 | "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" is a Tony-nominated play by Tennessee Williams (see photo). The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Plot It is the story of a Southern family in crisis, focusing on the turbulent relationship of a wife and husband, Maggie "The Cat" and Brick Pollitt, and their interaction with Brick's family over the course of one evening gathering at the family estate in Mississippi, ostensibly to celebrate the birthday of patriarch and tycoon "Big Daddy" Pollitt. |
| Maggie, through wit and beauty, has escaped a childhood of desperate poverty to marry into the wealthy Pollitt family, but finds herself suffering in an unfulfilling marriage. Brick, an aging football hero, has neglected his wife and further infuriates her by ignoring his brother's attempts to gain control of the family fortune. Brick's indifference and his near-continuous drinking date back to the recent suicide of his friend Skipper. Big Daddy is unaware that he has cancer and will not live to see another birthday; his doctors and his family have conspired to keep this information from him and his wife. His relatives are in attendance and attempt to present themselves in the best possible light, hoping to receive the definitive share of Big Daddy's enormous wealth. The original Broadway production, which opened in 1955, was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Barbara Bel Geddes as Maggie. A 1974 revival featured Elizabeth Ashley, Keir Dullea, Fred Gwynne and Kate Reid. A 1990 revival featured Kathleen Turner in her Broadway debut. A 2003 revival received lukewarm reviews despite the presence of film stars Ashley Judd and Jason Patric. A 2004 production at the Kennedy Center featured Mary Stuart Masterson as Maggie. A new all-star, all-African-American production, directed by Debbie Allen, opened on Broadway in March 6, 2008 to mixed reviews. Film star Terrence Howard made his Broadway debut as Brick, alongside stage veterans James Earl Jones (Big Daddy), Phylicia Rashad (Big Mama) and Anika Noni Rose (Maggie). | |
The Cast of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' on The Today Show 2008 | |
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