Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

FEBRUARY 8-18

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS DIRECTED BY JASON MELLIN CAST Brick .................................................................................................................................................................. Elliott Sicard Maggie ....................................................................................................................................................... Emma Hennessy Big Daddy ........................................................................................................................................... Christopher Cooley Big Mama .............................................................................................................................................. Janet Geist Moore Mae Pollitt .............................................................................................................................................. Emma Fitzpatrick Gooper Pollitt ............................................................................................................................................... Matt Gardner Reverend Tooker .......................................................................................................................................... Larry Lickteig Doc Baugh ................................................................................................................................................ Ricky Bourgeois

PRODUCTION STAFF Set Design and Construction ................................................................................................................... Michael Ernst Set Design and Scenic Painting ................................................................................................................ Cris Reverdy Costume Design ............................................................................................................................................... Tami Trask Lighting Design .............................................................................................................................................. Greg Hamm Prop Master ............................................................................................................................................... Bonnie Corliss Set Dresser ......................................................................................................................................................... Mary Rice Sound Design ................................................................................................................................................ Jay Sheehan Stage Manager .................................................................................................................................................... Erin Zorzy Producer ................................................................................................................................................. Emma Hennessy Director .......................................................................................................................................................... Jason Mellin

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation to Paul and Kathie Nutting for the loan of a very fine mattress and box spring and to Gin and Jim Hoeck for the gift of their kitchen chandelier. Richard Neal gave a timely consultation in door-hanging technique and Bill Farrell helped with transportation, lumber selection, and furniture organization.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE In preparing for Cat, I read a biography of Williams by Ronald Hayman, Tennessee Williams: Everyone Else is an Audience. I was curious to what degree Williams had pulled from his own life to construct the plot and characters of this show, as he had so (in)famously done with The Glass Menagerie.

The answer? Not particularly relevant! Far more fascinating was the man himself, who pulled his art from deep within almost painfully, who couldn’t sit still for more than a few weeks, months at most, before moving to a new apartment or city or state or country, who couldn’t trust anyone around him to care about him in the slightest. He stayed in painful situations both personal and professional with a resolve that flirted with madness, situations he easily could have escaped for his own sake.

He was, in fact, like a cat on a hot tin roof.

That nervous sense, that chronic psychic misery, is likely why he gave so much control of his script to HUAC collaborator (and I suppose famed director and producer of stage and screen) Elia Kazan, certain that under his guidance he would find the same success with Cat that he had with Menagerie and Streetcar. And to be fair, it worked.

But part of my preparations involved going back to the original script, which, though rough and underfinished in some parts, had a vulnerability and a melancholy the version that was finally produced traded in for a certain degree of brashness and bombast that, while compelling, I don’t believe ultimately served the story of people in pain, people at the end of the line, people who hurt themselves in the process of hurting each other.

The version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof you are going to see is a Cat of essentials. I have taken the text of the Broadway version and infused it with the spirit of Williams' original. It is stripped down of set, props, characters, action, music, and more in service to the art of a man capable of seeing such violence, depravity, nobility, and gentleness in his fellow people but only occasionally capable of seeing those contradictions clearly in himself. To pull this off I have for you some of what I genuinely believe are the finest actors on Cape Cod, whose passion for their art (and patience with me!) have yielded a piece greater than the sum of its many parts, a process I call theater. Thank you for joining us on this hot summer night, down on the Mississippi Delta, some 70 years ago.

-Jason Mellin Director

There will be one 15-minute intermission Please make sure you have silenced all electronic devices Please, no flash photography or recording devices

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREW ELLIOTT SICARD (BRICK) A theater grad from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Elliott has always had a passion for being on the stage. After spending a semester teaching English in Thailand, he is happy to be back home and doing another show. Past productions include Bark Park, Pirates of Penzance, Two Rooms, Unsafe, Oklahoma, One Man Two Guvnors, Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, Mary Poppins, To Kill a Mockingbird, Constellations, and Wait Until Dark. He thanks you for supporting live theater and hopes you’ll enjoy the show as much as he has.

EMMA HENNESSY (MAGGIE/PRODUCER) Emma is thrilled to be making her Cotuit main stage debut under the direction of the best boss in the world, Jason Mellin. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC, Emma couldn't be more grateful to have found community in Cape theater. Emma wears many hats at the Center, you can catch her in the box office, behind the bar, behind the scenes, and of course onstage. Upcoming, you can catch her as Matt in Matt and Ben in the Black Box. Big thank you to Mom and Dad, I’d be nothing without you <3.

CHRISTOPHER COOLEY (BIG DADDY) Christopher is thrilled to be back on stage at CCFTA. Christopher has been in many shows here including Quills, Glengarry Glen Ross, 12 Angry Men, and If Nothing Changes just to name a few. Christopher has not been on stage in 10 years but had to audition for the part of Big Daddy when he saw the audition notice.

It is a character that he has always wanted to play.

Christopher would like to thank his wife Michelle and his dog Frank Zappa for all the love and support they give. Also to his sister Anne who is always such a great cheerleader, thank you for all you do. Christopher would also like to thank Ron Hoffman and all the people that Christopher works with at Compassionate Care ALS in Falmouth, including his partner in crime Deborah Kelly. The work they do is so inspiring. Also a huge shout out to Grace Nurse, Danny O'Brien, and Margo O'Brien, and all his friends at Cotuit Liquors.

Such a beautiful group of people to work with. Finally, a huge thank you to Drew Colella for always answering the phone when it rings, love you, old boy. Love you all and thank you for the encouragement.

JANET GEIST MOORE (BIG MAMA) This past year Janet played the Mother Superior in Agnes of God with the Sandwich Arts Alliance, and Kate Keller in All My Sons at the Eventide Theatre Company. Previous shows at Cotuit include Arsenic

and Old Lace, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and lots of shows in the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater, including Beauty Queen of Leenane, St Francis, Kalamazoo, and Stop Kiss. She has appeared on stage in NYC at the Roundabout Theatre Company, The Classic Stage Company, the Riverside Shakespeare Company, and various regional theaters, including Shakespeare Dallas, Milwaukee Rep, The Gorilla Theatre, St. Pete, and on Cape Cod at The Monomoy Theatre. She has worked in various media including WBAI Radio’s SciFi Series: James Scott - When Worlds Need Heroes. Audio: Robot City. On TV: As the World Turns, The Cosby Show, and Cosby. Film: New Jack City, Heaven Help Us, and Malcolm X. When not onstage, Janet works at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution herding cats (or dolphins as the case may be). This is Janet’s third show directed by Jason!

EMMA FITZPATRICK (MAE POLLITT) Emma Fitzpatrick is thrilled to be a part of this amazing cast of characters in COAHTR. She was most recently seen in Women Rock, and will also be appearing in the Center’s upcoming production of Legally Blonde the Musical. Some favorite appearances include Marianne in Constellations in the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box, Hope Cladwell in Urinetown at the Tilden Arts Center, and Catherine in Pippin at Cape Cod Theater Company. When not on a stage, she enjoys conserving sharks and taking long walks by the pond near her home with her husband Jason. Endless thanks to her friends, family, cast, and crew, who support her in her many (probably too many!) theatrical endeavors, but especially her husband Jason for his endless love, without whom her ego would not be nearly as inflated… so blame him!

MATT GARDNER (GOOPER POLLITT) Matt Gardner has been scratching the acting itch for the past two years. Most recently, he played the Monster in HJT/CCTC's production of Young Frankenstein. He hopes you enjoy the show.

LARRY LICKTEIG (REVEREND TOOKER) Wow, everyone here at CCfta is so supportive and good at what they do — what a joy to perform in this show here at this venue. On Cape, I recently appeared as Mr. Birling in An Inspector Calls at the Barnstable Comedy Club. Off Cape, my favorite experiences over the years include George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man, Rene Gallimard in M. Butterfly, Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451, Brian in The Shadow Box, Gustave in Heroes, and Morgan in The Drawer Boy. I live in retired bliss with

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREW my longtime (and I hasten to add, only) wife Cheryl in East Sandwich, doing what I please as long as it doesn’t conflict with babysitting our grandson twice a week.

