Kathy Mattea appears on TPAC stage
In the Off-Broadway production, The Vagina Monologues established a practice of rotating actresses in the ensemble and has continued to do so in Los Angeles and on the national tour, casting the third member of the company in cooperation with the local presenter.
In this presentation, Eve Ensler has given voice to a chorus of lusty, outrageous, poignant, brave, highly original and thoroughly human stories. Based on interviews with a diverse group of women, the play explores the humor, power, pain, wisdom, outrage, mystery and excitement hidden in vaginas. Having seen it, no one – woman or man – will look at the world the same way again.
“The Vagina Monologues is an important work of American theatre – clever, intelligent, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Several of our senior management staff have seen the show and followed its success. Nashville audiences deserve this opportunity to see the national tour of a play that has been so well received not only in New York and nationwide, but around the world,” said Steven Greil, TPAC’s president and chief executive officer. “We’re proud to present this play at TPAC, and we’re thrilled that our friend Kathy Mattea will appear in our presentation.”
Mattea joins a long list of recognizable artists – mostly actresses, but some singers, writers and reporters as well – who have appeared in The Vagina Monologues in New York, Los Angeles, and cities nationwide. The ensemble of three women has included Diahann Carroll, Nell Carter, Calista Flockhart, Amy Irving, Erika Jong, Swoosie Kurtz, Rita Moreno, Alanis Morissette, Phylicia Rashad, Mercedes Ruehl, Brooke Shields, Loretta Swit, Marlo Thomas, Marisa Tomei, and Jessica Walter.
The play has grown from an Off-Broadway hit into an international phenomenon. It was originally produced in an OBIE Award-winning run in 1996 by HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art. The text has also been used in four wildly successful benefit performances, entitled V-Day, which have raised millions of dollars to fight violence against women and girls. At V-Day 2001, which sold out Madison Square Garden (18,000 seats), Eve Ensler was joined by such stars as Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Glenn Close, Calista Flockhart, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Terri Hatcher, LisaGay Hamilton, Queen Latifah, Brooke Shields, Julie Kavner, Amy Irving and over 60 others.
The play will be donating a portion of the ticket sales from the Nashville engagement directly to V-DAY, which in turn will donate monies back to local organizations yet to be determined in the Nashville area.
The Vagina Monologues opened with Eve Ensler in its smash-hit Off-Broadway run at the Westside Theatre on Oct. 3, 1999. Following that sold-out run, the play continued performances with three amazing women sharing the stage in multiple-week engagements.
Performance times in TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater May 21 through 26 are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Ticket prices range from $22.50 – $45 depending on performance times and seat locations. For tickets, visit the TPAC Box Office Downtown or Davis-Kidd Booksellers, the web site www.tpac.org, or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets may also be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 615/255-2787.
V-DAY is a movement to end violence towards women. It produces cultural events to raise awareness and money for existing organizations. A vital, ongoing process that proclaims Valentine’s Day as V-Day, the movement seeks to reinvigorate efforts already underway and commence new initiatives in publicity, education and law. Three wildly successful celebrity performances in New York, at London’s Old Vic and in L.A., as well as performances at hundreds of colleges across the country, have raised thousands of dollars for local, national and international groups that work to stop violence against women. V-Day 2001 rocked Madison Square Garden with an all-day and all-night event. To learn more about V-Day, visit the website at www.vday.org.