Tennessee Williams Birthday Celebration Continues with Array of Arts and Cultural Events

: Key West Art & Historical Society is hosting a series of events as part of the annual Tennessee Williams Birthday Celebration now through March 26. (Photo Credit: Key West Art & Historical Society)

February 28, 2023 – (Key West, FL).  Key West Art & Historical Society’s month-long Tennessee Williams Birthday Celebration, which remembers the Pulitzer-prize winning literary icon with an array of arts and cultural events, begins this week with a kick-off party and fundraiser.  Williams, who first visited the island in 1941, called Key West “home” for over thirty years after he bought a quaint clapboard house on Duncan Street.

Events during the Birthday Celebration include a garden party themed fundraiser at the home of Tennessee Williams Museum founders Dennis Beaver and Bert Whitt on March 5.  Attendees will be treated to a short performance by Waterfront Playhouse actors, an open bar and heavily passed canapes.  Tickets available through www.kwahs.org/upcoming-events.

Every Monday during the month of March, from 6:30 p.m., the Tennessee Williams Monday Night Classic Film Series will be screened at the Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton Street.  Films include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond,” “This Property is Condemned,” and “The Glass Menagerie.”  There will also be a free outdoor screening of “The Rose Tattoo,” which was partially filmed in Key West in the mid-1950s, on March 15 in front of the Tropic Cinema.  Film tickets available exclusively at Tropic Cinema or www.tropiccinema.com.

Beaver will also host a series of curator tours at the Tennessee Williams Museum, each with a special theme.  He will share highlights of the filming of “The Rose Tattoo” and “The Glass Menagerie” and provide a general overview of Williams’ life in Key West.  Tickets available through www.kwahs.org/upcoming-events.

On Saturday, March 11, at 2:00 p.m., The Studios of Key West presents a special Rick Worth Painting Boot Camp celebrating Tennessee Williams.  Worth, a renowned painting instructor, will offer a specific edition of his popular class concentrating on the methodology of Williams’ own paintings.  Tickets are available through Studios or www.tskw.org.

Waterfront Playhouse is staging “Suddenly, Last Summer” for a two-night run on March 12 and March 13.  Williams’ play revolves around a young woman who, at the insistence of her wealthy aunt, is evaluated by a psychiatric doctor to receive a lobotomy after witnessing the death of her cousin Sebastian Venable while traveling with him in Spain the previous summer.  Tickets available through Waterfront Playhouse or www.waterfrontplayhouse.org.

Thursday, March 23 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., join Fringe Theater and the Key West Art & Historical Society for a reading of Williams’ short stories and poems concentrating on his sultrier characters in a program titled “The Smoke and Sizzle of Tennessee Williams.”  Readers organized by Fringe Theater and local poet Vicki Boguszewski will share these works during a performance at The Little Jazz Room, 821 Duval Street.  Tickets available through the Key West Art & Historical Society or www.kwahs.org/upcoming-events.

Culminating the monthlong festival, the public is invited to party at the Tennessee Williams Museum celebrating what would have been Williams’ 112th birthday on March 26 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  The evening, which is free to attend, will include contest award presentations, light snacks, bubbly beverages, and birthday cake.
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Visit www.kwahs.org/upcoming-events for the full schedule of events and advanced ticket purchases.  You can also contact Cori Convertito at cconvertito@kwahs.org or 305-295-6616 x507.  The Tennessee Williams Museum, at 513 Truman Avenue, is open Thursdays to Sundays for self-guided tours 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  ​