Introducing PLAY OF THE DAY! Today's Play: CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF By Tennessee Williams

During this time when productions all over the world have been put on pause, we are coming together to celebrate plays that have left their mark on theater history.

This week we will be focusing on the plays of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Tennessee Williams.

Today's play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Set in the Mississippi home of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the play examines the relationships between the members of Big Daddy's family, with the main focus on his son Brick and Brick's wife, Maggie the "Cat".

The original production was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Barbara Bel Geddes as Maggie, Ben Gazzara as Brick, Burl Ives as Big Daddy, Mildred Dunnock as Big Mama, Pat Hingle as Gooper, and Madeleine Sherwood as Mae. The play was nominated at the Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, Best Director, and Best Scenic Design.

The famous, 1958 film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starred Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and Burl Ives. The film received six Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Cinematography, Color.

Further Broadway revivals of the play include a 1974 revival, which garnered Elizabeth Ashley a Tony nomination; A 2003 revival for which Margo Martindale received a Tony nomination, a 2008 revival, and a 2013 Broadway revival.