Tennessee Theatre, Bijou manager retires after loving venues 'as if they were his own'

Managing two of Knoxville’s most iconic venues comes with its perks, though it's not the free shows or artist interactions that most excite Tom Bugg.

It's standing at the front door of the Tennessee Theatre after a show, saying goodbye to countless smiling faces and watching their enthusiasm spill into the marquee lights illuminating Gay Street.

Knoxville returned the favor when 600 people gathered at the venue to celebrate and say goodbye to Bugg, who has retired at age 65 after roughly 17 years as general manager of the Tennessee and Bijou theaters. Even longer if you count his first stint helping revitalize the Tennessee Theatre − and downtown, for that matter − alongside acclaimed concert promoter Ashley Capps.

"Tom's going to be sorely missed because I can't think of anyone more identified with the Tennessee and Bijou theaters than Tom," Capps told Knox News. "He loved those theaters as if they were his own, and he was a vital force behind what those theaters have become in our community."

During his final day on the job Feb. 2 − between tying up loose ends, cleaning out his desk and emotionally preparing for his retirement party the following day − Bugg met with Knox News to talk about what it has been like to oversee the venues all these years.

“I’m awestruck that I have a job to work in this place,” Bugg told Knox News about the Tennessee Theatre. “Knoxville is so lucky that we didn’t knock these theaters down. You know, Nashville had a Tennessee Theatre. They knocked it down. And just to have these old theaters that have character … they just put you in a better space when you walk in the door.”

Tom Bugg took the Tennessee Theatre keys and never looked back

Knoxville could have lost its theaters, too. But in 2005 and 2006, the Tennessee and Bijou theaters reopened with multi-million-dollar makeovers. Capps’ AC Entertainment took over managing the Bijou and continued managing the Tennessee after taking it over in 1996.

That’s the year Bugg became manager of the Tennessee Theatre, though he wasn’t planning for the role. Bugg started working with Capps a few years prior and helped everywhere he could, from serving drinks at Capps’ Old City venue, Ella Guru’s, to saving money on artists' catering by making deli trays himself.

One summer day, shortly after AC Entertainment took over managing the Tennessee Theatre, the symphony showed up to retrieve a piece of equipment. Bugg grabbed the keys from Capps' desk and let them in.

“When I came back … to hand over the key, (Capps) said, ‘Maybe you ought to hold on to that one,” Bugg recalled. “I became the general manager of the Tennessee Theatre and did it for about four years, five seasons.”

He left to work in Greenville, South Carolina, but was reunited with Knoxville when he came back as the Bijou's general manager in 2006. He returned as general manager of the Tennessee Theatre the following year, replacing Becky Hancock, who is now the theater's executive director.

The rest is history.

Bonnie Raitt, Sugarland stand out among Knoxville theater interactions

Some of the biggest names in entertainment have walked through the theaters’ doors over the years, and Bugg isn't ashamed to admit it: On nights both venues hosted shows, he personally chose which to attend. But he might only catch a glimpse amid his busy work schedule.

“I tell people backstage is the most overrated place in the history of the world because if you are backstage and you’re not with the tour, you’re kind of isolated,” Bugg said.

But every now and then, a touring artist made a point to meet the manager. Bonnie Raitt was always one of those people.

One time, on his way to meet Raitt backstage, Bugg found the “I Can’t Make You Love Me” singer on her knees struggling to see how to unlock the dressing room door, despite her reading glasses. Bugg lent a hand and would later take it upon himself to escort her away from the venue.

“I’m not letting Bonnie Raitt walk to the bus by herself,” he said.

There was also the time Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland overheard Bugg talking with a caterer about his father’s need for a knee replacement.

“She interjects and she goes, ‘You know, medical science is still trying to figure out how to cure disease and cancer, but they've got the bone thing down,’” Bugg said. “At the end of the night … she’s like: ‘Oh, we had a great time here, what a beautiful theater. You tell your daddy to go ahead and get that knee replaced.’”

His father had no idea who this Nettles person was, Bugg said with a laugh, but he took her advice all the same.

Tom Bugg has done it all at Tennessee, Bijou theaters in Knoxville

If you think your calendar is hard to manage, you should see the ones Bugg organized for the theaters.

The venues have what Bugg calls local “arts partners,” like the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, that typically play a set number of dates each year. But as programming has grown at the venues, especially with a full Broadway season now at the Tennessee Theatre, picking dates that work for everyone has become more challenging.

There's a "hierarchy" of performances and dates Bugg has to navigate with local artists and touring acts across the country.

"You can't always make them happy, but you can try to make it work," he said. "It’s definitely different from 1996 where ... I did everything. Having more people, I’ve become less of a control freak, which is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Another difference in Bugg's professional life: The unavoidable physical decline that comes with aging.

“I don’t remember what show it was in December where the bar was busy," Bugg said. "I went downstairs and got a couple buckets of ice, and I used to be able to run up those stairs with two buckets of ice two stairs at a time. … It’s what I’ve done for so long.”

But Bugg isn’t one to hold on to the way things used to be. He played a vital role in helping the theaters bounce back from COVID-19 as venue policies were changing, and he regularly kept a close eye on online ticket sales to cancel orders of suspected brokers taking advantage of can’t-miss shows.

“I think it’s morally sketchy to buy tickets to resell them,” Bugg said. “You’re making money off the artist and the venue, and that’s one reason ticket prices have jumped. Artists see … if so-and-so is going to pay $500 for a ticket, why don’t we just put it out there as a $500 ticket and see if they buy them from us.”

This has always frustrated Bugg, who views it this way: Ticket brokers only interact with buyers during transactions. Bugg must keep a relationship with concertgoers from the moment they buy a ticket until they leave the show, even when it comes to things he can't always control.

"Tom has a remarkably self-effacing spirit and is definitely there to win the hand of virtually any situation you might imagine emerging during the course of the evening," Capps said. "At the theaters, that kind of commitment is very special and invaluable."

Why Bugg feels like 'one of the luckiest people that ever lived'

After working 15 years to get Dwight Yoakam at the Tennessee Theatre, Bugg said, it finally happened Feb.7-8. He's a big fan but couldn't make the show because of a Colorado skiing trip planned for his first few days of retirement.

"I just laugh at that," he said.

But when you've been in the business as long as Bugg, one show pales in comparison to a career's worth of marquee moments.

"He had worked for AC as a freelancer on a per-show basis helping us do concerts increasingly all over the southeastern United States," Capps said about Bugg, who predates everyone (including longtime AC Entertainment employee Ted Heinig) when it comes to working with Capps. "It was true that we had no theater experience directly in terms of operations and management, but we had watched a lot of other people do it not that well."

Bugg felt like theaters in other cities didn't want them bringing shows because it meant working late. He even recalls venues charging to retrieve an extra table needed backstage.

Bugg decided to do the opposite, making "everybody that walks in this building happy to be here," he said.

Now, everybody's happy to see Bugg getting the retirement he deserves, no matter how tough it is to walk away. Bugg expects he'll be back soon, though, likely working behind the bar.

It seemed almost poetic to retire around the same time "Wicked" left town, he said, as that show and the recent Broadway schedules feel like the culmination of all his hard work.

"Coming to work at this place or the Bijou, you start to think you're one of the luckiest people that ever lived," Bugg said. "This is Knoxville's Grand Entertainment Palace."

Ryan Wilusz is a downtown growth and development reporter. Phone 865-317-5138. Email ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com. Instagram @knoxscruff.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Theatre and Bijou Theatre general manager says goodbye