Thomas Lanier was born in 1911, the son of a traveling shoe salesman. In 1922, his mother bought him a second-hand typewriter, and by 1927, the young man was earning a little money for essays and film reviews he'd written. Seventeen long years later, the world recognized the stunning genius of Tennessee Williams as displayed in Chicago with the opening of The Glass Menagerie.

Although Williams thought The Glass Menagerie might have been his best work, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was his favorite. The play that features the infamous feminine archetype, "Maggie the cat," was based on a 1952 short story. Williams finished the script in 1955, and was later awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his efforts. Several versions of the script exist, as Williams revised it several times after its initial opening.

None of his revisions, however, sweeten up the script like Richard Brooks' 1958 film adaptation. In a 1973 interview, Williams said he hated the adaptation that was later nominated for an Academy Award. More importantly, he objected to Elizabeth Taylor being cast as Maggie the cat.

So, if ever you needed a reason to unwind your gaze from the deep ocean of violet eyes that colors your perception of Maggie the cat, now you have one. The author of this classic icon of American idolatry penned the work as a play, and the production staged at the Denver Civic Theater will make it clear to any fortunate enough to attend exactly why it works best that way.

The Industrial Arts Theater company's production is an astoundingly enthralling play which, is true to the intention of the original script, but also fresh and well trimmed to fit the small stage. Because of the extreme talent on stage, and the tenable proximity to the work granted by a small theater, I can honestly say I doubt I'll ever see a better production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

The stage design brings Rebecca Luna face to face with the audience in the first act as she sits at her vanity, gazing into the audience as if the faces comprise an accurate reflection of her own thoughts. It

is an artful touch and a poignant one, as this play was, and still is, an accurate mirror of society's woes. Luna, looking something like a young Natalie Wood, peels open the skin of Maggie the cat only a few feet from the audience. She does so with as much ease and grace as her character shows when slipping out of her stockings.

Jake Hyland has his work cut out for him early. It is difficult, you see, to portray a character convincingly while hopping around on one foot. It is even harder when the author has afforded you only a few lines of supporting dialogue, and you stand on a stage engaged fully by one Maggie the cat. Hyland, however, like his character Brick, gains power with what he doesn't say, and more importantly, how tauntingly he doesn't say it.

The supporting cast is equally professional and primed for their performances. Notably, Paula Sperry as Big Momma, Sarah Greenley as Mae, and John Shupp who brings shifty smiles and nervous tension to the audience in his portrayal of Reverend Tooker. And then there's the "monstrous" little Sonny, who shoots his cap-pistol at key moments and runs through scenes like an adolescent bull. The role is played perfectly by young Zachary Wziontka.

Most notable however, and most impressive also, is the performance given by Todd Simmonds, portraying Big Daddy. Simmonds rounds the entrance to the stage with discernible command of all that is, and all that ever was. Simmonds' portrayal doesn't soil Big Daddy's character with pomp or flair. He doesn't mask Big Daddy in cruelty or crudeness either. Like a heavy, dark thunderstorm, Simmonds' Big Daddy is nothing less than a force of nature rumbling through the wilderness of his own home. When Simmonds' mouth opens, the voltage stuns the cast, the audience, perhaps even the work itself with the purity and clarity of this most believable human character, Big Daddy.

Simmonds, along with the rest of the cast will take you deep into the plush easy chair of the '50s South, and they'll show you how difficult it can be to get back up once you've reclined into a life of mendacity. And never, in any other production, will you ever see, will you feel more a part of the family than you do, perched on the risers, with Sonny running circles around you while Big Daddy rages just a few feet away.

Don't miss this scorching production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. A --Cilicia Yakhlef

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Acting Up

THE CAT'S MEOW@ CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

THE CAT'S MEOW
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CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF