Williams' Autobiographical Tale VIEUX CARRE Opens 5/27 At Pearl Theater

THE PEARL THEATRE COMPANY is pleased to present the fifth and final play of its 25 th Anniversary Season, Vieux Carré - Tennessee Williams' autobiographical meditation on sexuality, decay, and clinging to hope in an uncertain world. The production will open May 27, 2009.

Vieux Carré thrusts the audience into the deep shadows of a dilapidated New Orleans boarding house. The play is a raw and vulnerable look into a world of outcasts and their mechanisms for survival. Nowhere does Williams more intimately explore his own sexual identity, his own journey from man to artist than in Vieux Carré.

He invokes the beauty and fragility of love, and the wounds it inflicts; the terror of death and the necessity of hope, the importance of memory and the longing to bury the past. The Pearl welcomes back director Austin Pendleton as he takes a powerful approach to Vieux Carré, seeing in its comic, anguished figures the seedbed of Williams' dramatic imagination.

With the talents of The Pearl's Resident Acting Company, guest artists, and designers, he will mine the deep passions, heartbreaking poetry, and unique blend of youthful fervor and world-weariness in one of Tennessee Williams' final and most autobiographical plays.

More about the PlayWilliams began writing Vieux Carré in 1939 when he first moved to 722 Toulouse Street in the French Quarter (Vieux Carré) in New Orleans. But it was not until 1978, when turning to these early experiences for inspiration, that he was able to fully realize the story and its personal significance.

Vieux Carré is unique in being both an early and late play; inspired by the impressions of an emerging artist and a seasoned playwright nearing the end of his career. The CastThe cast features 2008-2009 Resident Acting Company members Rachel Botchan as Jane, Sean McNall as The Writer, and Carol Schultz as Mrs. Wire.

The production's guest artists are Beth Dixon as Mary, Joseph Collins as Tye, George Morfogen (HBO's "OZ") as Nightingale, Pamela Payton-Wright (Drama Desk winner; ABC's "One Life to Live") as Carrie, Christian Pedersen as Sky, and Claudia Robinson as Nursie. The Pearl Theatre Company is delighted to reunite the talents of director Austin Pendleton and actor George Morfogen in their second collaboration on Vieux Carré; the first a successful 1984 production at the Williamstown Theater Festival.

Design and Production TeamTony-nominated Austin Pendleton helms the production and design team, which includes scenic design by Harry Feiner, costume design by Barbara A. Bell, lighting design by Stephen Petrilli, and sound design by Jane Shaw. The stage manager is Dale Smallwood and the dramaturge is Kate Farrington. About The Pearl Theatre Company "The Pearl [serves] as an intimate outlet for the presentation of important works, both famous and obscure...itmay be as crucial to the future of New York theatre as any of the larger companies uptown; it is a caretaker of the legacy."-Peter Marks, The New York Times

The Pearl Theatre Company is dedicated to two primary goals: to produce a full-range classical repertory and to foster a Resident Acting Company. An OBIE Award-winning company, The Pearl has produced five mainstage productions each year since 1984, displaying international variety and theatrical excellence, firmly rooted in the classical canon. Our goal is to bring the audience to the world of the play, rather than mold the play to the confines of modern idiom.

To accomplish this, we place our trust in the unlimited resonance of classic texts and the remarkable craft of our resident actors. With 2,500 years of our theatrical heritage as a foundation, The Pearl is now celebrating our 25th Anniversary Season as a downtown cultural institution. The Pearl boasts a loyal base of 2,600 subscribers, hailing from our backyard of New York City's five boroughs and throughout the tri-state area.

We welcomed nearly 28,000 patrons to our theatre during the 2007-2008 season, many of them newcomers who were drawn in by a particular play, playwright, or genre. We also pride ourselves on a substantial audience of contemporary actors, directors, and playwrights who consider The Pearl a nurturing and rare resource for their own work.

Our 25 th Anniversary season began in ancient Greece with a family caught in the web of their own legacy in The Oedipus Cycle. The New York Times proclaimed, "Mr. Sobel and his cast pull off a difficult feat." For the holidays, we journeyed to Jerusalem during the Christian Crusades to discover if religious tolerance and understanding are possible in Nathan the Wise. Twelfth Night brought us to Illyria where whimsy, fancy, and love distracted and delighted us, and where TheaterMania.com found the "ultimate sense of fun."

We then landed in decadent Paris where we witnessed both the humor and harm of blind faith in Tartuffe. Back Stage raved it was "a throat-grabbing, go-for-broke, what-the-hell mirth mania. " Now we arrive at a dilapidated boarding house in New Orleans, where Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré will challenge us to seek light in even the darkest of places.

The 2008/2009 Resident Acting CompanyOur Resident Acting Company consists of veterans of the New York and Regional stages including: Jolly Abraham, Rachel Botchan, Robin Leslie Brown, Joanne Camp, Bradford Cover, Dominic Cuskern, TJ Edwards, Robert Hock, Sean McNall, Carol Schultz, and Edward Seamon.

The 2008/2009 resident stage managers are Lisa Ledwich and Dale Smallwood. 2008/2009 Ticketing and Performance InformationA variety of ticketing options are currently available for the final show of the season. Contact our box office at 212-598-9802 or in person at the historic Theatre 80 on the corner of 1 Avenue and St. Marks Place in New York's vibrant East Village. Box office hours are 12PM - 6PM Monday through Saturday and 12PM - 3PM on Sunday. st Production Schedule:Tuesday at 7PM; Wednesday at 2PM; Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8PM; Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Previews begin May 12, 2009 at 7PM. Opening night is Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 7PM. Regular Ticket Prices:$25 for all preview performances; $45 for performances on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; $55 for performances on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Youth and Senior Tickets: $23 weekdays and $28 weekends. Remaining tickets at each performance can be purchased at a reduced price by people 24 and younger or 65 and older on the day of performance, one half-hour prior to curtain, subject to availability. Valid for 1 ticket only per ID in person at the box office. Thursday Rush Tickets:Remaining tickets for Thursday evening performances are available for $10 fifteen minutes prior to curtain.

First Thursday Pizza Party:Join The Pearl Theatre Company on Thursday, May 14 th for our popular "First Thursday Pizza Party." Sponsored by Two Boots Pizza, this event is geared toward audience members under the age of 35.

Participants are welcome to partake in free pizza, with the purchase of a specially-priced $10 ticket to the performance, while participating in a special presentation by production designers and guest artists and mingling with the company members and production staff of Vieux Carré. First Thursday Pizza Parties begin at 6:00PM in the lobby of The Pearl Theatre Company.

Tuesday Talk Post-Performance Discussion:These in-depth discussions give audiences the opportunity to participate in intimate talk-backs led by published scholars and experts within their fields. Tuesday Talks during Vieux Carré will take place following the performances on June 2, 2009 and June 9, 2009. Directions:The company performs at Theatre 80, 80 St. Mark's Place at 1 st Avenue. The Pearl can be reached by taking the R/W train to 8 th Street, 6 train to Astor Place, L train to First Avenue, or the F train to Second Avenue. By bus the M15 to 9 th Street or the M8 to First Avenue.