ACT Will Open 50th Anniversary Season with CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

Rehearsals have begun for a scorching new revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by Kurt Beattie in his final season as Artistic Director. The first play to kick off ACT's 50th Anniversary harkens back to our inaugural 1965 season when Cat on a Hot Tin Roof had its Seattle Premiere directed by ACT founder Gregory A. Falls.

The play centers around the lavish celebration of the family patriarch and affluent Southerner Big Daddy Pollitt on his 65th birthday. The family has learned that Big Daddy is dying of cancer, but they conceal that fact from him as they jockey for influence over his fortune. Maggie the Cat tries to awaken her despondent husband Brick from an alcoholic stupor before the rest of the family succeeds in their greedy pursuit of money, land, and power.

ACT has assembled a cast of veteran favorites and Broadway alumni, as well as theatre and television stars, to portray the iconic characters in this Mississippi Delta drama. John Aylward, who was last seen at ACT in The Prisoner of Second Avenue, will play Big Daddy. Mr. Aylward has become one of Seattle's most recognizable national exports, with recurring roles on ER, The West Wing, and Mad Men, to name a few. Critically acclaimed actor and Gregory Award winning artist Charles Leggett joins the cast in the contentious role of Gooper, trying to usurp his more popular brother Brick. Morgan Rowe and Frank Lawler, previously seen at ACT in The Pitmen Painters will join the ranks to play the roles of Gooper's wife Mae and Reverend Tooker. Off-Broadway, Seattle stage, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival veteran Larry Paulsen will play the deceptive Doctor Baugh. Seen in scores of professional Seattle productions, the always impressive Marianne Owen will play Big Mama.

Coming off their successful pairing in the 5th Avenue Theatre's production of Carousel, Laura Griffith and Brandon O'Neill will have the unique opportunity to go from performing a classic musical in front of thousands a night to performing a classic American drama in the intimate in-the-round setting of ACT's Allen Theatre. Both Brandon and Laura have recently had success in leading roles on Broadway, but have now moved to Seattle to pursue theatre full-time in the Pacific Northwest.