Edward Albee Joins Illustrious Lineup at 24th Annual Tennessee Williams /
New Orleans Literary Festival, March 24-28, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2010
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eponymous playwright, his works, and literary life in the adopted city he called his “spiritual home.” The five-day fête features two days of Master Classes; a roster of lively discussions among blue-chip panelists; celebrity interviews; theater, music, food/drink and film events; a scholars' conference; comedy improv and a poetry slam; short fiction and one-act play competitions; a breakfast book club; French Quarter literary walking tours; a book fair; a special fundraising event on March 24 and an opening night gala the following night.
Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee (A Delicate Balance, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) has joined the illustrious list of participants which includes two-time Tony Award nominee Lois Smith, who appeared in the original Broadway production of Williams’ play Orpheus Descending and whose recent credits include HBO’s True Blood and Dividing the Estate for Hartford Stage; and multiple award-winning playwright/screenwriter/director John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck).
Fellow attendees are publisher/author/screenwriter Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Zeitoun); best-selling authors Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes); Michael Lewis (Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood and soon-to-be published The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine); Jill Conner Browne (The Sweet Potato Queens’ series), John Dufresne (Louisiana Power and Light; Requiem, Mass) and Joseph Boyden (2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Through Black Spruce); film critic/author Molly Haskell (Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited), The Wire’s mastermind David Simon and playwright/screenwriter Eric Overmyer (co-creators of HBO’s upcoming series, Treme); Emmy Award-winning journalist Cokie Roberts; political strategist James Carville; literary agent Marly Rusoff, among many others.
The Festival kicks off Wednesday evening, March 24, with a star-studded fundraiser to honor Williams’ recent induction to the Poet’s Corner at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The Thursday night gala, entitled “Williams in His Own Words,” features readings and reminiscences by theater luminaries Lois Smith, Marian Seldes and John Patrick Shanley.
The schedule offers eight Master Classes, Thursday and Friday; most other programs run Friday – Sunday.
Theater highlights include A Lonely Man’s Habit, the third in a series of theatrical portraits of Tennessee Williams by New York thespian Jeremy Lawrence, whose ability to channel the legendary playwright is spellbinding.
The University of New Orleans [UNO] theater department takes to the stage with a production of the Williams classic, The Night of the Iguana. UNO will also mount a full production of Tio’s Blues by Evan Guilford-Blake, winner of the Festival’s 2009 One-Act Play Competition, as well as a staged reading of the 2010 prize recipient, Outside Sitka by Josh Billig.
New Orleans’ Cripple Creek Theatre Company presents a double-bill -- American Blues: Two One-Acts by Tennessee, featuring This Property Is Condemned and Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen. Another Williams one-act, The Reading, premieres at the Tennessee Williams Scholars Conference on Friday. Additionally, Southeastern Louisiana University will stage an award-winning dramedy, Voodoo Vows, by Tommie Sorrell.
Relative Madness, a lively, farcical one-act by Phyllis Clemons, takes a behind-the-scenes peek into the kitchen in Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on the day of Big Daddy’s funeral. Another side-splitter is Festival favorite Ignatius on Stage, adapted from John Kennedy Toole’s iconic novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, and starring John “Spud” McConnell as the hapless Ignatius Reilly.
The public is invited to get into the act at the Festival’s uproarious closing ceremony - a Stanley and Stella Shouting Contest, in playful homage to the bellowing mates in Williams' masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire.
Literary programs include a panel on the fruitful collaboration of Williams and fellow creative genius Elia Kazan, who directed many of Williams’ signature plays, including the stage and screen versions of Streetcar.
New Orleans becomes a supporting character as well as the backdrop in several programs, including a panel entitled “Sex and the City,” which will examine the city’s sex trade from the 19th century to the present.
“Kept In, Kept Out: The Haunting Secrets of Carville, Louisiana” offers first-hand experiences of what it was like being housed in the institution located there that was both a penal colony and a care facility for those suffering from Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy). James Carville, a native whose grandfather is the community’s namesake, will introduce the panel.
The Breakfast Book Club will focus on Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, marking its 50th anniversary this year. Barton Palmer, who wrote a book on the film, will lead the discussion.
Jill McCorkle, who judged the Festival’s second annual short fiction contest, will introduce the winner of this year’s competition, Kristen Paige-Madonia, who will read from her award-winning work, “Polaroid.”
Quills and daggers will fly when Opium magazine’s Literary Death Match erupts with a mix of seasoned writers vying to win this competitive and riotous reading series. Founder Todd Zuniga, who has staged these contests all over the globe, is happy to return to New Orleans, where he attended the Festival in 1998, when he was a college student and aspiring writer.
Other literary late-night events include a poetry slam led by local spoken word poet and cultural icon Chuck Perkins; Tennessee Williams improv presented by the National Comedy Company; and “Bedtime Stories,” an evening of erotica readings throughout the ages, punctuated by burlesque dance performances.
“Drummer and Smoke,” a trio of Sunday music events, includes “The Making of a Jazzman” featuring author/clarinetist Tom Sancton, Lars Edegran, Jason Marsalis, and other noteworthy talents, who will parse and play; “Beat by Beat,” Chuck Perkin’s duet of music and poetry; and a conversation with actor/comedian/writer Harry Shearer “with some music thrown in.”
Three tasty food events add flavor to the Festival menu: Acclaimed chef John Besh will share seasonal recipes from his new cookbook, My New Orleans: The Cookbook; food and wine author/connoisseur John Mariani returns to dazzle with his latest culinary adventures; and Kit Wohl, author of The P&J Oyster Cookbook, will join chefs in a discussion and sampling of the beloved bivalve.
At Wednesday evening’s “Cocktails and Cinema,” celebrity bartenders will shake things up with Tennessee Williams-inspired cocktails and a prize for Tennessee’s Best-in-Show, followed by a screening of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Most of the events take place in New Orleans' historic French Quarter. Sites hosting events include Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré; The Historic New Orleans Collection; Royal Sonesta Hotel; Williams Research Center; The Cabildo; Muriel's Jackson Square Restaurant; Palm Court Jazz Café; Windsor Court Hotel; Besh Steak, Harrah’s Casino; One Eyed Jacks; Dragon’s Den; and the Clock Bar, Chateau Bourbon Hotel.
A Festival Panel Pass is $60 ($50 for students); a One-Day Pass is $25; theater/special events range from $5-$150; Master Classes are $25, or the series of eight is $175; walking tours are $25. Group rates on request.
For more information, call 1-800-990-3378 or visit www.tennesseewilliams.net for regular updates and information on how to become a “Friend of Tennessee.”
Major funding for the Tennessee Williams / New Orleans Literary Festival [TW/NOLF] is made possible through a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Festival is also supported by grant funds from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council.
In addition, the program is supported in part by a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans. The TW/NOLF is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts for Access to Artistic Excellence literature grant, and the National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The University of New Orleans administers the Festival's one-act play competition and provides a graduate assistant for the program.
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