SUMMER AND SMOKE Begins Tonight at T. Schreiber Theatre

A young woman's spirit soars with newfound awareness in Tennessee Williams' quiet drama Summer and Smoke, where the freedom of youth collides with the expectations of society. Directed by Terry Schreiber, Summer and Smoke will be performed at the T. Schreiber Theatre, located at 151 West 26th Street, on the 7th Floor from tonight, May 6 - June 6. Member of the press are invited as of Saturday, May 9th.

Torn between emotional yearning and repression, between the spiritual and the sensual, Miss Alma Winemiller and Dr. John Buchanan, Jr. attempt to come to terms with their lives and future. Set in the Deep South in 1913, Summer and Smoke is a lyrical, tender, and deeply felt romantic story by a master playwright and a universal journey for everyone.

The cast of Summer and Smoke features Taylor Graves, Jacques Mitchell, Bevin Bru, Jim Cyborowski*, Rick Forstmann, Cynthia Shaw, Aida Alvarez, Stephan Antonia Oritz*, Kathleen Kuhn, Kathryn Fray, Ivan Sandomire, Evan Silverman*, Philip Rosen and Daniel Hawk Hicks*. Set Designer: Hal Tinè. Lighting Designer: Dennis Parichy, Costume Designer: Hope Governali, Sound Designer: Andy Evan Cohen, Master Electrician: Kyrie McCormick, Props Master: Salina Polanco, Grapic Art/Design: Karen Moreno, Assistant Director: Ana Galang, Production Stage Manager: DaVonne Onassis Bacchus.

The approximate running time of Summer and Smoke is two hours and thirty minutes. The show will be performed from May 6 - June 6 with performances on Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm with matinees on Wednesday, May 27 and Wednesday, June 3rd at 2pm. Tickets are $15.00 for TSS students who book reservations or attend in week one, $20.00 general admission, $25.00 reserved seating and $30.00 special reserved seating, (which includes two drink vouchers). Tickets for opening night, Saturday, May 9th are $45, $35 for TSS students. Reservations: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/summer-and-smoke-by-tennessee-williams-directed-by-terry-schreiber-tickets-16535146067?aff=erelexporg

Tennessee Williams was born in 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi, where his grandfather was the local Episcopal clergyman. When his father, a traveling salesman, moved with his family to Saint Louis, some years later, both he and his sister found it impossible to settle down to city life. He entered college during the Depression and left after a couple of years to take a job in a shoe company. He stayed there for two years, spending the evening writing. Williams entered the University of Iowa in 1938 and completed his courses, at the same time holding a large number of part-time jobs of great diversity. He received a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1940 for his play Battle of Angels and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for A Streetcar Named Desire and in 1955 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other plays include Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real, Baby Doll, The Glass Menagerie, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer, The Night of the Iguana, Sweet Bird of Youth and The Two-Character Play. Tennessee Williams died in 1983.

Terry Schreiber has been teaching and directing for over 40 years. On Broadway he directed the Tony-nominated play K2, The Trip Back Down starring John Cullum, and Devour the Snow. Off-Broadway his directing credits include Desire Under the Elms at The Roundabout Theatre with Kathy Baker and Feedlot at Circle Repertory with Jeff Daniels. He has directed at regional theatres around the country including The Guthrie Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Hartman Theatre Co., Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Buffalo Arena Stage, and George Street Playhouse. Internationally, Terry has directed numerous American plays in Japan and has taught at the French American Cinema Theatre in Paris. Productions he has directed at the T. Schreiber Studio include: Blood Sky, The Fallen, Hedda Gabler, Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, Orpheus Descending, The Iceman Cometh, Suddenly Last Summer, Summer and Smoke, Miss Julie, Joe Egg, Hamlet, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Birthday Party, The Homecoming, How I Learned to Drive, Sweet Bird of Youth, Night of the Iguana, The Real Thing, The Cherry Orchard, The Changing Room, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Terry's first book, Acting: Advanced Technique for the Actor, Director, & Teacher is in its third printing, and his Producing on a Short Shoelace is now available in E-book form and deals with his many years of producing and directing Off-Off Broadway

Begun in 1969, the mission of T. Schreiber Studio and Theatre - under the direction of Artistic Director Terry Schreiber and co-Artistic Director Peter Jensen - is to support and advance the art of acting, and to share this with audiences through presenting full-scale professional productions that join together actors and audiences for an intimate and challenging theatrical experience. One of the preeminent theatre conservatories in the New York metropolitan region, helping actors such as Edward Norton, Peter Sarsgaard, and Annabella Sciorra to hone their craft, past productions include: The Pillowman, a world-premiere new musical Jack's Back!, Lobby Hero, The Changing Room, Balm in Gilead (NYIT winner), The Night of the Iguana, Joking Apart, and many others. http://tschreiber.org/.

* - appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

To post a comment, you must register and login.