Would you believe that we had to fight to let Big Daddy say "ass" on stage?
Say it, or show it?
This is bringing back memories.
The Bellfry Playhouse was located in a reconverted church on a Bellevue side street. It was started by this very elderly lady (Dorothy "something"), who had been a stage actress way back in the early years of the 20th century.
She had chosen a season of plays, LOVE RIDES THE RAILS, SMILIN' THROUGH and other relics, that modern audiences could care less about.
When I was asked to direct something, I gave her a long list of more "contemporary" plays, and the only one she would even consider was LAURA.
I'd never seen the play, but I did like the movie. I figured that the play couldn't be too bad.
It was.
We did, however, wind up with a decent production and, as a result, I was able to talk the newly established Board of Directors into letting me do CAT...with certain cuts in Williams' script.
It was really a battle royal, but CAT did make enough money for the struggling theater to keep it going. After that, they started doing more commercial plays and I moved on to start my own theatre group...taking most of the better Bellfry actors with me.
Our first production was Tennessee Williams' SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER.
I miss working in theater. Hopefully, when we move to Austin, TX, next year, I can get involved again with it.