Clear your calendars, theater lovers. The Vero Beach Theatre Guild will definitely be the place to go in September when it presents the “10 X Tenn Theatre Festival,” a monthly long celebration of one of America’s very best playwrights, Tennessee Williams.
The festival, which runs Sept. 7 to Oct. 1, will present plays and screen movies, showcase artifacts, hold panel discussions and offer acting classes. There will also be a “Stella” yelling contest, of course, as well as a grand gala with drinks and dancing.
“Never, ever, ever, ever has the Theatre Guild presented this large a festival,” says artistic director Jon Putzke.
Putzke came up with the idea of the festival two years ago when he was planning the 2022/2023 season. He knew he wanted to do a production of a serious drama, so he chose “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” for which, in 1955, Williams was awarded his second Pulitzer Prize for drama. His first, in 1948, was awarded for “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
As Putzke began thinking about Williams’ masterpieces, his one-act plays and classic movies, the idea struck him.
“A light went off in my head,” Putzke says. “I said we can produce a festival. We could show movies and produce one-acts, have productions and staged readings. I said, ‘Let’s do it all.’ It kept developing and got bigger and bigger and grew into the festival.”
The festival’s anchor production is “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” which Putzke directs – his fourth time doing so – and which he claims is his directorial “swan song.” Putzke started out his theater career of 50-plus years as one of the “no-neck monsters” (the children in the play) and says capping his directorial career with this “seems right.”
He has also reached out to three other theater companies – the Charlotte Players (Port Charlotte), the Lake Worth Playhouse and Melbourne Civic Theatre – to present staged readings of Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Summer and Smoke.”
A staged reading brings the actors and their scripts onto the stage to read the play to the audience. The style of staged readings can include minimal stage movement and props, or simply chairs and music stands.
Terrence Girard, who runs the PlayRead series for Melbourne Civic Theatre, says a properly done staged reading can be just as thrilling as a fully realized piece of theater. He says he is grateful that Putzke has invited MCT and the other theaters to participate in the festival.
“The way I coach the performers is to think of it as doing radio,” Girard says. “People are amazed at how complete a theatrical experience it is. They see the play unfold before them in their imagination.”
The “Stella Contest” will occur after the “Streetcar” staged reading. The contest is modeled loosely after the Stella Contest created by the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival.
It’s inspired by the famous scene in the movie of “A Streetcar Named Desire” where Marlon Brando’s character stands on the street in the middle of the rain and yells “Stella!” to his wife, who is upstairs in their tenement apartment. Contestants should grab their best torn T-shirts, summon all their pent-up drama, discard any inhibitions and yell their most committed “Stella.”
The winner gets a 24-case of Stella (Artois) beer. Second place gets an 18-case, and third place gets a 12-case. And yes, you have to be aged 21 or older to participate in that contest.
The 10 X Tenn festival kicks off with a free wine reception at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7. At that opening event, Tennessee Williams Museum curator Dennis Beaver will open a lobby display of memorabilia from Williams’ life when he lived in Key West.
Beaver will also present a seminar on the life and times of Williams while he lived there, which will be followed by a screening of “Tennessee Williams’ South,” a documentary in which the playwright discusses how he wrote his plays and chose his characters.
Productions of two of Williams’ one-act plays, “This Property is Condemned” and “The Case of the Crushed Petunias,” will be presented in VBTG’s 35-seat Studio Theatre.
“This is another charm about the festival,” Putzke says. “Both shows are fun, with ‘Property’ having been made into a major motion picture. ‘Petunias’ is the only comedy Tennessee Williams wrote.”
Curtain for the two one-acts is 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 8, Sept. 15, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29, and 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1. Tickets are $30.
The fully staged production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opens Friday, Sept. 9 and runs through Sept. 30 in the theater’s main stage auditorium. The play is for mature audiences. It performs 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $35.
The Staged Readings will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays on the apron (the front of the stage) in the VBTG’s main stage auditorium. They begin Sept. 14 when the Charlotte Players present their staged reading of “The Glass Menagerie.” The Lake Worth Playhouse will present their staged reading of “A Streetcar Named Desire” on Sept. 21 (followed outdoors by the “Stella Contest”). Melbourne Civic Theatre will present its staged reading of “Summer and Smoke” on Sept. 28. Tickets to each are $30.
Movie Nights take place 7:30 p.m. in the main auditorium, beginning with “Sweet Bird of Youth” Monday Sept. 12, “The Rose Tattoo” Monday Sept. 19, “The Night of the Iguana” Monday Sept. 26 and “Suddenly Last Summer” Tuesday Sept. 27. Admission is free with a $5 beverage and/or popcorn purchase from the Patio Bar.
Acclaimed acting teacher Michael Naffziger will present a master acting class called “10 and the Will,” which explores ten different ways to discovering character. That class begins 6 p.m. Sept. 13 and costs $35. Class size is limited to 35 students.
A Debate & Open Discussion on Inclusive Casting in our Contemporary Times will be held 6 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Studio Theatre. Inclusive casting refers to considering casting actors you might not normally expect to see in certain roles. It deals with what used to be called “color-blind casting” but is now referred to as “non-traditional casting.” That opens up the subject to issues beyond race, to include gender, age and ethnicity, to name a few. Admission is free, but due to limited seating, you must sign up through the box office ahead of time.
The festival closes Saturday, Oct. 1 with a 6 p.m. Cabaret Gala held outdoors on the patio and under the big top. Called “Booze & Blues at Moon Lake Casino,” it slyly refers to Williams’ own personal history and certain lines in his plays.
There will be New Orleans jazz and blues by the Crescent City Crawdads Jazz Trio featuring Jacob Craig on keyboard and top singers from the Theatre Guild. Tim Shestak will host southern bourbon tastings, and there will also be a food truck with southern fare and a dance floor. Admission is $40.
The Vero Beach Theatre Guild is at 2020 San Juan Avenue. Call 772-562-8300 or visit VeroBeachTheatreGuild.com.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
