Michael Raymond-James stars as ‘Brick’
(STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.) – The Tennessee Williams classic “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” about a Southern family’s web of emotional deceit, opens the summer season at the Fitzpatrick Main Stage at Berkshire Theatre Group, running from Friday, June 22, through Saturday, July 16. The play will be directed by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize award-winning playwright David Auburn.
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Set in the plantation home in the Mississippi Delta of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the play examines the relationships among members of Big Daddy’s family, primarily that between his son Brick and his wife, “Maggie the Cat.” The original production starred Barbara Bel Geddes, Burl Ives, and Ben Gazzara, and was directed by Elia Kazan. The play was adapted as a motion picture of the same name in 1958, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman as Maggie and Brick, with Burl Ives and Madeleine Sherwood recreating their stage roles.
In “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” the cantankerous Big Daddy is celebrating his 65th birthday. His family has returned for the occasion, including his favorite son, Brick, and Brick’s wife, the lonely and longing Maggie. Brick and Maggie’s strained marriage plagues Big Daddy’s mind, and he demands answers to why they haven’t given him a grandchild yet. However, Big Daddy’s family holds a powerful secret, and an ulterior motive as to why they have returned to the plantation.
Rebecca Brooksher is ‘Maggie the Cat’
This staging features Michael Raymond-James as Brick. Raymond-James starred in NBC’s recent series “Game of Silence,” and is best known for his featured roles in “True Blood” and “Once Upon a Time.” His films include “Black Snake Moan” with Justin Timberlake and “Jack Reacher: with Tom Cruise.
The cast also features Rebecca Brooksher as Maggie, David Adkins as Reverend Tooker, Jim Beaver as Big Daddy, Linda Gehringer as Big Mama, Timothy Gulan as Gooper, Jenn Harris as Mae, Brian Russell as Doctor Baugh.
Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield; at the Fitzpatrick Main Stage Ticket Office at 83 East Main Street, Stockbridge; by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at Berkshire Theatre Group. Ticket Offices are open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain.