CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

VINTAGE THEATRE PRODUCTIONS: 

3/11 – 4/17

 

   James O'Hagan-Murphy and Kelly Uhlenhopp

Vintage Theatre’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is dramatic dynamite!

     As the Pollitt family gathers to celebrate a patriarch’s big birthday in the sweltering Mississippi heat, sexual tensions explode, and hidden agendas are unveiled.

     “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is based upon one of Tennessee Williams’ one-act plays called “Three Players of a Summer Game.” It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955, and of all his plays, Williams always considered “Cat” to be his favorite. 

    The adaptation from stage to screen in 1958, which starred Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, and Burl Ives, was nominated for a number of Academy Awards. Williams was disappointed in the screen adaptation which the Hays Code censored, diluting the play’s critique of sexism and homophobia. In short, the ‘mendacity’ Williams was unveiling in the play was diminished in the screenplay. 

     Focusing clearly upon the essentials in Tennessee Williams’ original text, director Bernie Cardell has cast the Vintage Theatre production impeccably.

     James O’Hagan-Murphy, the star of Vintage Theatre’s critically acclaimed “RFK,” is superb in the role of one-time football hero, Brick Pollitt. 

     Kelly Uhlenhopp is on fire as Brick’s glamorous, sultry and sexually frustrated wife, Maggie, ‘the cat.’ In this reviewer’s not so humble opinion, this actor’s smoldering performance is far superior to that of Elizabeth Taylor’s in the film.    

     Rick Long astounds as Big Daddy, the arrogant self-made cotton mogul and Pollitt patriarch. 

     Jan Cleveland turns in her best work to date as Big Mama. This actor’s dramatic work in Act Three is powerful.

      Andy Anderson is brilliantly aggravating as Brick’s avaricious and conniving brother, Gooper. 

     Progressively and intentionally threadbare after each intermission, Matthew S. Crane’s scenic design gives us the dissolution of the Pollit family’s façade in visual terms.

     Steve Tangedal’s lighting design subtly shifts the moods to illuminate this web of deceit. 

     Not to be missed!!!

 

 

 

Vintage Theatre presents

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

A family unravels on one hot Mississippi night.

Mar 11 – April 17

Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m.; Mon. Mar. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

$20-$34
303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.org

Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010