The Nine Lives of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

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.

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.