Wellfleet to Stage CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, Begin. 8/29

Real life husband and wife Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon play the classic couple 'Big Daddy' and 'Big Mama' in Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize Winning play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opening August 31 at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT).

Since starring in the classic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dullea has starred in both films and plays. He's especially excited to play Big Daddy in this production because he played Brick, Big Daddy's son, in the 1974 Broadway production with Elizabeth Ashley and Fred Gwynne. "Gwynne was magnificent as Big Daddy," Dullea says of the man to whom he has dedicated this performance. "He inspired me to want to play that role. His voice rings in my ears today. I'll be reaching deep to find that voice within myself."

Mia Dillon won a Tony nomination for her role as 'Babe' in the original 1981 Broadway play Crimes of the Heart. She has had a very strong presence in the theater world, starring in such shows as Our Town with Paul Newman, Da and Agnes of God among others. Dillon sees 'Big Mama' as deeply in love with her husband and riding an emotional roller coaster from elation as she believes he is cured of cancer, to despair as she discovers he's dying. Dillon appreciates that the genius of Williams' poetic writing gives her the chance as an actor "to explore deep emotions in the safe place of the stage."

Dullea and Dillon have been married 15 years and have enjoyed performing together often. Soon after they met while reading Selected Shorts for NPR, they played together in Noel Coward's Private Lives. Right after they were married, they toured in Death Trap, in which Keir's character killed Mia's off every night. Most recently they both appear in the film Isn't it Delicious.

Director Elizabeth Falk has also cast newcomers Madeleine Lambert as Maggie and Steven De Marco as Brick. Like Williams, Falk was born in the South, and she is especially sensitive to the musicality of his writing. "Even punctuation is important to capturing the music. It must be honored to get the sound Williams wanted to hear." Falk has directed 64 productions of drama, musical theatre and opera at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Off-Broadway, as well as in many overseas countries. She was the first woman to ever direct at Shakespeare's Globe in London.

From Wellfleet, this production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof continues on to the Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, for four performances at Town Hall (206 Commercial Street, Provincetown), September 27, 7:30 pm; September 28, 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm; and September 29, 4:00 pm.

Tickets: Premium Seating: $37; Family Circle: $27; Under 18 or with Student ID: $10
Box Office: 508-349-WHAT (9428) www.what.org

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