Special Events

ECCENTRICITIES TALK-BACKS

Tennessee’s Leading Lady: ELIZABETH ASHLEY Tony-award winning actress Elizabeth Ashley discusses her favorite Williams roles and recounts stories about her special friendship with the playwright. Following the 2:00pm performance of The Eccentricities of a Nighintgale Saturday, May 10th Following "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" for which she won a third Tony nomination, celebrated actress Elizabeth Ashley struck up a close friendship with playwright Williams. Over time she would play and come to define three of his (and the theater's) finest female roles: Mrs. Venable in "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1995), Alexandra Del Lago in "Sweet Bird of Youth (1998) and Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie (2001). In addition, she also appeared in Williams' "Eight by Tenn" (a series of his one-act plays), "Out Cry", "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" and "The Red Devil Battery Sign". In 2005, 31 years after playing Maggie, she was again a success in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", this time as Big Mama. A veteran of theatre, film and television, Miss Ashley will return to Broadway this fall in Horton Foote’s “Dividing The Estate.” After The Fall: Williams later years. Williams expert and acclaimed author Annette Saddik discusses The Eccentricities of a Nightingale and sheds light on Williams struggles at the end of his career. Following the 2:00pm performance of The Eccentricities of a Nightingale Saturday, May 17th. Annette J. Saddik is an Associate Professor in the English Department at New York City College of Technology (CUNY), and also teaches in the Ph.D. Program in Theatre at the CUNY Graduate Center. Her area of specialization is twentieth-century drama and performance, particularly the work of Tennessee Williams. She has edited and introduced a collection of Williams’ previously unpublished later plays, The Traveling Companion and Other Plays, which has just been published by New Directions. She is also the author of Contemporary American Drama (Edinburgh University Press, 2007), which explores the performance of American identity on the stage since WW II, and The Politics of Reputation: The Critical Reception of Tennessee Williams’ Later Plays (Associated University Presses, 1999), and has published several essays on Williams as well as on David Mamet, Sam Shepard, and Antonin Artaud in Modern Drama, TDR: a journal of performance studies, études Théâtrales, The South Atlantic Review, The Tennessee Williams Annual Review, The Undiscovered Country: The Later Plays of Tennessee Williams, and The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia. Dr. Saddik also serves on the Editorial Board of Theatre Topics, and lectures widely on twentieth-century drama. FOR TICKETS GO TO ticketcentral.com or click on the logo!

ECCENTRICITIES SURROUND EVENTS

TACT presented a special literary event featuring the cast of THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE performing selections from the play and reading from source materials that shaped the work, including Tennessee Williams' personal letters and and diary entries. Tuesday, April 15th, 7:00 PM BARNES & NOBLE 82nd & Broadway 2289 Broadway New York, NY 10024 212-362-8835

Gala 2008

TACT's 15th Anniversary    Crystal Gala!       Oh, what a night! With champagne and music, laughter and loving tributes, it is impossible to imagine a more fitting celebration of TACT’s 15th Anniversary than the glittering and glamorous Crystal Gala held at the historic Hudson Theatre on March 3. Stars and celebrities joined with TACT’s company members and our cherished subscribers and friends to applaud this landmark anniversary and honor one of the legendary stars of the American Theatre, Miss Julie Harris. The entertainment included performances by Tony Award winners and nominees, Cady Huffman, Adriane Lenox, KT Sullivan, Lee Roy Reams and our own, Larry Keith, accompanied by Broadway veteran, Larry Goldberg at the piano. These talented performers gave a musical tour of hit Broadway songs from each of the seasons in which Miss Harris won her unprecedented five Tony Awards. Other stars in attendance included Academy Award winner, F. Murray Abraham, TV and film star, Steven Root, comedy legends, Ann Meara and Jerry Stiller, and Miss Harris’s former costar on “Knotts Landing”, Alec Baldwin. Christopher Plummer and William Shatner, unable to attend, penned tributes that were read to the delight of Miss Harris and the entire audience. Well known auctioneer, Charles Bailey-Gates, added dash and excitement to a sumptuous auction of luxury items, trips and one-of-a-kind backstage tours of hit Broadway shows. After the champagne toasts and dinner it was announced that TACT was bestowing an honor of it’s own. Adding to the impressive list of awards garnered during her legendary career, in a tuneful and hilarious finale performed by Co-Artistic Director, Simon Jones and members of the company, (Mary Bacon, Francesca Di Mauro, Jack Koenig, Margaret Nichols, John Plumpis and Scott Schafter and written by TACT Co-Artistic & Executive Director, Scott Alan Evans and Mr. Goldberg), TACT installed Miss Harris as the first American “Dame” of the TACTish Empire. Woven into the laughter and the parodies it was evident with what affection, respect and high regard this extraordinary artist is held. And with the sell-out attendance, generous bidding and sincere outpouring of love from those who came to celebrate with us, the support of TACT’s loyal supporters is also “Crystal” clear. That affection is returned a thousand fold with our thanks for making this year’s Crystal Gala, “THE BEST EVER.”       Check these links for photos: Playbill.com Broadway World.com TheatreMania.com Find Out More...

Post-show discussions - THE RUNNER STUMBLES

LOVE! FAITH! MURDER! Join us and our expert guests for this special series of post-show discussions following these performances of The Runner Stumbles at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row on West 42nd Street.  Admission is FREE with purchase of a ticket to the show. LOVE AND THE CHURCH Former priest and Milwaukee talk-show host, Jack Murtaugh, shares insights on faith, love and marriage as he recounts the events that led up to his decision to leave the church and marry his wife – a former nun. Following the 7:30pm performance of The Runner Stumbles, Monday, November 5th CRISIS OF FAITH – AN INTERFAITH DIALOGUE The Rt. Rev. CATHERINE S. ROSKAM, Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of New York along with Rabbi Matthew D. Gerwitz and other New York religious leaders discuss themes from the play including an individual’s struggle with faith in the face of conflicting emotional needs and changing times. Following the 7:30pm performance of The Runner Stumbles, Thursday, November 8th THE RUNNER STUMBLES ,THE PLAYWRIGHT SPEAKS Playwright Milan Stitt discusses the genesis of his play and the real-life Michigan murder that inspired it. Following the 8:00pm performance of The Runner Stumbles, Saturday, November 10th BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

PAST EVENTS - 2006/07

TACT's MAHvelous Party!      Winter GALA       Monday, February 26, 2007      Manhattan Penthouse, NYC      An Evening of Noel Coward      featuring the Company and Special      Guests!            It's time for our MAHvelous Party      Where bonhomie's quite de rigueur      Won't you please come along and       share in the song      Good food, p'rhaps a favorite liqueur?      Dear TACT is providing the venue,      The Manhattan Penthouse, 14th and Fifth      We're inviting good friends to partake       in the laughter,      Quite a dignified fete what may get a bit daft-er      And if all goes quite well, who knows       what will come after?      We couldn't desire you more!      Drinks, Dinner, silent (and NOISY) auction and a specTACTular one-of-kind performance.        You couldn't have liked it more!

2005/06

The TACT LOUNGE! Swingin' with the Stars Monday, April 24, 2006 Birdland 315 West 44th Street, NYC Members of the company and a slew of special guests, including Michael Cerveris (star of Sweeny Todd), presented an evening hosted by comic Freddie Roman! Our guest also included Chris Bergson, Janelle Ann Robinson, Larua Griffith with John McMahon on the piano.  Company members Larry Keith, James Murtaugh and Scott Schafer filled out the bill. Crazy good times were a sure bet at the bash celebrating TACT's lucky 14th anniversary. We took over Birdland, the legendary jazz club, and turned it into the one and only TACT LOUNGE. Good music, good food and a swingin' good time was had by all!

2005

TACT HITS THE HAMPTONS ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY! The John Drew Theater in association with THE ACTORS COMPANY THEATRE present a Concert Performance of U.S.A. by Paul Shyre and John Dos Passos Music by Colin McGrath Directed by Scott Alan Evans THURSDAY, AUG 11, 2005 8 P.M.

As you escape to the beaches of Long Island this summer, there was no need to give up top flight New York theatre – TACT hit the Hamptons for one very special performance of U.S.A. at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton.  Based on the trilogy of novels by John Dos Passos, U.S.A. paints an epic picture of America at the dawn of the 20th century. TACT’s unique concert performance style is particularly well suited to bringing all the nuances and complexities of U.S.A. to life. As New York critic Martin Denton said after TACT’s original production of U.S.A. in May, 2003: “Not only is the language both beautiful and gloriously vivid, but the ideas threading through this restlessly non-linear narrative are wondrously resonant and pertinent. As staged here by The Actors Company Theatre’s co-artistic director Scott Alan Evans, U.S.A. – with just eight actors, ten chairs, and a three-member orchestra – is a panoramic epic of America.” What’s most remarkable about both the novel and the play are their structures. As one scholar put it: “There is nothing MTV or the internet does that Dos Passos didn’t either try in U.S.A. or at least provide the imaginative foundation for: quick cuts, slices of life; poetic vignettes of the imaginative life of historical movers and shakers, pieces of actuality mixed in with dramatic recreation – Dos Passos’ achievement is astounding. “ Jamie Bennett, Rob Breckenridge, Cynthia Darlow, Rachel Fowler, Cynthia Harris, Greg McFadden and James Murtaugh Stage Manger: Dawn Dunlop Lighting by: Mary Louise Geiger Music by Colin McGrath Directed by Scott Alan Evans

