First Off-Broadway Production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF to Open This July

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, in a new production by Ruth Stage, will play The Theater at St. Clements (423 W. 46th Street) beginning previews July 15, and opening night is set for July 24. The original scheduled run of this production, which had been announced for January, 2022, was postponed due to the ongoing health crisis. Directed by Joe Rosario (Flowers for Algernon), this is the first production of the Tennessee Williams play that his estate has allowed to be produced Off-Broadway.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is set in the Mississippi estate of Big Daddy Pollit, a domineering cotton tycoon and patriarch of a viperous family in turmoil, on the dual occasion of his 65th birthday and (alleged) clean bill of health. The play focuses on the tempestuous relationship between his grieving, alcoholic, former star athlete son, Brick, and Brick's fiery, outspoken wife, Maggie, his scheming elder son Gooper and daughter-in-law Mae. As they come together, everyone knows about Big Daddy's terminal cancer diagnosis except for him and Big Mama.

Premiering on Broadway in 1955 (and winning the Pulitzer Prize), Cat On A Hot Tin Roof has been revived five times on the main stem and was made into a film in 1958 starring Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie and Paul Newman as Brick.

The cast of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof includes: Sonoya Mizuno (HBO's House of the Dragon; Crazy Rich Asians) as Maggie in her New York stage debut, Matt de Rogatis (Lone Star) as Brick, Christian Jules Le Blanc (3 Time Daytime Emmy Award Winner for The Young and the Restless) as Big Daddy, Alison Fraser (2 Time Tony Award nominee; The Secret Garden; Romance / Romance) as Big Mama, Spencer Scott (The Glass Menagerie) as Gooper, Tiffan Borelli (Million Dollar Quartet) as Mae, Jim Kempner (Red) as Doc Baugh, Milton Elliott (Biloxi Blues) as Rev. Tooker and Carly Gold (The Ferryman) as The No Neck Monsters. Austin Pendleton (A Beautiful Mind) will be joining the company as Doc Baugh on July 25th.

"Our goal in presenting Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is to illustrate this authentic American dynasty from a modern perspective while showing the timelessness of a dysfunctional family" said director Joe Rosario. "To be the first group to ever perform this show Off- Broadway, in the House that Tennessee Williams built, no less, is a special privilege. We are so excited to bring audiences our bold new staging and unmatched interpretation of this timeless classic in the intimate setting of the Theater at St. Clement's."

The creative team includes scenic design by Matt Imhoff (Disney's High School Musical), lighting design by Steve Wolf (The Glass Menagerie), sound design by Ben Levine (All Is Calm at the Sheen Center) and Jesse Meckl as the stage manager (Wars of the Roses).

The performance schedule is: Monday at 7PM, Wednesday at 2PM and 7PM, Thursday at 7PM, Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 2PM and 8PM, and Sunday at 3PM. There is no matinee on August 10. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, with an official opening night set for Sunday, July 24, will play a limited five-week engagement through Sunday, August 14, 2022. All attendees will be required to wear a mask.

Tickets, ranging from $39-125, can now be purchased.

BIOS

Sonoya Mizuno (Maggie) trained at the Royal Ballet School and danced with Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet and Dresden Semper Oper Ballet before making the transition to acting. Her film credits include Ex Machina (Alex Garland), Annihilation (Alex Garland), Crazy Rich Asians (Jon Chu), La La Land (Damien Chazelle). Television credits include Devs (Alex Garland), Maniac (Cary Fukunaga), and House of the Dragon (HBO). This is her New York stage acting debut.

Matt de Rogatis (Brick) Some previous New York City credits for Matt de Rogatis (Brick) include "Frederick Clegg" in the United States premiere of The Collector at 59E59, "Richard III" in Austin Pendleton's Wars of the Roses (124 Bank Street Theater), "Tom" in The Glass Menagerie (Wild Project) and "Roy" in Lone Star (Triad). Find Matt on social media @themightydero.


