Spotlight On: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Scarlett Johansson starred in Tennessee Williams’s classic story about a wealthy Southern family and the passions and secrets that come close to destroying them.

ABOUT THE SHOW

This production of Tennessee Williams's masterpiece starred Scarlett Johansson as Maggie “The Cat.” The play opens as "Big Daddy" Pollitt (Ciaran Hinds), the richest cotton planter in the Mississippi Delta, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. He is distressed by the rocky relationship between his beloved son, Brick (Benjamin Walker), an aging football hero who has turned to drink, and Brick's beautiful and feisty wife, Maggie. As the hot summer evening unfolds, the veneer of Southern gentility slips away as unpleasant truths emerge and greed, lies and suppressed sexuality reach a boiling point. Past Tony-winner Debra Monk also starred, as “Big Mama.”

DETAILS

Spotlight on: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (play revival)
Opening Night - January 17 2013
Final Performance - March 30 2013
Complete Broadway Credits (IBDB.com)
Website

TRIVIA

Williams made numerous revisions to the play after its Broadway debut. Most productions follow the text of its 1974 revival.
Actress who have previously played Maggie on Broadway include Barbara Bel Geddes, Elizabeth Ashley, Kathleen Turner, Ashley Judd, and Anika Noni Rose.

SHOW SCRIPT

HISTORY

This was the sixth Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which originally debuted in 1955. Revivals followed in 1974, 1990, 2003, and 2008. Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman starred in a 1958 feature film of the play. A 1976 television version starred the husband-and-wife team of Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner. In 1984 Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones starred in a second television version for American Playhouse.