Patrons of the third annual Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival will have the opportunity to enjoy coffee with veteran stage and screen stars Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. The famous duo will offer insight into the work of Tennessee Williams in a conversation over coffee on the final day of the weekend celebration of the work, life and legacy of America’s great playwright, presented Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, September 28 at various indoor and outdoor venues in Provincetown, MA. Coffee with Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson is a special private program for Williams Pass holders and Festival donors of $250 or more, set for Sunday, September 28 at 11:00 a.m. at the Fine Arts Work Center.
Tennessee Williams has played an integral role in the lives of
Eli Wallach and
Anne Jackson. The couple met when Wallach appeared in the Equity Library Theater's production of Williams' This Property Is Condemned in 1946 and married two years later. Wallach became a regular on Broadway, appearing in Williams' Camino Real and The Rose Tattoo (for which he won a Tony Award in 1951). Jackson earned Tony nominations for Williams' Summer and Smoke (1948), in which she created the role of Nellie Ewel; for Oh Men! Oh Women! (1953); and for Middle of the Night (1956). Wallach made his film debut in 1956, in
Elia Kazan's production of Williams' Baby Doll, for which he received a British Academy Award. He has since appeared in numerous films, including The Magnificent Seven (1960), How The West Was Won (1962), and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967), working alongside such legendary stars as Clark Gable,
Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen,
Marilyn Monroe,
Yul Brynner, and
Al Pacino. Wallach and Jackson have performed on stage together in Major Barbara, Rhinoceros, The Waltz of the Toreadors, The Typists and The Tiger (for which Jackson won an Obie Award), Luv, Next, Twice Around the Park,
Tennessee Williams Remembered (a collection of the couple's Williams stories) and Down the Garden Path, and on film together in The Tiger Makes Out. Wallach’s most memorable television role was as Mr. Freeze in the 1960’s TV series Batman, and he won an Emmy Award in 1967 for his role in The Poppy is Also a Flower. Jackson’s film roles also include Tall Story with
Anthony Perkins and
Jane Fonda, The Secret Life of an American Wife, Nasty Habits, and The Bell Jar.
The Provincetown
Tennessee Williams Theater Festival will feature a dozen events, including live performances, tours and conversations with the actors. Highlights include Academy Award-winning actress
Olympia Dukakis in a special program during which she will reveal the depth of her relationship with Williams' words; a performance of the NY hit production of “The Eccentricities of a Nightingale,” and the world premiere of Williams’ “Green Eyes,” paired with a performance of Williams’ early "Adam and Eve on a Ferry." The New England Conservatory of Music will present “Love Songs from Summer and Smoke,” a concert version of the Lee Hoiby/Lanford Wilson opera “Summer and Smoke,” based on Williams’ play. After having its World Premiere in Boston on September 16, “The Dog Enchanted by the Divine View,” Williams’ first version of “The Rose Tattoo,” starring
Larry Coen and Nancy Cassaro, will be paired at the Festival with the triple Academy Award-winning 1955 film of “The Rose Tattoo.” The street theater company Brooklyn on Foot will return to the Festival with “Camino Real,” a new play entitled “Rancho Pancho,” which will be presented by the Classic Theatre of San Antonio, and DanceLoop Chicago will premiere “Lorita!,” a dance adaptation of Williams’ short story "Happy August 10th.
Other Festival events include “Young Love,” a collection of new short plays on a theme from
Tennessee Williams, written by Cape playwrights and featuring roles for high school age or younger. The playwrights include Wendy Kesselman (Tony Nomination for “The Diary of
Anne Frank”), Al Viola, Meryl Cohn, Judith Wall, Douglas Asher-Best, and Jerry Thompson. The “TW Tour of the Town” will be conducted throughout the weekend, offering insight into Williams’ life in Provincetown by visiting places he lived, wrote, and fell in love, among others. Partly on foot and partly by trolley, the tour is given by
Jeremy Lawrence, the noted actor whose shows based on Williams’ interviews have played throughout the United States, and Michael Chainey, who has been giving tours of Provincetown for the last two years.
Due to scheduling conflicts, the previously announced Teatro do Bolhão production of “The Night of the Iguana” from Portugal has been cancelled. A new Festival offering, “Tennessee in Foreign Tongues,” will feature select video clips from the Portuguese production of “Iguana” as well as several other foreign productions, including a Russian “Suddenly Last Summer,” Cantonese footage of “Eccentricities of a Nightingale,” scenes from the French version of Williams’ “Desire and the Black Masseur,” and others. Festival curator David Kaplan will introduce the clips, which are from his own private collection.
The Provincetown
Tennessee Williams Theater Festival takes place Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, September 28, 2008 at various venues in Provincetown, Massachusetts. See schedule on next page. Additional details on the schedule of performances and events will be announced. Festival passes, including access to all 12 shows, are available online at www.twptown.org or through 1-866-789-TENN (8366). Audience members can also become patrons by purchasing a Williams Pass, which includes tickets to all performances as well as access to exclusive parties and events, and more. Single tickets are also now on sale, through
www.twptown.org.
For more information, including new details on Festival performances and events as they become available, visit
www.twptown.org.
