August 8th-18th, 2024

Directed by Michael Wilson
August 8-18, 2024
Grandel Theatre, Grand Central

7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, 3:00 pm Sunday.

A gut-wrenching display of toxic familial tensions and ladened southern gothic power structures, this piece will serve as the centerpiece of our jaw-dropping 9th Annual Festival. This Pulitzer Prize winning drama follows the story of the Pollitts, a wealthy southern family who’s history of greed and deception looms overhead as the imminent death of the family’s patriarch approaches. Siblings and spouses go head to head to secure the Pollitt fortune, weaving an overwhelming web of mistruths.

Tickets will go on sale April 1 at metrotix.com.

Directed by Brian Hohlfield
August 10-18, 2024
Curtain Call Lounge, Grand Center

1:00pm and 3:00pm Saturday and Sunday

Experience the Grand Center of Tennessee Williams’ time with these shows about show business. “In Our Profession”, “The Magic Tower”, and “The Fat Man’s Wife” will be presented as a series of one-acts at the Curtain Call Lounge.

Presented by resident scholar Tom Mitchell
August 10, 2024
Beginning at 9:00am

Tennessee Williams in the Mississippi Delta at 9:00am

A discussion of how the Mississippi Delta shows up in many of the playwright’s works – including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Tennessee spent much of his early childhood in the Delta, and he carried memories of Clarksdale, MS and other locations in his imagination throughout his long career. This panel discussion will explore the places, names, and events of the Delta along with the cultural influences of music and storytelling.

The Wicked Stage: 1930s Theatre and Performances in St Louis at 10:00am

As a young man in St. Louis, Tennessee (then Tom) Williams was drawn to the theatre and to the movies. Grand Avenue at that time was illuminated by movie marquees and enlivened by the people who once lived in the neighborhood. This discussion will provide an overview of the influential entertainments of St. Louis back in the years when Tennessee was still Tom.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”: Revision upon Revision at 11:00am

Tennessee Williams disagreed with stage director Elia Kazan about the ending of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” as it was being prepared for its original Broadway production. In the end, the compromise: Kazan called the shots on how the play ended onstage, but Tennessee published his desired ending. The movie version of the play suffered yet even more revisions as the sexual content of the play was tamed for a general audience. This discussion will explore the revisions as well as the impact of such revision on the audience.

Reading of “Stella for Star” an adaptation of the first award-winning story by the young Tom Williams at noon

Adapted by Joi Hoffsommer and Christine Sevec-Johnson, performed with scripts in hand. “Stella for Star” is a short story about the woman Jonathan Swift named “Stella.” Swift was the 18th century English satirist who wrote Gulliver’s Travels and played an influential role in politics of his time. Stella was influential as well, and the story deals with the way in which she haunted Swift’s thoughts and memories. It is an early example of Tennessee Williams’s fascination with intriguing female characters. He received first place from the St. Louis Artists’ Guild, a prize awarded by Josephine Johnson: another significant female. At the time of Williams’s award, Johnson, from Kirksville and a student at Washington University, had just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction – the youngest recipient in the prize’s history.

Walking Tour of the Grand Avenue Theatre District

Sunday, August 11 at 10:00am
Meeting place: Front of Grandel Theatre

The St. Louis City arts area now known for the Grandel Theatre, the Fabulous Fox Theatre, and Powell Hall, in the 1920s and 30s was home to an even more vibrant theatre and movie scene. The district was also the center of radical young artists. This walking tour will view the neighborhood through the eyes of the young man who was beginning to imagine himself as  Tennessee Williams.

Sunday, August 11 at 7:00pm
Curtain Call Lounge, Grand Center

Parties, gatherings, drink specials, food trucks and more!

Grande Dames: A Celebration of the Diva
Starring Amy Jo Jackson, Musical Director Brian Nash
May 15-16, 2024
Curtain Call Lounge, Grand Center

Hotter Than A Hot Tin Roof: Third Annual TWSTL Pool Party
July 7, 2024