Do Knotts miss this show!
Karen Knotts pays tribute to father Don in one-woman show next weekend at Edison.
What’s it like to be the child of a famous Hollywood actor who won five Emmy awards and was ranked by TV Guide in 1996 as #27 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list?
Come to Edison Theater next weekend and find out.
Don Knotts’ daughter Karen, 60, has been touring her show, “Tied Up in Knotts,” for the past four years.
She began conceptualizing the show several years ago as a member of The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, (GRT) based in North Hollywood.
A daughter pays homage to Dad, Mayberry. Photo courtesy: Karen Knotts.
At the time, Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre’s Creative Director Shira Dubrovner was also a member of GRT – thus, the connection to bring Knotts here.
While Karen’s younger brother is a Palo Alto-based electrical engineer, Karen inherited the acting genes. “I always wanted to perform,” she said. “People have the assumption,” she continued, “that [if you’re the child of a famous star] you just waltz in [to the industry].”
If it were only that easy.
As her bio states, “Karen Knotts learned her craft at the Universtity of Southern California, where she was directed by the great Emmy award-winning director Alex Siegal (Diary of Anne Frank). After graduating, she did shows in Equity regional theatres across the country with her father, Don Knotts. Don and Karen performed in the plays Mind with a Dirty Man, Norman is that You? and You Can’t Take It With You in California, Michigan, Kansas, Illinois, and New York.”
Clearly, this is someone who has paid her dues.
She then told a story about debuting “Tied Up in Knotts” in Edinborough, Scotland in 2008. It was a three-week engagement. So she gets onstage the first night and starts talking about having this famous father Don Knotts and then realizes …. no one in Scotland had ever heard of Don Knotts.
Sheet: So what’d you do?
Knotts: I did the show. (Pause for unstated follow up comment. What else could I do? Reporters can be idiots!)
Knotts has had great success in selling out her show at the various Mayberry festivals (yes, there are multiple festivals held around the country to celebrate the Andy Griiffith Show and the fictional town of Mayberry). “I’ve performed at three or four and have another one scheduled for next May,” she said.
Regarding the popularity of these festivals, Knotts says simply, “There are tons of folks longing for the nostalgia of it. It’s a way of life on the way out, and people cling to it.”
The show is suitable for all ages. Showtimes are 7 p.m. on August 29 & August 30. For tickets, visit www.edisontheatre.org.
