I was in the audience for Saturday’s performance of The Glass Menagerie at Herberger Theater and I’m happy to report that all of the reviews are true: The play is phenomenal. And bring a tissue.
To fully appreciate The Glass Menagerie, you should know a little about American playwright Tennessee “Thomas” Williams (1911-1983). Williams wrote The Glass Menagerie in 1945. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, with a stern, alcoholic father, a borderline hysterical mother, and a schizophrenic sister who was later lobotomized, something that would haunt Williams for the rest of his life. Interestingly, The Glass Menagerie takes place in St. Louis and follows Tom, Amanda, and Laura Wingfield as they try to survive together inside a claustrophobic tenement apartment in the 1930’s.
Tom Wingfield (Noel Joseph Allain) is the frustrated son of Amanda Wingfield (Catalina Maynard). A wannabe writer, Tom spends long days at a factory job he loathes and avoiding his domineering mother who wants desperately to return to her Southern belle glory days and the husband who abandoned them. His painfully shy sister Laura (Barbra Wengerd) spends her days polishing her glass collection and falling deeper into a psychological abyss. Quickly, you realize that each member of the Wingfield family is as breakable as Laura’s glass collection. But then one day Tom brings home a gregarious “gentlemen caller” for Laura, Jim O’Connor (Brian Ibsen), and for a moment you wonder if Jim also brings a glimmer of hope to the Wingfields.
The Glass Menagerie is a timeless play about delicate family relationships, unrealized dreams, and betrayal. Through Tom Wingfield, you could imagine Tennessee Williams’ early years in St. Louis and the painful experiences that would shape his life. In particular, I thought that Catalina Maynard’s performance as Amanda stole the show. She was perfect as the controlling mother who talked more than she listened and demanded more than she shared, while simultaneously vulnerable and intolerable. In addition to the cast, the stage was also a character in the play. The furniture and walls from the Wingfield apartment moved effortlessly on and off the stage, making the story feel lighter, darker, and more claustrophobic as the story required. Additionally, Jay Golden (Violin Player) provided achingly beautiful music that captured the emotional tone throughout the play.
Bring a few tissues and let yourself fall back in time as you watch The Glass Menagerie and the story that shaped Tennessee Williams. The play is at The Herberger till April 11.
Call the Herberger Box Office at 602.256.6995 or visit ArizonaTheatre.org.
On Friday (4/2) at 7 p.m., you can be part of Voice and Vision: A Graffiti/Spoken Word Explosion at the Herberger Plaza. As part of a month-long campaign, the ATC has collected stories from staff, theater patrons, and community members describing times during which they “found their voices.” You can watch and listen as ATC staff and volunteers read these stories aloud while four talented artists paint a graffiti-art mural ignited by the personal stories they hear. Words, color, art, passion—all in one at the beautiful Herberger Theatre Center.
Written by playwright Bob Clyman, SECRET ORDER is the story of a brilliant thirtysomething cell biologist named Dr. William Shumway (Cale Epps) from the University of Illinois who may have discovered the cure for cancer. The discovery leads to a flashy new job at a prestigious cancer-research institute in New York, led by the ambitious Dr. Robert Brock (Mark DeMichele) who practically salivates at the thought of a Nobel Prize. Or any prize. As news of Shumway’s ground-breaking work spreads, a young wide-eyed, overly enthusiastic Harvard University student, Alice Curiton (Jessica Weaver), seems ready to sell her soul for a summer internship with Shumay. Throw in a jealous and sabotaging Dr. Saul Roth (David Vining) at the research institute and you’ve got a play filled with twists and turns that test the will, desire, and integrity of everyone.
I was excited to finally see [title of show] at the Herberger Theatre on opening night, especially after having interviewed the monstrously talented Lauren Lebowitz, one of the musical’s stars, earlier in the month. Going in, I knew that the show would be the real-life story of two, out-of-work New York actors in 2004 who decided to write a musical about two, out-of-work New York actors who decided to write a musical. The fast-paced, hilarious, and yet subtly serious story follows these two quirky actors and their two equally-quirky best friends as they navigate from the unemployment line to creating a major Broadway hit.
Adams (1902-1984) was an American photographer known mostly for his wilderness photography. I’ve always been a fan of his work, particularly because I enjoy the art and mysteriousness behind black and white photography. Despite the lack of color, Adams’ photographs always look so much more real to me, so much more dramatic. You can’t help but wonder about the stories behind each photograph, especially as you stare back at images of Death Valley, Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, churches in New Mexico. With his camera, Adams seemed to be able to capture the story of a place while simultaneously prodding you to discover something hidden beneath the surface.
[title of show]—yes, that’s really the title and not a typo—is a musical about two hyper-talented thirtysomething songwriters in New York trying to write a new musical about two hyper-talented thirtysomething songwriters trying to write a new musical. In New York.
Here’s a little bit of my interview with her: