August 8th-18th, 2024
Directed by Michael Wilson
August 8-18, 2024
Grandel Theatre, Grand Center (3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, MO 63103)
7:00 pm Thursday-Saturday, 3:00 pm Sunday.
A gut-wrenching display of toxic familial tensions and ladened southern gothic power structures, this piece will serve as the centerpiece of our jaw-dropping 9th Annual Festival. This Pulitzer Prize winning drama follows the story of the Pollitts, a wealthy southern family whose history of greed and deception looms overhead as the imminent death of the family’s patriarch approaches. Siblings and spouses go head to head to secure the Pollitt fortune, weaving an overwhelming web of mistruths.
Parking: Guest parking is available at the Fox Garage for $5 (3637 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108). Please, tell the attendant you are with the Tennessee Williams Festival to receive discount.
Tickets on sale now!
Directed by Brian Hohlfield
August 10-18, 2024
Curtain Call Lounge, Grand Center
1:00pm and 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday
Almost 100 years ago, what we now call Grand Center in St. Louis was the place to go for entertainment. Vaudeville was struggling but still popular, double-features (with live acts in between) played all day at the Fox and Missouri theaters, music poured from dance halls and clubs, and the hotels were packed with the touring casts of last year’s Broadway’s hits.
Young Tom Williams soaked it all up.
In celebration of the history and the continuing charm of Grand Center, the Tennessee Williams Festival of St. Louis will present “Life Upon the Wicked Stage,” a program of three one-act plays with music, at the Curtain Call Lounge at the Fox, just steps from the bustling streets and locations where much of the action takes place.
Like the rest of the theatre-going public, Tom was intrigued by what went on backstage, a world he would soon become familiar with, and imagined what the lives of the nomadic show-folk must be like. He brings them to life with affection and bemusement in the one-acts “In Our Profession,” “The Magic Tower,” and “The Fat Man’s Wife,” all set in the 1930s and portraying the ups and downs of a career in show-biz. In these early plays, Williams, still finding his voice, is clearly influenced by the plots and styles of the movies he would have seen on this very street, bringing the experience full circle.
The theatrical but intimate setting of the Curtain Call is perfect for a program about show-biz.
Like a “mini-jukebox musical,” “Life Upon the Wicked Stage” features songs from the period to evoke the era of Vaudeville and the type of entertainment Tom would have encountered in his Grand Avenue outings long long ago..
Parking: Guests attending this event can park for FREE at the the Fox Club Parking Lot. Inform the attendant you are a guest of the Tennessee Williams Festival at the Curtain Lounge.
Presented by resident scholar Tom Mitchell
August 10, 2024
Grandel Theatre, Grand Center (3610 Grandel Square, St. Louis, MO 63103)
Secrets of Tennessee’s Stage Directions at 9:00am
In the scripts for his plays, Tennessee Williams always communicated details about the settings and characters. Although the audience doesn’t read the stage directions, they see the result. This panel will look at what he says about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Magic Tower.
The Wicked Stage: 1930s Theatre and Performances in St Louis at 10:00am
As a young man in St. Louis, Tennessee (then Tom) Williams was drawn to the theatre and to the movies. Grand Avenue at that time was illuminated by movie marquees and enlivened by the people who once lived in the neighborhood. This discussion will provide an overview of the influential entertainments of St. Louis back in the years when Tennessee was still Tom.
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”: Revision upon Revision at 11:00am
Tennessee Williams disagreed with stage director Elia Kazan about the ending of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” as it was being prepared for its original Broadway production. In the end, the compromise: Kazan called the shots on how the play ended onstage, but Tennessee published his desired ending. The movie version of the play suffered yet even more revisions as the sexual content of the play was tamed for a general audience. This discussion will explore the revisions as well as the impact of such revision on the audience.
Reading of “Stella for Star” an adaptation of the first award-winning story by the young Tom Williams at noon
Adapted by Joi Hoffsommer and Christine Sevec-Johnson, performed with scripts in hand. “Stella for Star” is a short story about the woman Jonathan Swift named “Stella.” Swift was the 18th century English satirist who wrote Gulliver’s Travels and influenced politics in his time. Stella haunted his thoughts and memories. Williams’s story received first place from the St. Louis Writers’ Guild, a prize awarded by Josephine Johnson: another significant woman. At the time of Williams’s award, Johnson, from Kirksville and a student at Washington University, had just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction – the youngest recipient in the prize’s history.
A discussion will be led by Bess Rowen with performers Joi Hoffsommer, Christine Sevec-Johnson, and J.W. Morrissette. Also joined by Brad R. Cook and Jessica Mathews of the St. Louis Writers Guild.
Parking: Guest parking is available at the Fox Garage for $5 (3637 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108). Please, tell the attendant you are with the Tennessee Williams Festival to receive discount.
Walking Tour of the Grand Avenue Theatre District
Sunday, August 11 at 10:00am
Meeting place: Front of Grandel Theatre
The St. Louis City arts area now known for the Grandel Theatre, the Fabulous Fox Theatre, and Powell Hall, in the 1920s and 30s was home to an even more vibrant theatre and movie scene. The district was also the center of radical young artists. This walking tour will view the neighborhood through the eyes of the young man who was beginning to imagine himself as Tennessee Williams.
Tennessee Williams Festival OPEN MIC
Sunday, August 11 at 7:00pm
Curtain Call Lounge, Grand Center
The Tennessee Williams Festival presents a very open mic night…
Bring your talent and be ready to celebrate the first week of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis. Read a poem, act a scene, play an instrument, or sing a song. Tom Clear will be at the piano, so if you plan to sing bring sheet music or a chart in your own key. Or accompany yourself on the instrument of your choice, Or you can just relax, have a drink, and enjoy the entertainment.
Bob Harvey and Chuck Lavazzi are your cheerful co-hosts. No admission or cover, but there is always a tip jar! All proceeds go to the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis
Parking: Guests attending this event can park for FREE at the the Fox Club Parking Lot. Inform the attendant you are a guest of the Tennessee Williams Festival at the Curtain Lounge.
