Bucks County Playhouse Announces Cast For "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof"

NEW HOPE, PA — Bucks County Playhouse has announced the cast and creative team for its production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic, which runs at the iconic New Hope venue, April 23 to May 23. The official opening night is Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Directed by Eric Rosen, the new staging brings one of the most passionate dramas of the American theatre thrillingly to life. A battle of wills ensues as a rich Southern family wars over the family fortune. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” is a succession drama exploding like the fireworks celebrating Big Daddy’s 65th birthday – one that may be his last.

“We’ve always wanted to do a Tennessee Williams play at the Playhouse … and none is greater … and more engaging than ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ I first saw the film when I was a kid. Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman were mesmerizing. We also always want to give classic works a fresh point of view, and Eric Rosen is giving us just that,” said Producing Director Alexander Fraser. “A member of our Artists Council, Eric is returning for his fourth production, and brings a fierce intelligence and, as a Southerner, a deep understanding of this work. Those who saw his productions of 'Anastasia' and 'Tick, Tick, Boom' already know the care and artistry he brings to everything he does.”

“‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ is among the most celebrated American dramas for a reason,” said director Eric Rosen. “I love these iconic characters for how deeply human they are: Maggie the Cat, born poor and determined not to die that way; Brick, her football-hero husband, who has descended into an alcoholic spiral of grief and refuses to give his father the heir that would secure his inheritance; Gooper and Mae, Brick’s brother and his wife, who may seem like jokes but are, in fact, fierce antagonists — and who underestimate a matriarch who may appear naive but knows exactly what’s at stake. And Big Daddy himself — a Mississippi Lear whose tragic fury sets their world ablaze. To create this world with some of the greatest actors I know, at a theater that has become a second home to me, is an extraordinary honor.”

The cast includes Elizabeth A. Davis as Margaret (Maggie the Cat), a Tony Award nominee for Broadway’s “Once”; Lucas Dixon as Brick, recently seen in Gulfshore Playhouse’s “Dial M for Murder”; Wayne Duvall as Big Daddy (“Swept Away,” “1984,” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”); Kate Levy as Big Mama (“Bernhardt/Hamlet”); Tony Roach as Gooper (“The Cottage”); Bree Elrod as Mae (the just released film “Tow”); Gene Gillette as Doctor Baugh (“Othello”); and David Sitler as Reverend Tooker (“An Inspector Calls,” “Frost/Nixon”). Bill Army, Christina DeCicco, Patrick James Cogan and Joy Catherine Ledford complete the cast.

The creative team includes Scenic Designer Jack Magaw; Costume Designer Annie J. Le; Hair and Wig Designer J. Jared Janas; Lighting Designer Kat C. Zhou; Sound Designer Jane Shaw; Props Coordinator Thomas Jenkeleit; and Production Stage Manager Christopher R. Munnell.

Passions ignite and secrets smolder in Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize–winning masterpiece. Set on a sweltering Mississippi estate, a wealthy Southern family gathers to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. Beneath the surface of their lavish estate lies a tangle of lies, desire, and unspoken truths. At the center is Maggie “the Cat,” determined to save her marriage to Brick, a former football hero numbed by loss and silence, so they can inherit his parent’s vast fortune. This explosive American classic is as sexy, sizzling and unforgettable today as it was when it first shook Broadway in 1955.

Tickets start at $44 and are on sale now at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121. For previews on Thursday, April 23 and Friday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m., a limited number of tickets will be available on a pay-what-you-can basis for patrons wishing to purchase up to six tickets at the price of their choosing (suggested price: $20). Tickets will be available starting at 5:30 p.m. and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Seating locations will be assigned by the box office.