The Times reports that Ben Gazzara, famed for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and the films of John Cassavetes, has died at 81. In the video, Gazzara discussed his role in the Cassavetes film Husbands.

I love Williams in spite of his flaws and because of them. He’s our poet of tender mercies who put onstage the large, damaged hearts of the dispossessed. His notoriously overheated dramas, saturated with sex and desire, preoccupied with sin and purity, contain emotions writ large. Who else but Williams would invent a character both as coarse and lyrical as Maggie the cat? And who else would have her speak these elegant lines in the Act I showdown with her drunk, indifferent husband, Brick, whom she describes as possessing “the charm of the defeated”?

“They’re playing croquet. The moon has appeared and it’s white, just beginning to turn a little bit yellow,” she says to him, and drifts into another unexpected thought. “You were a wonderful lover. … Such a wonderful person to go to bed with, and I think mostly because you were really indifferent to it. Isn’t that right? Never had any anxiety about it, did it naturally, easily, slowly, with absolute confidence and perfect calm, more like opening a door for a lady or seating her at a table than giving expression to any longing for her. Your indifference made you wonderful at lovemaking—strange?—but true. …”

Harold Clurman wrote admiringly of Williams after he first burst on the scene in the 1940’s with The Glass Menagerie: “He has no doctrine, unless it be the need for compassion.” John Osborne, whose Look Back in Anger (1956) owes a debt to A Streetcar Named Desire (1948), was the first British playwright to acknowledge the extraordinary humanity of Williams in an era when emotion was repressed on the London stage. In a ringing declaration of the poetic power of drama, Osborne memorably declared that Williams’ enduring plays of private fires and public tragedy are “worth a thousand statements of a thousand politicians.”

And in all this is found the dark, wry ironies of Tennessee Williams’ unmistakable Southerness. “Mr. Williams, would you please give us your definition of happiness?” a journalist asked him. He leaned back, rolled his eyes and replied, “Insensitivity, I guess.”

THE THREE ACTS of the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) are arias about illusion and lies, and each outstanding act is a showdown. The first between sexually frustrated Maggie and the wracked, latent-homosexual Brick; the second act between Big Daddy, who thinks he’s beaten cancer, and the confessional Brick (“Have you ever heard the word ‘mendacity’?”); and the third the resolution and battle over who inherits the 28,000-acre Mississippi estate.

“Oh, you weak people—you weak beautiful people!—who give up with such grace,” go Maggie’s memorable last lines to Brick. “What you want is someone to take hold of you. Gently, gently with love, hand your life back to you, like somethin’ gold you let go of.”

Anika Noni Rose is a wonderful Maggie. You might remember Ms. Rose’s breakthrough role in the Tony Kushner-Jeanine Tesori musical Caroline, or Change (2003)—since followed by more traditional stardom in Dreamgirls. Ms. Rose is young and sexy and unafraid. She’s a stage natural whose innate musicality serves her very well as Maggie, with lines—according to Williams’ ornate stage directions—that are meant to be “almost sung, always continuing a little beyond her breath so she has to gasp for another.”

Ms. Rose doesn’t exactly gasp; she races and electrifies in a necessary tour de force. The play stands or falls on Maggie’s complete domination of the entire opening act in her near-monologue, with the silent Brick laid up with a broken leg on the white pillowy bed, or hobbling on a crutch to the bar for the solace of oblivion.

Williams famously wrote great roles for women, but it’s often overlooked how intelligent his women are. “When something is festering in your memory or your imagination, laws of silence don’t work,” Maggie tells Brick. “It’s just like shutting a door and locking it on a house on fire in hope of forgetting that the house is burning. But not facing a fire doesn’t put it out. Silence about a thing just magnifies it. It grows and festers in silence, becomes malignant.”

“Give me my crutch,” Brick demands.

“Lean on me,” she begs.

Ms. Rose hits all the right notes—save for an unavoidable one. As an actress, she can’t help herself: She’s gloriously alive in all she does (as Maggie declares herself to be). She’s unable to convey Maggie’s “anxious lines on her face” (as Williams describes her). But it doesn’t spoil things. Ms. Rose is giving a fantastic performance.

Terrence Howard’s fallen golden boy is the most broken and uncompromisingly drunk portrait of Brick I’ve seen. Mr. Howard is, of course, the handsome Hollywood star of Crash, and when we first glimpsed him onstage at the Broadhurst Theatre taking a shower behind a transparent curtain, the screams from the balcony seemed only right. But he’s made a remarkable, chancy contribution as Brick—the more so when one realizes that this is his stage debut.

Mr. Howard captures the self-loathing misery of Brick’s fatal duality of body and soul. This is a portrait of someone who had it all, now committing suicide publicly. It’s the fragility of lives, and loves unfulfilled and found disgusting that goes to the heart of Mr. Howard’s touching performance. Some might consider him too vulnerable and weak as Brick, particularly as he’s playing opposite the magnificent James Earl Jones as Big Daddy—a legendary actor playing a mythic role. But it’s the beloved Mr. Jones who restrains Big Daddy’s bullying, animalistic fury, and ultimately sentimentalizes the central “mendacity” scene.

