Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival's Wine Women and Williams Gala Honors Elizabeth Ashley, 6/1

Tony award-winning actor Elizabeth Ashley, well-known as one of the definitive interpreters of Tennessee Williams' women, will share stories of her friendship with the great American playwright and the classic roles she played at this year's fundraising Gala to launch the 8th season of the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival: 50% Illusion: Tennessee Williams and Women.

Early in her career, Ashley won a Tony nomination for her portrayal of "Maggie" in the 1974 Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, "Playing Maggie," Ashley says, "saved my life." She became close friends with Williams and went on to portray three of the playwright's most memorable female roles in Suddenly, Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth and The Glass Menagerie. In 2005, 31 years after playing "Maggie," she was again a success in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, this time as "Big Mama."

This 2nd Annual Dinner for the Festival includes a cocktail hour and elegant dinner created by Chef Derek Burgess at Provincetown Town Hall. The full Festival program which runs September 26 - 29, 2013 will be announced at this time.

"Williams created some of the most profound roles for women in theater for all time," said Festival Curator David Kaplan. "He gave words for new kinds of women onstage - the deceptively strong, the strongly deceptive, the self-doubting, the frankly desirous, the self-determined - all of them invariably unforgettable."

Festival Executive Director Jef Hall-Flavin added, "We'll announce our nine productions that explore Williams' classics, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and his wild experiments, alongside plays by Gertrude Stein, Susan Glaspell and other playwrights who were re-imagining women's roles."

There will also be music and a Live Art Auction featuring the work of popular Provincetown artist TJ Walton. (See attached image of TJ painting #7 Brooklyn Bridge, mixed media 16" x 20.")

Elizabeth Ashley's career has spanned screen and stage and she is currently delighting TV audiences in the role of Aunt Mimi in HBO's Tremé. She is also writing "Heretic," an autobiography. (Attached is a more complete biography and an image of Elizabeth Ashley, photo credit Bruce Glikas.)

Details for Wine Women and Williams Gala, Saturday, June 1st 2013
6:30 pm - Cocktail Hour; 7:30 pm - Dinner & Auction at Town Hall , 260 Commercial St.
$125 Dinner for One; $75 Cocktail Hour Only; $1000 Table of Eight
The event is sponsored by Far Land Provisions and Marc Jacobs.

For more information and tickets for the Gala go to www.twptown.org
Tickets for the Festival go on sale June 1, 2013 at www.twptown.org

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