News: Acclaimed "Tennessee Rising" Returns for Pride Month, June 2-23

Jacob Storms. Photo courtesy of Spin Cycle 

The newly renovated AMT Theater in midtown will host a special LGBTQIA+ Pride return engagement of the Off-Broadway Premiere of Tennessee Rising: The Dawn of Tennessee Williams, a solo play written and performed by Jacob Storms and originally directed for the stage by Alan Cumming. It will run June 2 – 23 before heading to Edinburgh this summer and Rochester, NY in September. You can read our review of the show's previous run at AMT here.

What led Tennessee Williams to become the most groundbreaking and unique playwright of the twentieth century? Tennessee Rising: The Dawn of Tennessee Williams explores the formative six-year period from 1939-1945 in which an unknown writer named Tom metamorphosizes into the acclaimed playwright known as Tennessee. The solo play brings these unknown years center stage as the audience becomes friend and confidant to young Williams as he experiences the unexpected highs and devastating lows of his early career, wherein his most iconic character emerges: himself.

An earlier version of Tennessee Rising received the United Solo Award for Best One-Man Show at the 2017 United Solo Festival in New York City and headlined the 2018 Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis. The current version, under the direction of Alan Cumming, was slated to premiere in March 2020 at the Beaubourg Theatre in New Orleans but was canceled due to Covid. And in the spring of 2021, Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre hosted a limited engagement run on its outdoor patio for an audience of only 20 per performance.

 Tennessee Rising runs June 2 - 23, Fridays at 5pm. The running time is 75 minutes. AMT Theater is located at 354 West 45th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. Tickets are $24 - $47, available at www.SpinCycleNYC.com.

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