Still, it’s always a pleasure to see James Earl Jones onstage. If you ever experience in a theater the wave of love for an actor that he received on his entrance, you’ll count yourself lucky. The great man, majestically preceded onstage by his paunch and cigar, was greeted with an ovation. And how good it was to hear his baritone voice delivering Williams’ cruder lines as he wrote them (not as the original director Elia Kazan censored them, to suit more theatrically sensitive days). The director of this production, Debbie Allen, has returned to Williams’ original text like a Shakespeare scholar to the First Folio. Big Daddy doesn’t say “ducking” any more. “Fuck the goddamn preacher!” Mr. Jones booms with such relish that he brings down the house. One forgets how funny the play can be, if they let it.

But how funny, and how broad, should it be? Big Daddy’s 65th birthday scene has always been a potential riot with those dreadful, singing short-necked grandchildren of his—and it’s never been funnier than it is in Ms. Allen’s exuberant staging. As far as I know, this is her first stage production as a director, and she makes a number of elementary mistakes.

No matter that the ambitious idea of an all-blac
k cast performing Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is an obvious contradiction in terms. (In the Mississippi of the 1950’s, it had to be rich white folk who owned a palatial plantation.) What’s weirdly wonderful is that the concept works. Not so wonderful is the re-setting of the play in some vaguely contemporary time zone, or the broad acting as a whole (including Ms. Allen’s sister, Phylicia Rashad, as Big Mama), or the assists the director needlessly gives the play by melodramatically dimming the lights during three big solo speeches.

On the other hand, if you catch Mark Morris’ new version of Purcell’s 17th-century opera, King Arthur, you’ll see no time zone anyone can pin down or any consistent costume style—except for the one known as camp. And if you take in any Shakespeare in the Park starring Liev Schreiber, you’ll invariably see the lights dim as Mr. Schreiber delivers his soliloquies in a spotlight.

But those productions are called Art, and Debbie Allen’s isn’t. For me, she has produced a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that, for all its flaws and rough edges, is a winning example of truly popular theater. “I’m trying to capture,” Williams wrote in the script, “the true quality of experience in a group of people, that cloudy, flickering, evanescent—fiercely charged!—interplay of live human beings in the thundercloud of a common crisis.”

In many ways—some as theatrically blatant as that thundercloud—Debbie Allen has come close to Tennessee Williams’ intentions.

Call him dad rock, but Billy Joel’s July 16 show, which was to be the last concert ever at Shea Stadium, was the fastest sell out in Shea’s history, with 50,000 tickets disappearing in just 48 minutes. In fact that was enough to prompt Mr. Joel to add a second concert two days later, which is now being billed as Shea’s official musical close out. (Sorry ‘bout that early birds!) [On Sale: Saturday, Feb. 23 at 9 a.m.]

It was the way the Misfits fused ‘60s pop, horror, Hollywood, and kitsch that made them an instantly classic punk band in the late ‘70s. Which is why, three decades later, they get a pass on having evolved into a redundant (and Danzig-less!) power trio for the teenage mallrat set. It’s also why we’d wager there will be a hipster or two in the crowd when they play the Warsaw in Greenpoint on April 18. Tickets went on sale Wednesday. [On Sale Now]

The award for the best new band that you may not have heard of goes to: Tiger City! If you like Roxy Music and/or Steely Dan and/or early Michael Jackson, go see this smooth Brooklyn quartet March 28 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. [On Sale: Saturday, Feb. 23 at noon]

And, Brooklyn Vegan reports that a pre-sale has begun for Spoon’s April 9 show at Terminal 5. [On Sale Now]

THEATER:

For this one, the Culture Czar will quote Michael Musto:

Previews for the first all-black version of the classic Tennessee Williams play began on Feb. 12 at the Broadhurst Theater. Opening night is March 6. [On Sale Now]

Full release after the jump.

CAT FINDS A HOME…

The all African-American production of

Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning play

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

Directed by

DEBBIE ALLEN

Will begin its limited run on

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Opening, Thursday, March 6, 2008

At Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre

New York, NY (November 8, 2007): The previously announced Broadway run of the African- American production of Tennessee Williams’ CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF directed by Debbie Allen will hit the Great White Way beginning the week of February 11, 2008 at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre. This production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is being presented by Tin Cat Productions and produced by Stephen Byrd. Cast will be announcing soon.

Hypocrisy, greed and secret passions threaten to tear apart a wealthy but dysfunctional Mississippi family in Tennessee Williams' stunning American masterpiece. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF searingly portrays the larger-than-life characters of Maggie "the Cat," her alcoholic husband, Brick, and the dominating family patriarch, Big Daddy.

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF has been revived on Broadway several times before, but this production marks the first African – American production approved by William’s estate for the Broadway stage.