Christian Jules Le Blanc (Big Daddy). Theater credits include Ladies In Retirement, with the legendary actresses Julie Harris and Eileen Brennan, in Los Angeles, "Mimi" in Richard Kondolian's Fairy Garden, "Neil" and "Paul" in the original plays Arc Light and The Fresca Wars respectively, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, The Catonsville Nine and Appearances to the Contrary; a series of Joe Pintauro's one acts directed by Charles Nelson Reilly. He has also made several appearances at The Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans. On television, Le Blanc has appeared as a series regular on In the Heat of the Night, As the World Turns and he recently celebrated his 30th anniversary on The Young and the Restless where he plays the character of "Michael Baldwin." Le Blanc is a 12 time daytime Emmy nominee and a three time winner.

Alison Fraser (Big Mama) is a two-time Tony Award nominee for The Secret Garden (Drama Desk nominee also) and Romance/Romance, and she received the Callaway Award for Best Classical Actress for her portrayal of Lady Utterwood in Heartbreak House. Other Broadway roles: Dorine in Tartuffe, Helena Landless in Edwin Drood, and Tessie Tura in Gypsy. Off-Broadway roles she has originated include Sharon in Aaron Mark's Squeamish (Off-Broadway Alliance, Outer Critic's Circle nominee), Trina in March of the Falsettos and In Trousers, Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford in First Daughter Suite (Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominee), Arsinoé in The School For Lies, Sister Walburga in The Divine Sister, and The Matron (opposite Shirley Knight) in the world premiere of Tennessee Williams' In Masks Outrageous and Austere. She has recorded dozens of albums, including three solo efforts: Alison Fraser-A New York Romance, Men In My Life, and Tennessee Williams: Words and Music. Film and TV on IMDB.

Jim Kempner (Doc Braugh until July 24) is a film and theatre actor who has trained at HB Studios, The Freeman Studio and The Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop. Some previous NYC and regional credits include Mark Rothko in Red, Polonius in Hamlet and Serge in a recent production of Art. In film, he has appeared in Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience and he is the writer, producer, director and star of the internet sitcom, The Madness of Art. A number of short films based on this 50-episode web series will be shown in film festivals across America in 2022. Additionally, Jim owns and operates the Jim Kempner Fine Art gallery, located in Chelsea, for the past 25 years.

Austin Pendleton (Doc Baugh beginning July 25) is an actor, a director, a playwright, and, at HB Studio in New York, a teacher of acting. He has acted on and off-Broadway, in many regional theaters, and in about 400 movies, and on television. He has directed on Broadway (several Tony-nominated shows) and off-Broadway, and got his start directing at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, under the guidance of its Artistic Director, Nikos Psacharopoulos. His plays, produced in New York, around the country, and in Europe, are Orson's Shadow, Uncle Bob, and Booth.

Milton Elliott (Rev. Tooker). This is Milton Elliott's third show with Ruth Stage. He was previously seen as the Ghost in Hamlet and the Second Murderer in Wars of the Roses with the company. Milton is also a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Other shows include Black Eagles, performed at Crossroads Theater, Ford's Theater, and The Manhattan Theater Club, respectively. He was also in the first national tour of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues.

Tiffan Borelli (Mae) NYC: Gorgeous (Brunstetter) & The Wager (La Bute) with Theatre Breaking Through Barriers, Two By Two at The York, Urban Momfare (Fringe Festival Winner) and most recently the workshop of Doris Day: My Secret Love with Emerging Artists Theatre. Regional Theatre: Kennedy Center, Barter Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, Theatre By The Sea, Laguna Playhouse. TV: Sweetbitter, Law & Order: SVU, The Loudest Voice in the Room. Founding Member of Core Artists Ensemble Theatre Company. @tiffanborelli

Carly Gold (The No Neck Monsters) is thrilled to join the Ruth Stage production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Carly recently made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning play, The Ferryman. Prior to that she was busy touring the country playing the role of Small Alison in the Broadway National Tour of Fun Home. She can be seen in a Season 1 episode of the new hit show Evil on CBS/Paramount+ and has done a variety of voice over work, including most recently for the Disney+ film, Black Beauty. When she's not working, she's busy with her studies at LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. Instagram: @carlygoldofficial

