Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Alan Cumming Will Direct Jacob Storms in TENNESSEE RISING Off-Broadway

Tennessee Rising will run February 19 through April 2 at AMT Theater.

Alan Cumming Will Direct Jacob Storms in TENNESSEE RISING Off-Broadway

The newly renovated AMT Theater in midtown will host the Off-Broadway Premiere of TENNESSEE RISING: THE DAWN OF Tennessee Williams. This solo play is written and performed by Jacob Storms and directed by Alan Cumming.

What led Tennessee Williams to become the most groundbreaking and unique playwright of the twentieth century? TENNESSE RISING: THE DAWN OF Tennessee Williams explores the formative six-year period from 1939-1945 in which an unknown writer named Tom metamorphosizes into the acclaimed playwright known as Tennessee. The solo play brings these unknown years center stage as the audience becomes friend and confidant to young Williams as he experiences the unexpected highs and devastating lows of his early career, wherein his most iconic character emerges: himself.

An earlier version of TENNESSE RISING received the United Solo Award for Best One-Man Show at the 2017 United Solo Festival in New York City and headlined the 2018 Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis. The current version, under the direction of Alan Cumming, was slated to premiere in March 2020 at the Beaubourg Theatre in New Orleans but was canceled due to Covid. And in the spring of 2021, Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre hosted a limited engagement run on their outdoor patio for an audience of only 20 per performance.

Jacob Storms is best known for his recurring role (Serge) on Steven Soderbergh & Gregory Jacobs' Amazon Original Series, Red Oaks. Jacob won the United Solo Award for his original solo play, Tennessee Rising: The Dawn of Tennessee Williams, at United Solo Fest. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Guggenheim Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York Live Arts Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Symphony Space, The St. Louis, New Orleans, and Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festivals, The Hollywood Bowl, Disney Concert Hall, PICA's Time-Based Art Festival, the cell theatre and more. Jacob is also the youngest actor in the world to have performed Doug Wright's Pulitzer Prize winning, forty-character solo play, I Am My Own Wife. Follow Jacob on instagram @therealjacobstorms and Jacobstorms.net.

Alan Cumming has been described by Time Magazine as one of the most fun people in show business, by the New York Times as a 'bawdy, countercultural sprite' and by the Guardian as 'European, weird, and sexually ambiguous'. He has won over forty awards for his humanitarianism and social activism, received both the Great Scot and Icon of Scotland awards from his homeland and was made an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) for his contributions to the arts and LBGT equality by the Queen, whose portrait was taken down when his was unveiled at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 2014! Alan Cumming is many things to many people - renaissance man, style icon, social activist, bon viveur - but to himself he is a storyteller and provocateur for hire. He lives in New York City with his husband, illustrator Grant Shaffer, and their dogs, Jerry and Lala.

TENNESSE RISING runs February 19 - April 2, Sundays at 5pm. Running time is 75 minutes. AMT Theater is located at 354 West 45th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. Tickets are $35 - $45, available at www.SpinCycleNYC.com.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski



Related Stories
Video: Watch Mayor Proclaim John Kander Day, Unveil Kander & Ebb Way Photo
Watch Mayor Eric Adams give a Mayoral Proclamation to 96-year-old John Kander, Lin-Manuel Miranda unveil the sign renaming 44th Steet “Kander & Ebb Way”, and the Manhattan School of Music perform the iconic Kander & Ebb song “New York, New York' in honor of the first preview of NEW YORK, NEW YORK.

Nicholas Lloyd Webber, Andrew Lloyd Webbers Son, Has Passed Away Photo
Webber missed the Bad Cinderella opening on Thursday, March 23rd to be with his son, who passed away from stomach cancer after entering hospice care on Thursday.

Lea Michele Will Be Out of Todays FUNNY GIRL Matinee Photo
Lea Michele will be out of today's matinee performance of Funny Girl on Saturday, March 25. Julie Benko will be on as Fanny. 

Video: Watch Jinkx Monsoon Sing CHICAGOs I Am My Own Best Friend and More with ELLE Photo
Watch Jinkx Monsoon sing musical theatre classics in a game of song association with ELLE!


More Hot Stories For You


Videos: Watch Kara Lindsay, Samantha Pauly, and More Sing from the BROADWAY BREAKUP PLAYLISTVideos: Watch Kara Lindsay, Samantha Pauly, and More Sing from the BROADWAY BREAKUP PLAYLIST
March 26, 2023

Watch Samantha Pauly, Teal Wicks, Kara Lindsay and more perform Broadway breakup songs at Broadway Breakup Playlist Vol. 3!

Daniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke are Expecting First ChildDaniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke are Expecting First Child
March 26, 2023

Daniel Radcliffe, who can next be seen in the Broadway transfer of NYTW's Merrily We Roll Along, and his longtime partner Erin Darke have revealed that they are expecting their first child. 

Nicholas Lloyd Webber, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Son, Has Passed AwayNicholas Lloyd Webber, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Son, Has Passed Away
March 25, 2023

Webber missed the Bad Cinderella opening on Thursday, March 23rd to be with his son, who passed away from stomach cancer after entering hospice care on Thursday.

Broadway Jukebox: The Best of Kander & EbbBroadway Jukebox: The Best of Kander & Ebb
March 25, 2023

Just yesterday, Broadway was introduced to the latest musical from John Kander and the late Fred Ebb- New York, New York is in previews at the St. James Theatre. We are celebrating the new musical with a playlist of the Best of Kander and Ebb.

Lea Michele Will Be Out of Today's FUNNY GIRL MatineeLea Michele Will Be Out of Today's FUNNY GIRL Matinee
March 25, 2023

Lea Michele will be out of today's matinee performance of Funny Girl on Saturday, March 25. Julie Benko will be on as Fanny.