Alhambra Presents THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Since taking over the helm of the storied Alhambra Theatre & Dining, Managing Partner Craig Smith has wanted to produce a Tennessee Williams play, and on February 24, 2021 he will get his wish as the Alhambra opens his most famous one, The Glass Menagerie.

Referred to typically as a "memory play, The Glass Menagerie premiered in 1944 and is credited for catapulting Williams from obscurity. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mother, and his mentally fragile sister Laura.

The play premiered in Chicago in 1944. After a shaky start, it was championed by Chicago critics Ashton Stevens and Claudia Cassidy, whose enthusiasm helped build audiences so the producers could move the play to Broadway where it won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1945. The Glass Menagerie was Williams' first successful play, and earned the award for the best play of the season, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. He went on to pen American classics including A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, both of which, like The Glass Menagerie were made into major motion pictures.

Between 1948 and 1959 Williams had seven of his plays produced on Broadway: Summer and Smoke (1948), The Rose Tattoo (1951), Camino Real (1953), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Orpheus Descending (1957), Garden District (1958), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). By 1959, he had earned two Pulitzer Prizes, three New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, three Donaldson Awards, and a Tony Award.

In the script for The Glass Menagerie, Williams sets the show's tone through the main character, Tom Wingfield, "The play is memory. Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic. In memory everything seems to happen to music. That explains the fiddle in the wings. I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it. The other characters are my mother Amanda, my sister Laura and a gentleman caller who appears in the final scenes. The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart."

The Alhambra will continue its 2021 season with limited seating due to its policy of strictly adhering to COVID-19 protocols. "Our role in this community is to provide entertainment and a respite for our family of guests," said Smith. He continued, "We will always put their experience first, and this is what they told us they wanted." With Season Partners having renewed at an even faster pace than for 2020 and hosting a sold-out season opener with Singin' in the Rain, Smith feels reassured in the decisions he and his team made. "We're delighted to make the seating work, and even more delighted that our guests are responding with such love and support."

The Glass Menagerie will run February 24 through March 21, 2021. The Alhambra Theatre & Dining is located at 12000 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, FL. Alhambra tickets start at just $48 and include a three-course meal that changes for each show, a Broadway-style performance and complimentary parking. Tickets can be purchases on line at www.alhambrajax.com or by calling 904.641.1212.

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