Spencer Scott (Gooper) NYC: The Glass Menagerie (Jim), Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), The Master and Margarita (Matthew), The House of Yes (Anthony), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Demetrius), The Fairy Queen (Nick Bottom), A Christmas Carol (Young Scrooge/Peter Cratchit), Macbeth (Lennox/Wounded Sergeant), Sextortion (Donny). Regional Theatre: The Boys Next Door (Barry), An Inspector Calls (Eric) Film: High Road, Wonderflesh, Suck it up Princess..., Girl, Don't Change a Thing, and Digital Physics. Producing: Romeo and Juliet, Dads, Dates, and Other Disturbances (A Collection of Short Plays and Films by Frank Tangredi), The House of Yes, and The Recurring Series: Ten Minute Play Soiree Presented by The Greenhouse Ensemble. Trained with Austin Pendleton (HB Studio), Hazen Cuyler (Greenhouse Ensemble), Katheen Baum (Syracuse University), and Joe Whelan (Syracuse University).

Joe Rosario (Director) is a writer, producer, actor and director from the New York City area. As an actor he has appeared on The Sopranos, Ed, Law and Order, Sex and the City, Law and Order SVU, Oz, 100 Centre St, Hope and Faith, and the original pilot Thunderbox. Joe has also appeared numerous times on The Chappelle Show and The View in various comedic skits and was a re-occurring character on the Late Show with David Letterman. He has also appeared in over 50 commercials. Rosario is also an award winning filmmaker and producer. His films and scripts have been official selections at over 50 festivals including Cannes, Barcelona and the New York International Film Festival. His feature length drama, Snapshot, starring Zach McGowan of Shameless, was one of his winning submissions. A resident of New Jersey, Joe is also an accomplished acting teacher and he coaches many actors seen on TV and film. His new play Hemingway & Me will be produced by Ruth Stage later in 2022. Rosario has been with Ruth Stage since 2015 directing their production of One Acts which included The Exhibition & Flowers for Algernon.


Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) explored passion with daring honesty and forged a poetic theatre of raw psychological insight that shattered conventional proprieties and transformed the American stage. The autobiographical The Glass Menagerie brought what Mr. Williams called "the catastrophe of success," a success capped by A Streetcar Named Desire, one of the most influential works of modern American literature. An extraordinary series of masterpieces followed, including Vieux Carre, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Rose Tattoo, Orpheus Descending and the classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Matthew Imhoff (Scenic Design) Selected Off-Broadway: Love and Yogurt; A Modest Proposal (world premiere, Cherry Lane Theatre); soot and spit (New York Times Critics' Pick); A Little Princess (US Premiere) Game of Thrones: The Rock Musical; Disney's High School Musical; Frankenstein. Additional NYC: Danny and the Deep Blue Sea; Rabbit Hole; Proof; Hamlet. US National Tour: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Live!. Regional: Stephen Temperley's A Christmas Carol (premiere); Crazy For You; three seasons with Opera Naples; Anna in the Tropics. He designed the 2016 KOTA Sustainable Fashion Awards and collaborated as the lead designer on Hippos, Inc., an immersive avant-garde performance art installation for the Panorama Music Festival featured in the New Yorker Magazine. Matthew is the recipient of the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance's award for Best Light Design for his work on Forty Second Street. matthewimhoff.viewbook.com/

Steve Wolf (Lighting Design) is pleased to be working with Ruth Stage again. Some shows that he has previously worked with Ruth Stage on include The Glass Menagerie (Wild Project), The Collector (59E59) and An Evening of One Acts (Bridge Theater). He is the Lighting Supervisor and Assistant Production Manager at Queens Theatre. His past designs at Queens Theatre include Relic, The Miracle Worker, and Queen Bees. You can also find him in front of the camera. Some of his credits include Killer Unicorn, The Evangelist, Lady Peacock, and The Coffee Shop.

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