“I am so proud to be able to bring this amazing story back to the Broadway stage. I have been on a 12 year journey with this vision of an African-American version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and am ecstatic that Ms. Debbie Allen will helm this production. It will truly be a historic presentation of a classic piece of theatre.” Stephen Byrd, producer Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

“I am thrilled to stand at the helm of this unique production as we navigate our way through Tennessee Williams’ riveting and explosive American classic. Cat, said to be his favorite of his many plays, achieves a timeless coherence with its characters as they wrestle with the universal struggles of life, love, money, sex and death” Debbie Allen, director.

Press Contact: Springer Associates PR/ (212) 354-4660

Box Office opening date will be announced soon.

www.Cat2008onBroadway.com

DEBBIE ALLEN (director) continues to be one of the most respected, relevant, and versatile talents in the entertainment industry today.

Ms. Allen, Artist in Residence for over ten years at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., has created six original musicals with James Ingram, Arturo Sandoval and Diane Louie. Pepito’s Story (1996), Brothers of the Knight (1997), Soul Possessed, Dreams (2000) Pearl 2001 and Dancing In the Wings (2005). In December 2006, Debbie Allen debuted her musical stage production, “The Bayou Legend” at the Glorya Kaufman Hall, UCLA. In April 2007 Ms. Allen will premier Alex in Wonderland, a musical which explores the relevance of fairytales to a 13 year old boy, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C..

Debbie Allen is an internationally recognized director/choreographer known for working with The Royal Shakespeare at Stratford, and The Legendary Rahbani Family in Lebanon. A Culture Connect Ambassador Ms. Allen represented the U.S. in visits to Brazil, China, Italy, and India. A member of the prestigious President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, a board member of the American Film Institute, and an Executive Committee member of UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, and Television. Ms. Allen expands the opportunities in arts education for young people all over the world.

Allen holds the distinction of having choreographed the Academy Awards a record ten times, six in consecutive years. Directed and choreographed for legendary artists Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Gwen Verdon, Lena Horne and Sammy Davis Jr. to name a few.

Ms. Allen received the Golden Globe for her role as “Lydia Grant” in the hit series, Fame, A three time Emmy Award winner for Choreography , the series Fame, and The Motown 25^th Anniversary Special. Ms. Allen has won 10 Image awards as a director, actress, choreographer and producer for Fame, A Different World, Motown 25^th, The Academy Awards, The Debbie Allen Special and Amistad .

In 1996, she produced the Steven Spielberg epic film Amistad. A much sought after director and producer for television, her credits include Fame, Family Ties, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone, A Different World, Fresh Prince Of Bel Air pilot, The Jaime Foxx Show, The Parkers, That’s so Raven, All of Us, Girlfriends, and Everybody Hates Chris. Her Movie’s for television include Disney’s Polly and Polly Coming Home, the CBS classic Stompin’ At The Savoy and the critically acclaimed Old Settler starring Phylicia Rashad. Recently, Allen directed the second highest rated original movie in Lifetime Channel history, Life is Not A Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story.

Allen received favorable notices for her role as Richard Pryor’s feisty wife in the semi-autobiographical film, JoJo Dancer, Your Life is Calling. Her other feature films include Milos Foreman’s Ragtime, and The Fish That Saved Pittsburg, which she also choreographed.

Debbie Allen made her Broadway debut in the chorus of Purlie. She created the role of Beneatha in the Tony Award winning musical Raisin, and in the 1979 definitive revival of West Side Story she received the prestigious Drama Desk Award, as well as her first Tony Award nomination. Allen received her second Tony Award nomination in 1986 for her performance in the title role of Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity. In 1988 Debbie went behind the scenes of the theatre to choreograph the new American musical Carrie with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 2001, Allen fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, California. Allen’s academy offers a comprehensive curriculum for boys and girls ages four to eighteen in all the major dance techniques including Classical Ballet, Modern, African, Jazz, and Hip-Hop. In addition, special workshops are held for concentration in the Peking Opera, Martial Arts dance techniques, Flamenco, Salsa, and Tap. Debbie has been able to use her prestige to lure instructors from famous institutions such as the Kirov Ballet, and the Peking Opera. Allen’s studio provides a safe haven for kids to go to after school where dance professional motivate, and teach them to excel in their style of dance. Debbie plays an active role in each student’s career as a dancer by offering her own hands-on instruction.

Allen became Dr. Allen when she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the North Carolina School of the Arts, as well as from her alma mater Howard University.

Debbie is married to All Star NBA World Champion Norman Nixon, and the proud mother of Vivian Nichole and Norman Jr. Her mother Vivian Ayers is a well respected poet who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her fist book of poetry Spice of Dawns.

In recognition of her amazing career in the entertainment industry, Debbie Allen was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame – the world’s most famous sidewalk. Debbie’s Walk of Fame star is further proof to her life-long contribution in the entertainment arts, and it is a unique honor in a class by itself.