TWStL 2024: "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" August 8-18

ST. LOUIS - April 3, 2024 - PRLog -- This year's TWStL will give center stage to Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by award-winning Michael Wilson at The Grandel Theatre in Grand Center August 8-18.

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.

Post-show commentary will be conducted by Resident Scholar, Tom Mitchell, on Sunday August 12 and Thursday August 15.

"Life Upon the Wicked Stage / Celebrating Grand Center Theatre District - Then and Now" will be the focus for three one-act plays with music directed by former St. Louisan Brian Hohlfeld:

• "In Our Profession"
• "The Magic Tower"
• "The Fat Man's Wife"

In celebration of the history and the continuing charm of Grand Center, TWStL will present "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" taking place upstairs at The Curtain Call Lounge just steps from the bustling streets and locations where much of the action takes place. 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…

The following panels - which will further shed light upon the themes of the Festival - will take place at The Grandel.

• Tennessee Williams in the Mississippi Delta
• The Wicked Stage: 1930s Theatre and Performances in St Louis
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Revision upon Revision

Other Festival events include:

• Reading of "Stella for Star" an adaptation of the first award-winning story by the young Tom

Williams curated by TWSTL Scholar Tom Mitchell

• A Walking Tour: Grand Center Theatre District, Then and Now... led by Mitchell
• Late Night Open Mic "Life Upon the Wicked Stage"
• Tennessee Williams Tribute Reading : A Celebration of Tennessee Williams
• Pool Party July 7 at the home of Bill Donius and Jay Perez honoring board member and continued supporter, John Russell.

On May 15^th at 7:30pm, a fundraiser cabaret performance of Grande Dames: A Celebration of the Diva with Amy Jo Jackson and Musical Director Brian Nash, back by popular demand, at The Curtain Call Lounge.  An additional public performance will take place May 16 at 7:30pm honoring board member Jill McGuire. This cabaret will feature an eclectic array of divas of the stage and screen (both real and fictional) like Fanny Brice, Norma Desmond, Stevie Nicks, Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, and more!

Tickets are on sale through Metrotix (https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/tennessee-williams...). Additional information and Festival event details can be found at twstl.org (https://www.twstl.org/).