![The Players Guild of Leonia presents "The Glass Menagerie"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2017/Glass1.jpg "The Players Guild of Leonia presents "The Glass Menagerie"")
(LEONIA, NJ) --A classic of the American theatre,The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a deeply touching play of poetic beauty. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the Wingfield family as it struggles to survive the Great Depression in a one bedroom, back alley apartment in St, Louis, MO. Tom, a restless dreamer, yearns to break free from a dead end job and his domineering mother, Amanda. However, he is torn by the thought of abandoning his emotionally fragile sister, Laura, a recluse hiding behind her collection of glass figurines.
The Glass Menagerie is the second main stage production of the 97th season of The Players Guild of Leonia, one of the longest continuously active community theatre groups in the country. It will run from January 13 to January 29 of 2017, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 3:00pm at the Civil War Drill Hall Theatre, 130 Grand Avenue, Leonia, NJ.
Tickets are available online at www.leoniaplayers.org or by phone at 201-947-9606.
First produced on Broadway in 1945, The Glass Menagerie has since become a beloved favorite for generations of theatre audiences. Autobiographical in nature, the play merited Tennessee Williams a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play and propelled the young playwright to instant fame.
“This play has such a big heart!” says Michael Wurl, director. “It glows with love,” he continues. “Tennessee Williams wrote it for his sister and, he poured his soul into it. And I think that’s why it has endured for so long and is produced year after year. We not only identify with the characters, but we deeply empathize with them. Whether it’slaughter or tears, we immediately feel, on a very deep level, our own family experiences through the Wingfields.
The ensemble cast includes Cheryl Crabtree Woertz (Alpine, N.J.) as the mother, Amanda Wingfield, Dan Giordano (Leonia, N.J.) as the son, Tom Wingfield, Alison Miller (Leonia, N.J.) as the daughter, Laura Wingfield and Chris Caira (Closter, N.J.) as Jim O’Connor, the gentleman caller.
In addition, director Michael Wurl has honored Tennessee Williams’ original request for musical accompaniment to support the action on the stage. “Let there be music!” sings Wurl. To help with this special demand, Wurl has enlisted the talents of local musician and teacher, Michael Holak (Parsippany, N.J.) to compose a musical score for the entire play, which he will perform live in the theatre on cello and piano during every show. “We are so lucky to have Michael Holak adding his musical genius to this production. It changes the whole mood of the play. Every moment is heightened by the presence of music,” says Wurl. Michael Holak is Director of the Strings Program at Anna C. Scott Elementary School in Leonia, N.J. and at the Leonia Middle School. He also is the Musical Director for the Leonia High School Theatre’s Limelighters, Musical Assistant to Summer Stage at Leonia and performs as a cellist in the Livingston Symphony Orchestra of N.J.
The Players Guild is presenting Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie under special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
The Players Guild of Leonia is one of the oldest community theatre groups in New Jersey, and in the United States. Last year it was voted Best Place in New Jersey for Non-Equity Theatre by the readers of New Jersey Stage Magazine. The shows are presented in the historic Civil War Drill Hall Theatre at 130 Grand Avenue in Leonia. The intimate 95 seat theatre lets the audience feel as though they are in the middle of the onstage action.
Following The Glass Menagerie at the Players Guild will be Love, Loss & What I Wore, February 24 - March 12 and Hair, May 5 - 21.
