TRIBUTE READING: FUGITIVE BEAUTY, TENDER FEELINGS, & SPARTAN ENDURANCE—THE WOMEN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Thursday, March 26

6:30 – 9 PM—Special Event

TRIBUTE READING: FUGITIVE BEAUTY, TENDER FEELINGS, & SPARTAN ENDURANCE—THE WOMEN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Over the last 80 years actresses around the world have regularly expressed how deeply they relate to and appreciate the female characters created by Tennessee Williams, and at this year’s Tribute Reading you will hear their voices. While there are a few “Southern Belles” (who bear no resemblance to stereotypes of what a Southern woman might once have been), Williams created dozens of glorious female characters, some who you know well such as Blanche, Stella, Amanda, Alma, and Maggie. As well as many whose names may not be as familiar such as Leona, Bodey, Myrtle, Carol, Flora, Zelda, Clare, and Jessie. Yet in one way or another all of them are powerful, intuitive, witty, loving, ferocious survivors. This years’ readers include Festival authors Jewelle Gomez, Robert Olen Butler, and Skye Jackson; playwrights Martin Sherman and Jamie Wax; Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s  Fresh Air Book Reviewer; and actors Gideon Glick and CCH Pounder. The evening is curated by Festival Director Paul J. Willis and Williams editor Thomas Keith, and hosted by Keith.

The annual Tribute Reading is presented by a grant from the New Orleans Theatre Association (NOTA).

Hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar at 6:30 PM; performance at 7:30 PM.

New Orleans Jazz Museum, 400 Esplanade Avenue, $45 or VIP Pass.