RICKY BOURGEOIS (DOC BAUGH) Ricky is happy to act in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, marking his third appearance in a major work by Tennessee Williams. He played Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie (Houma, La.,) and the Rev. Shannon in The Night of the Iguana (Oxford, Md.). Ricky's theater activity at CCftA during the last several years includes main stage roles in Much Ado About Nothing, Darwin in Malibu, Treasure Island, Quills, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Few Good Men, Of Mice and Men, and others. Ricky's Black Box performances include Pastor Manders in Ghosts, Magellan in The Great Gromboolian Plain, Schultz in Circle Mirror Transformation, and most recently Lone Wolf in Van Life.

ERIN ZORZY (STAGE MANAGER) Erin is thrilled to join Cotuit Center for the Arts and contribute to this vibrant theatrical community.

Previously, she managed captivating productions of Cinderella, Into the Woods, and Dracula with the KMC Onstage Theater, in Germany. She brings a keen eye for detail and focus to her productions. This is Erin's first show with CCftA. JASON MELLIN (DIRECTOR) Jason has been acting, directing, stage managing, and producing plays at Cotuit Center for the Arts and elsewhere on Cape for the past ten years. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is his dramatic theatrical debut on the Cotuit Main Stage and he could not be more pleased. Recent credits include his one-man show These are the Bonus Years, St. Francis, both in the Vivian and Morton Sigel Black Box Theater, and Muskrat Love II on the Main Stage. He would like to thank his marvelous cast and design team for their art, his producer Emma for her diligence and excitement on this, the first of many collaborations, David and Kim for their trust and support, his family for their care and encouragement, and for the first time in a bio, his wife. This work, like all his work, would not happen without her love.

MICHAEL ERNST (SET DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION) Michael is Building and Grounds Manager for the Center. He has been designing and building sets for the Center since 2013, including last year’s productions of

Barefoot in the Park and Hello Dolly.

CRIS REVERDY (SET DESIGN AND SCENIC PAINTING) Cris has been a full-time artist for 35+ years. She began her career in the late 90s painting murals and commissioned pieces for both residential and commercial clients. In 2017 Cris was introduced to Cotuit Center for the Arts where she discovered her love for theater. She has been working behind the scenes painting and designing sets ever since. In addition to the many CCFTA productions, Cris has also contributed to Falmouth Theater Guild productions of Something Rotten, Beauty and the Beast, and It’s a Wonderful Life.

When she’s not on stage, Cris continues to create paintings and custom artwork for clients. Currently, her work is for sale at the Art Coddage Co-op in Mashpee Commons.

TAMI TRASK (COSTUME DESIGN) Tami Trask Good has spent over 25 years costuming more than 100 theater productions, including most recently Matilda here at Cotuit Center for the Arts and It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play! at Eventide Theatre Company. When she’s not costuming, she works with private clients, specializing in creating custom garments, or is planning her latest home renovation project. It’s always great to be working with Jason and Emma, as well as the talented cast and crew. Many thanks as always to Mike for his constant support and encouragement.

GREG HAMM (LIGHTING DESIGN) Greg Hamm started his lighting career at age 14, apprenticing at the Cape Playhouse across the street.

For six seasons, he was master electrician, then house manager his last year. He graduated Ithaca College with a degree in technical theater. From there, he worked offBroadway at the Manhattan Theater Club in NYC, then moving forward, worked for Tom Field Associates in Boston and Los Angeles in the arena of rock and roll lighting design, production, and movie work. Returning to the East in 1984, he continued designing concert tours, corporate shows, theatrical, dance, and residential commercial lighting. Concert tours include Donna Summer, Dolly Parton, The Beach Boys, Chicago, Madonna, Wham, Lionel Ritchie, Huey Lewis and the News, Pattie LaBelle, Harry Connick Jr, and Aretha Franklin to name a few. Greg lights 2-6 local productions and music events a month on Cape Cod.

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