Hartford artistic director Michael Wilson (Enchanted April) directs the work which opens June 3 for a run through June 26 at his Connecticut company's home.
Joining Ashley — who portrays Big Mama — in the cast will be Alyssa Bresnahan (A Moon for the Misbegotten - Long Wharf Theatre) as Maggie, James Colby (Hartford's Camino Real and as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire) as Brick and William Biff McGuire (Morning's at Seven) as Big Daddy. Bill Kux will play Gooper and Natalie Brown takes on Sister Woman.
The ensemble also features Andi Jackson Ali as Sookey, Robert Hannon Davis as Reverend Tooker and Nafe Katter as Dr. Baugh. Area children including Christian Gonzalez, Christina Nichols, Shelby Temple, Sara Vitelli, Kimberly Wipfler and Joseph Robert Zemba round out the cast.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof finds a former football hero drowning in his grief after losing his best friend while his desirous wife longs to produce an heir to the family fortune in danger of going to his older, fruitful brother as their ailing father condition worsens.
Ashley earned her Tony for her turn in Take Her, She's Mine. The actress is known for her friendship with Williams — which led to her performances in his The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More, The Red Devil Battery Sign, Sweet Bird of Youth and The Glass Menagerie as well as her Tony-nominated performance as Maggie in the 1974 Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Ashley has also appeared on Broadway in Enchanted April, Agnes of God, Gore Vidal's The Best Man and Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. McGuire, Tony Award-nominated for Morning's at Seven, played on Broadway in Conversations With My Father and the original productions of South Pacific, Dance Me a Song, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, Father's Day, Camelot, A View From the Bridge and Mary, Mary. Other credits include The Day Emily Married, Finian's Rainbow, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Last Yankee, The Time of Your Life and the films "Serpico" and the original "The Thomas Crown Affair."
Tickets to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street in downtown Hartford, CT will be available by calling (860) 527-5151 . For more information, visit www.hartfordstage.org.
