Always Love Lucy Theatre's HELLO TO ROSE to Showcase Tennessee Williams One-Acts

The Off-Off-Broadway company, Always Love Lucy Theatre, has announced that it will present Hello to Rose, four of Tennessee Williams' one act plays featuring a cast comprised mainly of older actors and actors of color. The production will run 6 performances only, July 11 to July 15 at The Bridge @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor.

The four one-acts are: This Property is Condemned (directed by Saima Huq), Hello from Bertha (directed by Omar Gonzalez), The Last of My Solid Gold Watches (directed by Christopher Romero Wilson) and The Lady of Larkspur Lotion (directed by Christopher Romero Wilson).

Christopher Romero Wilson, Creative Director of Hello to Rose, will also portray Charley Colton in The Last of My Solid Gold Watches. He says, "As both an actor and director I am very excited to explore these lesser known works by by Mr. Williams. His words offer insight into the human condition that is both specific to the time in which they were written as well as timeless in their scope and complexity."

Omar Gonzalez, director of Hello from Bertha, says "I feel privileged to explore Mr Williams' insight into the human struggle to survive and the inevitability of suffering."

Saima Huq, Producer, will take on the title role in Hello from Bertha. She says, "It is always a great experience when you can work with so many talented people of all ages and backgrounds to produce something beautiful. Each actor is a star in these plays, because of how they were written. Tennessee Williams wanted the world to recognize his sister in his works, and our company is carrying that on by staging these works."

Tennessee Williams was a American poet and playwright whose large body of work included the includes the celebrated A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie. Tennessee Williams modeled almost all of his female characters on Rose, and there is almost always a mention or a character named Rose (or Violet, as an homage to flower names) in his plays.

Rose was Tennessee Williams' sister and primary childhood friend. In 1943, their strict mother Edwina authorized a lobotomy on Rose which led her to spend the rest of her life in institutions til she died in 1996.

Christopher Romero Wilson has been on all of Always Love Lucy Theatre productions since it was founded in 2014. He acted as Charley in their production of Death of a salesman and Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion. He also directed Out Cry by Tennessee Williams for the company. Other theatre directing credits include: Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and All's Well That Ends Well, The Odd Couple by Neil Simon, and The Revenger's Tragedy by Thomas Middleton. Recent New York acting credits include: Iago in Othello, Banquo inMacbeth, Jack Tanner in Man and Superman, Herod in Salome. He and his wife Schnele are the creative partners of UrbanTopaz Multimedia. romero@urbantopaz.com

The cast of Hello to Rose features Christopher Romero Wilson, Saima Huq, Sean Michael Beck, Pamela Joy, Emilie Bonsant, Omar Gonzalez, Heinley Gaspard, Christopher Lowe, Wende O'Reilly and Kelly Barrett-Gibson.

Tickets are $20 and available online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2922228. Performances of Hello to Rose are Tuesday 7/11, Wednesday 7/12, Thursday 7/13 and Friday 7/14 at 7PM, and Saturday 7/15 at 8PM, with a matinee on Saturday 7/15 at 2PM.

Lucille Ball did small roles in B movies for years, married a man six years younger than she, and had her first child at age 40. In early 1951, she was told by TV execs at CBS that she could not have her real-life Cuban husband on her show because America wouldn't accept a mixed-race couple. She did it anyway, had the #1 rated show for 10 years and became the first woman to own her own film studio as the head of Desilu Productions (which lives on as part of Paramount Pictures.)

Starring an interracial couple with a senior couple as their best friends, I Love Lucy premiered on October 15, 1951 and has never stopped airing. In 1955, it was one of the first American shows to air on British television, and still enjoys global appeal. Always Love Lucy Theatre follows that tradition of allowing the best audition, and not race or national origin, be the deciding factor in casting, as well as to demonstrate how human relationships in classic plays translate to all cultures.

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