Melissa Weckhorst is the Administrative Assistant for the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and, likely, the first person you’ll see when you come to the Administrative Office. One of the reasons Melissa was so attracted to her job is because of her varied experience in the theatre as an actor, director, stage manager and costume designer. A self-proclaimed theatre junkie, her favorite fix is reading a script, like “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and imagining the voices that make the words come to life.
Like that wily feline
on the proverbial hot tin roof, Tennessee Williams’ American classic can be a
bit of a moving target. Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof, noted as the playwright’s personal favorite, has seen a number of
revisions and adaptations. Although it premiered in New York City in 1955, the
script would see a number of changes before its final version in 1974 for the
Broadway revival.
Sticking to the original 1955 version, Perseverance Theatre
will be presenting their interpretation in their upcoming production at the
Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. The story, set in the Mississippi delta,
is about a husband and wife, Brick and Margaret (often known as “Maggie the
Cat”), and their interactions with Brick’s family at the Pollitt family estate.
The patriarch, Big Daddy, is celebrating his birthday, but unbeknownst to him
and Big Mama, his family knows he is dying of cancer. The Pollitt family is one
of “new money,” and the web of deceit the various family members have spun to
secure the estate of the family is quickly revealed. Each character’s pursuit
to “make the lie true” reveals themes of greed, mendacity, repression and
social mores.
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| Elizabeth M. Kelly as "Maggie" and Enrique Bravo as "Brick" Credit: Cam Byrnes |
Perseverance Theatre Artistic Director Art Rotch knows the
themes of cultural upheaval on the microcosm of a family still speak to modern
families. 30 years ago, Perseverance Theatre presented Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to a very different Alaska. He says in his
program notes, “In the peak of the oil boom, Maggie and [sister-in-law] Mae’s
tussle for the land must have resonated very differently than today. Thirty
years ago, a young baby boom generation was building the post pipeline Alaska
and the movement to end discrimination against LGBTQ people would soon take a
back seat to fighting AIDS. Today, the baby boom generation is Big Daddy, and
marriage equality is becoming the law of the land. In the midst of all that
change, the greatness of these characters continues to captivate as we
re-examine their very human hopes, fears, rivalries and alliances.”
Perseverance has also made another interesting choice that
echoes with modern audiences: the Pollitt family, in this version, is Latino.
It is another reminder that families, like the American Dream, are constantly
changing and being redefined with each new generation. Likewise, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will see more than
nine lives as it is told over and over again as an American classic.
Perseverance Theatre presents Cat on a Hot Tin Roof April 11 – 27, 2014 at the Alaska Center for
the Performing Arts in the Sydney Laurence Theatre. For tickets, visit www.CenterTix.net or call (907) 263-2787.