2004/05

What good is sitting alone in your room? Absolutely no good on April 11, 2005, when you could have been at the TACT Cabaret Spring Gala! TACT IS A CABARET! Monday, April 11, 2005 Le Jazz Au Bar Close to two hundred of New York’s glitterati joined the leading lights of the New York cabaret scene and members of TACT’s acclaimed company to celebrate TACT is a Cabaret at the fabulously intimate Le Jazz Au Bar. This extravaganza of cocktails, dinner, and cabaret was a highlight in an extraordinary TACT season. As the guests arrived – during cocktails and hors d’eouvers – the conversation centered on the final few hours of a very special silent auction. Less than two months after the spectacular Gates installation in Central Park by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, TACT was auctioning off ten signed prints generously donated by the artists. At the end of the evening the highest bidder of each lot would take these beautiful prints of The Gates and other projects home.

Excitement grew as our own cabaret and recording star David Staller took to the stage as master of ceremonies of the evening. He welcomed, or should we say Wilkommen, the crowd and introduced the splendid and daring TIC TACT Girls – Franzizka, Inga, Trudy, Lisel and Helga (aka Francesca Di Mauro, Kelly Hutchinson, Jenn Thompson, Ashley West and Lynn Wright) straight off the bus from Weimar Germany. It was the start of a Cabaret evening only TACT could deliver. We were honored to have some of the country’s very finest cabaret stars perform. Klea Blackhurst, KT Sullivan, Mark Nadler, and special surprise guest Karen Mason gave a once in a lifetime show. TACT’s own Delphi Harrington and Larry Keith (who appeared in the most recent Broadway production of Cabaret) also joined in the performance. The entire company returned to the stage for a rousing reprise of Wilkommen to cap off the evening. As the evening wound to a close, those with the winning bids on the Christo prints were announced: Lisa & Robert Abramson, Paul Traub, Nora Chester, ML Geiger, Stephen Lindenmuth, Glen Pedersen, Doug Broadwater, Nathan Silverstein, and Laurette Traina. Congratulations to all! The generosity of those who attended this year’s benefit helped us raise over $35,000 towards outfitting our new Studio Headquarters at 900 Broadway and bringing another season of one-of-a-kind theatre to our audience. Our gratitude to all who have supported us throughout our twelve seasons – we will be back this coming year with great plays, wonderful actors, our new Studio Series, and the best theatre bargain in New York!

2003/04

TACT, SARDI's and YOU! On Monday, March 29, 2004 the actors from TACT and their TONY Award-Winning friends presented an extraordinary evening of food, wine, and song at Broadway’s legendary Sardi’s Restaurant. TACT friends included: TONY Award Winner Tonya Pinkins of Jelly’s Last Jam, and Carline Or Change TONY Award Winner Karen Ziemba of Contact, and Never Gonna Dance TONY Award Winner Jim Dale of Barnum, Me & My Girl, and most recently A Christmas Carol TACT favorite David Staller was our host. TACT added another glittering evening to the lore of this famous haunt of generations of Broadway actors, directors, playwrights and producers with our own never-to-be-repeated performance of Broaday Musical Magic. Our guests had a chance not only to enjoy the glamour and excitement of a one-night-only musical celebration featuring some of the most sought-after talents of the Broadway stage, but to become part of the scene itself . . . Everyone soaded up the ambience of this famous hang-out and experienced the thrill of seeing their caricature ­ drawn on the spot - joining that exclusive club of New York luminaries whose caricatures cover the walls. They rubbed shoulders with the hottest Broadway singers around, traded gossip and quips with their favorite TACT performers, enjoyed fabulous food and wine, an unforgettable musical event, and savored the knowledge that their attendance helped secure the future of a New York treasure - The TACT experience . . .