Last night I went to Broadway. I sat close to the stage preparing to experience something I never had. Here on this stage Tony Award winning actress Anika Noni Rose would be playing Maggie the Cat from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". This was a play created by Tennessee Wiliams about a southern family's tale of lies, betrayal, , greed, and the dying. I took part in history, by being in the audience for a preview performance of this play featuring an African American cast for the first time. My eyes grew wide to see Terrence Howard enter the stage after hearing his character Brick, an alcoholic, talk to his wife Maggie off stage. The crowd also uproared in applause when the esteemed James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad arrived on stage. Much of the remaining cast was recognizable from their film and television role including Giancarlo Esposito ( "Fresh", "Homicide: Life on the Street" ) and Lisa Arrindell-Anderson ( "Madea's Family Reunion", "Clockers"), who played greedy husband and wife Gooper and Mae.
The play was entertaining, and I was very pleased to see the show. The story itself is one that that you will go on talking about after watching. Brick is a former football player whose athletic dreams are gone. His one "great good true thing", was his friendship with a fellow teamate named Skipper. Their friendship had come before his college girlfriend, who became his wife Maggie. She believed it was much deeper then a brotherly friendship and slept with Skipper to try and prove her thoughts were wrong. It ruined Skipper's life and Brick can never let it go. After the death of Skipper he became an alcoholic. This is how we meet Brick, as an alcoholic. He drinks thorought the play and Terrance Howard does a fine job playing a southern, cynical, alcoholic. His wife talks to him, but he never listens. He can't communicate with anyone.
His mother, Big Mama (Phylicia Rashad) wants him and his wife to have children like her son Goober and his wife Mae. Mae has five children (one of these children is played by Terrence Howard's real daughter Heaven). Maggie has none, and now Brick won't even sleep with her. Mae knows this as a nosy woman, a few characters note how the walls have ears. These characters live in Big Daddy ( James Earl Jones) house. He's a millionaire with lots of land, and even more surly then his son Brick. The parrallels between the two characters is a very interesting thing to watch. The cruel way they talk to other characters, especiall their wives. The things they laugh about, it's all about of their character and Big Daddy and Brick are similar characters. How James Earl Jones and Terrence Howard play in scenes together is amazing and beautiful to watch.
The characters are layered, and the acting is great. They were all convincing of the characters they played from the loudness to the tenderness of their voices. My only complaint was it did seem long. It was three acts with two intermissions. The first act with Maggie's talking was funny and made you understand her character, but after a while it got long. Honestly it was hard to tell if James Earls Jones talking in circles so much was all Big Daddy or a Mr Jones flub. This was a preview show. The official opening night is in March, so by then the kinks will be all worked out. At first I thought the acting was amazing, but the story was limiting. After leaving the theater talking to those I had seen the show with I realized the subtext, the things they didn't say was just if not more powerful then what they did say. This made me realize that the play itself was awesome :)
The story itself has to be thought about to truly enjoy what you've witnessed. Is Brick a repressed homosexual? Why or when did Big Daddy stop loving Big Mama? Did he stop, or never really start. What would happen after the play ends?
I'm definitely glad that I did go see this. I reccommend it to all theatergoers, and even non-theatergoers just for the experience of seeing these actors work together. The director if this show is the acclaimed Debbie Allen, and she put together a wonderful piece of art. It makes you laugh, and makes you think. It kind of makes you want to see it again. It's a strictly limited engagement, so if you're in the New York area in March, put it on your schedule quickly! Tickets can be found on telecharge.com
From the Website, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" Summary
In CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, a powerful Southern family gathers at a birthday celebration for patriarch Big Daddy (Jones), who does not know that he is dying of cancer. In a scramble to secure their part of his estate, family members hide the truth about his diagnosis from him and Big Mama (Rashad). Front and center as tensions mount are alcoholic former football hero Brick (Howard) and his beautiful but sexually frustrated wife Maggie "the Cat" (Rose); as their troubled relationship comes to a stormy and steamy climax, a shockwave of secrets are finally revealed.
