A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
The current
show at Little Theatre of Fall River is "A Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof". written by Tennessee Williams.
The show first opened on Broadway on March
24,1955 starring Ben Gazzara, Barbara Bel Geddes and
Burl Ives. In 1958 it was turned into a movie
starring Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Burl
Ives. It is the story of a Southern family in
crises, 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. They gather at the
family estate in Mississippi, supposedly 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. He has a hidden secret which Maggie
addresses in the first act and his father in the
second. 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, in the hopes of receiving
the definitive share of Big Daddy's enormous wealth.
Williams' poetic dialogue still packs a punch and
even though the show is billed as a drama, there are
many funny moments thrown in to temper it.
Co-directors Kathy Castro and Bob Gillet cast this
show very well.
Kathy and
Bob give each of their performers their moments to
shine in this show. They are aided in their task by
stage manager Sue Cotuitt who keeps things running
smoothly onstage and backstage. The multitude of
costumes are by Cindy Loria and Mary Pavao with
props by Betty Teixeira and Gail Powers. Maggie is
played with a seductive vulnerability by Tracy L.
Gendreau. She is a gorgeous red head who first
appears in a soiled frock which has been ruined by
grape juice being spilled on it by the no-neck
monsters.(Mae and Gooper's children) What Tracy
grasps in this role is Maggie's hard driving-sense
of purpose. She is wonderful especially in the first
act which is almost a whole monologue for her. Tracy
drives home Maggie's reasons to Brick including that
she really loves him; a woman has her needs and if
Maggie doesn't conceive a child, it's possible that
the huge estate will go to the other son, Gooper and
his annoyingly fertile and conniving wife, Mae. The
brooding heavy drinking, Brick played by John Wright
who recently returned to RI having spent the past 10
years in New York, appears with a broken foot on a
crutch, exuding petulant sexuality in the role. The
intensity builds with Tracy in the first act and
with Big Daddy in the second act. Finally by Act
3 the light dawns in the alcoholic son's brain,
making Brick comfort his mother when she needs him,
leading the audience to believe he'll give up
drinking, give Maggie the child they need to hold
onto the family estate. Bern Budd tackles the role
of Big Daddy. He does an excellent job as this
cantankerous, curmudgeon who fears for his
mortality. Big Daddy yells and swears at Brick
during their argument scene and at everyone else who
offends him, too. Telling lies on the plantation has
become a way of life but he wants that to stop
shouting "Liars, liars, liars" as he storms off
stage at the end of Act 2. Bern is full of fire and
brimstone in this role of larger than life
character. Linda Monchik does a wonderful job as Big
Mama. She is the long suffering wife of this tycoon.
Linda's most dramatic moment comes when Big Mama
doesn't want to hear that her husband's cancer might
be terminal.
Chris McRae
is dynamic onstage as he plays the role of the
unloved son, Gooper. He gives his mother and father
the grandchildren that they desire but Brick has
always been the apple of their eye, no matter how
well he does with his law practice. Chris does
a splendid job in this seemingly underwritten role
in a Williams play. The constantly pregnant Mae is
played by Katie Mello. She wears a pregnancy pad and
sulks around the stage spying and eavesdropping on
Brick and Maggie as well as on Brick and Big Daddy.
Katie is a spitfire especially when she pushes Tracy
around. She also gets to yell out that Maggie is a
liar for telling Big Daddy she is pregnant because
Mae and Gooper can distinctly hear that Maggie and
Brick haven't made love in a long time. Katie leads
the children in two songs for Big Daddy. The
Pollitt children are well played by Hannah Andrade,
Andrea and Ethan Amaral and Samantha and Colin
Soares. Rounding out the cast is Maria Dawson as
Sookey, the maid, Eugene Rheaume as Reverend Tooker
who leads the children in "Jesus Loves Me So" and
Michael McGill as Doctor Baugh who delivers the real
results of Big Daddy's test at the end of the show.
So for a look back at a classic show, be sure to
catch "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF ( 11 to 14 March, 2010)
Little Theatre of Fall River,BBC, 777 Elsbree Street, Fall River,MA
1(508)675-1852 or www.littletheatre.net