Award-winning solo play by Jacob Storms examining young Tennessee Williams returns for limited run.
January 19 - February 2, 2024 at The Laurie Beechman Theater
☆☆☆☆ "A short, deep, and perfectly made one-hour narrative... (a) brilliantly charismatic performance." -- Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman
"Engaging throughout… a satisfying hour of succinct historical storytelling." - The List (UK)
“Not only is Tennessee Rising engaging but it is also historical and deeply revealing. Audiences will literally hang onto every word.” – David Vernon, The Theatre Times
“A delight from start to finish.” – David Kennerley, Gay City News
“Smart, fascinating, and highly entertaining… Jacob Storms’ performance is absolutely hypnotic to watch.” – Jed Ryan, Lavender After Dark
"Engrossing and informative...a show filled with fascinating insights into one of the foremost American playwrights of the 20th century." -- Deb Miller, DC Theater Arts
After critically acclaimed engagements Off-Broadway and at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, Jacob Storm’s TENNESSEE RISING: THE DAWN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, will return to New York for a limited engagement. This solo play written and performed by Jacob Storms and originally directed for the stage by Alan Cumming will run January 19 - February 2 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.
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.
Jacob Storm’s TENNESSEE RISING: THE DAWN OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS runs January 19 - February 2, Fridays at 7pm at The Laurie Beechman Theater (inside West Bank Café) at 407 West 42nd Street at Ninth Avenue. Tickets are $24, available at www.SpinCycleNYC.com. Please note that there is also a $25 per person food/ drink minimum at all performances.
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Jacob Storms is best known for his recurring role (Serge) on Steven Soderbergh & Gregory Jacobs' Amazon Original Series, Red Oaks. Jacob won the United Solo Award for his original solo play, Tennessee Rising: The Dawn of Tennessee Williams, at United Solo Fest. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Guggenheim Museum, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York Live Arts Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Symphony Space, The St. Louis, New Orleans, and Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festivals, The Hollywood Bowl, Disney Concert Hall, PICA's Time-Based Art Festival, the cell theatre and more. Jacob is also the youngest actor in the world to have performed Doug Wright's Pulitzer Prize winning, forty-character solo play, I Am My Own Wife. Follow Jacob on instagram @therealjacobstorms and Jacobstorms.net.
Alan Cumming is beyond eclectic. His most recent projects include creating a dance theatre piece about the Scottish bard Robert Burns, lip-synching the protagonist in a documentary, directing a podcast series about a sperm bank heist, playing a gangster opposite Liam Neeson in a Neil Jordan film, curating a cabaret festival in Australia and recording a duet with a Gaelic rapper. Perhaps not surprisingly, Time Magazine called him one of the three most fun people in show business (the others were Cher and Stanley Tucci!).