic Lisa DuBois, wrote, "There's something kind of great about the community theatre experience, and Tennessee Player's current production of Harvey is the consummate example.

Georgianna's personal fulfillment was "encouraging community theatres and nurturing the growth of new talent." Actor Tom Dolan wrote after her death, "What she taught me was to look from within and pull life's richness out. She always saw beyond the obvious and into the soul of what could be. Her goal was simply the enjoyment and betterment of mankind. Her energy, excitement and caring always recharged your soul."

Tennessee Players' motto is: "To create something beautiful for somebody else."