All Black Revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” Coming to Broadway

This weekend I had a family member fly to New York for the weekend, specifically to see The Color Purple. A little star power will do that; as he described it to his Pops, “I’m going to see that play, the one that Fantasia is in.” He might have to make another trip in a few months, when the Debbie Allen produced, all black-revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” kicks into gear on March 7, 2008.

The cast is star-studded, James Earl Jones plays the role of Big Daddy; Phylicia Rashad is his wife, Big Mama; Terrence Howard will be their alcoholic son, Brick; and Anika Rose aka that other Dreamgirl, will play Brick’s wife, Maggie.

This is the fourth Broadway production of the 1955 play. In 2003, Ashley Judd and Jason Patric were cast with the idea that their Hollywood glow would attract huge crowds. That didn’t happen. We’ll see how things go with an all-black cast. I’d see it for Anika Rose more than anyone. She did a fantastic job in Dreamgirls, but Broadway was her home before that big break; it would be interesting to see her on familiar ground.

Speaking of people flying in for plays; Alisa May is an aspiring actress from Florida, or I should say, YouTube. She’ll probably want to make a trip to NYC too. Alisha posted a monologue from “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof,” asking for comments and feedback.

I was impressed enough that she got some Whudat love,
which goes a long way.

“This scene is about a married couple, Maggie and Brick, and they have so many issues. One of them is his family. She really can’t stand them because they always talk and they have so much going on and there is so much drama. Sooo.. here it goes.”

---