Full Cast Announced For THE GLASS MENAGERIE At New Muses Theatre Company

New Muses Theatre Company has revealed the full cast for their upcoming production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. The production will perform in front of a live audience at the Dukesbay Theater in Tacoma from August 9 through 25th.

The cast is led by Nyree Martinez (The Shakespeare Theatre, D.C., Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Menopause the Musical) as Amanda in her New Muses debut. She is joined by Alexandria Melville (Eurydice at UW Tacoma) as Laura and Travis Tingvall (Cabaret at Harlequin Productions, A Midsummer Night's Dream with Tacoma Arts Live) as Jim. Managing artistic director Niclas Olson steps back into the role of Tom after playing it several years ago for the Lakewood Playhouse. Said Olson, who also directs, "It's been great to work with a new company of actors, all making their New Muses debuts, on such an intimate piece. I've worked with both Nyree and Travis in the past but having them join us at the Dukesbay Theater and work within the New Muses system has been a real blast."

Expounding on the reasons for bringing an American classic like The Glass Menagerie to the stage, Olson explained, "I've had my eye on (The Glass Menagerie) for a long time. There's something really timeless about this story, whether it's the family dynamics or Tom and Amanda's frustration with feeling stagnated by their situation, there's something that connects with every audience member on an individual level. A couple years back I was looking for a small cast show and I kept using the maxim, 'something like The Glass Menagerie,' as I read through piles of scripts until, finally, I realized that the script most like Glass was in fact The Glass Menagerie. Sometimes we have to stop thinking so hard and just get out of the way."

A surprise hit for a then unknown Tennessee Williams in 1944, the play premiered on Broadway in 1945 and has remained part of the American repertoire ever since. Pulling heavily from his own life, Williams' play is an astounding portrait of family dynamics seen through the lens of memory. The dynamic role of Amanda has become a benchmark for actresses the world over and continues to challenge actors the world over from Broadway and the West End down to tiny fringe theaters in Tacoma. Said Olson, "Our strength, as is often the case, is the intimacy of the experience we can provide in the 30-seat Dukesbay Theater. The audience is able to get, almost quite literally, into the Wingfield's living room and experience the joys, struggles, and exhilaration of this family as they look for a way out of their current situation. Tom says, 'In memory everything seems to happen to music,' well in memory everything also seems to happen up close and personal, and that's the experience we are able to offer."

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