Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival
Fundraiser on June 5
By: Tennessee - Apr 29, 2021
Seats and tables are now available for the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival’s annual fundraiser, to be held outdoors under a tent at the Bas Relief Park behind Provincetown Town Hall on Saturday, June 5 at 4pm Eastern.
A limited amount of Gala VIP tables are available for $2,400 and can accommodate up to six individuals. Other Gala seats are available at other tables for $300 and $200. The Festival website has additional information about tables and configurations. In accordance with the festival’s commitment to state and local guidelines relating to COVID-19, attendees will be asked to submit a short form. Once received, a staff member from the festival’s team will quickly reach out by phone or, if preferred, by email to complete the booking. To reserve tickets, visit twptown.org
The Performance Gala will sample The Brass Menagerie, an off-kilter musical exploration of the plays of Tennessee Williams through the lens of Broadway showtunes performed by the show’s madcap creator, singer Amy Jo Jackson, and her longtime collaborator pianist Brian Nash.
A live auction of artwork and Williams-related memorabilia will include opportunities for remote bidding.
“Our annual Gala is when we announce the Festival’s September season, surrounded by the people whose generosity makes it possible for us to celebrate Tennessee Williams through live performance,” says Patrick Falco, president of the Festival’s board of directors. “Last year, with the help of our supporters we presented live performances inspired by the slogan ‘If we can, we will.’ This year, with the help of our supporters, if we can we will again.”
About The Brass Menagerie
Amy Jo Jackson will perform several numbers from her irreverent cabaret show The Brass Menagerie, an off-kilter musical exploration of the plays of Tennessee Williams through the lens of Broadway showtunes. Mashing up golden-age musical theater melodies and contemporary pop songs with text from classic plays—including The Rose Tattoo and Suddenly Last Summer—Jackson playfully embodies a range of Williams characters to hilarious effect.
Jackson is joined by longtime collaborator and music director Brian Nash. Based in New York City but no stranger to the Cape, Jackson describes The Brass Menagerie as a natural outpouring of her many interests. “I’m really proud of it,” she says. “It’s my kind of thing: smart and stupid at the same time. I think it’s intelligently put together, but it’s also clowny and campy, and it seems to bring others great enjoyment."
About This Year’s Festival Theme
This year’s programming expands on last year’s theme: Censorship and Tennessee Williams. “When we originally chose our theme, it had a more historical focus: the Puritans and Tennessee Williams’ decades of battles with censors,” explains festival co-founder and curator David Kaplan. “In 2021, the conversation about censorship has shifted dramatically. In 2021, we’re discussing when, if ever, censorship is appropriate.”
The 2021 festival will also present the work of other wayward writers including Mae West, Bertolt Brecht, and Penny Arcade.
“1621 kicked off in Provincetown with the Mayflower gone, never to return,” says Kaplan. “Four hundred years of independent thinking followed. The outraged Puritans called it ‘flaunting.’ In 2021, the flaunting persists!”
About the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival
The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival was founded in 2006 in Provincetown—the birthplace of modern American theater—where Williams worked on many of his major plays during the 1940s. The festival is the nation’s largest performing arts festival dedicated to celebrating and expanding an understanding of the full breadth of the work of America’s great playwright. Theater artists and patrons from around the United States and from dozens of countries have come together to produce and enjoy classic and innovative shows that celebrate Williams’ enduring influence in the 21st century, hosted by venues throughout the seaside village. For complete information, visit twptown.org. Follow the festival on Facebook and Instagram at @twptown.