'The Glass Menagerie' coming up July 13-15, 20-22

The Mississippi Bend Players will present the Tennessee Williams' classic "The Glass Menagerie" July 13-15 and 20-22.

The play premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams to fame.

"The Glass Menagerie" is the story of Merchant Marine officer, dreamer and poet Tom Wingfield, who reminisces about working in a warehouse and living in a tenement apartment with his overbearing mother Amanda and shy sister Laura. A menagerie of glass figurines provides Laura an escape that Tom himself longs for in this Tony Award-winning tale of love, loss and the tensions of a family at odds. 

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. Sundays.

¡°I am thrilled and honored that a dream cast of actors has agreed to take this artistic voyage with me as we approach one of American theatre¡¯s best-known works,¡± said director Corinne Johnson.

Dr. Johnson is a professor of theatre at St. Ambrose University who won a 2017 Kennedy Center for American Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Theatre Festival Gold Medallion for lifetime achievement in teaching and producing theatre.  

Her production features a cast of four: Megan Cox as Amanda, Seth Kaltwasser as Tom, Marjorie Gast as Laura, and recent Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø graduate Keenan Odenkirk as Jim. 

Gast and Odenkirk also are members of the Players¡¯ internship program, extending their involvement to scenic construction, costumes, lighting and sound, run crew, dramaturgy, administration and house management. 

Tickets are $20, or $15 for seniors, students, children and Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø faculty and staff. Group rates also are available for 10 or more by calling the box office. 

A show-after-show will be presented July 20 and 21. This 45-minute cabaret will feature summer interns and be presented in the Honkamp Black Box Theatre, beginning 15 minutes after the curtain call. Admission to the show-after-show is $5 per person.

The Mississippi Bend Players, led by executive artistic director, Broadway director and Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø alumnus Phil McKinley, will conclude the season with "Beginner¡¯s Luck" Aug. 3-5 and 10-12. This a world-premiere comedy by P.J. Lasker, a writer for  television shows "The Golden Girls" and "Barney Miller."