By Tennessee Williams
staring Sally Struthers

Over the next few weeks selected students from the cast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will be journaling their experiences in rehearsals for the play with guest artist Sally Struthers and one of their own theatre and cinema professors Professor Chuck Hayes. Senior Ashleigh Keeran is portraying "Maggie the Cat" Pollitt as a senior capstone project. She will be commenting on how working with these two experienced artists makes the capstone experience something out of the ordinary. Derek Rommel, a junior theatre and cinema major,was sound master for last spring's Fifth of July which also featured Ms. Struthers. Rommel is playing Gooper "Brother Man" Pollitt and will get an onstage vantage in this production which he will share in his blog. Bringing up the freshman perspective is John Klenk who plays the Reverend Tooker.

Sally Struthers arrived at Radford University today. I was a little nervous about starting rehearsal because I wanted to make a good impression. sally and I (Big mama and Maggie) ran a scene in Act 1. Wesley put Sally into the scene where Big mama barges into the room right after Brick and I have had a fight. The tension is high and her entrance only makes it worse. Sally immediately began to make strong choices with her character. From the moment she stepped onto the stage the intensity and quick pace began to show beautifully. I couldn't believe I was going to get to react to Sally Struthers. Being able to feed off of Sally is a great opportunity for me as an actress. The combined influence and experience was soaring through our first rehearsal together last night. The movements that Sally took to integrate with her language were amazing and equally surprising from the beginning to the end. Blocking a scene can be tedious work, but when you're able to make movements and decisions from a great director and accomplished performer, your beats begin to come together very nicely. I'm very excited and anxious at the same time to begin this process with Sally. I know that it will be an experience that will last me a lifetime.

Today I had my first rehearsal with Sally Struthers. It was very exciting to be able to work with her. After a few minutes, we got to a scene where In my first scene with her (Rev. Tooker and Big Mama) she had to pull me into her lap, which I thought would be a little awkward, but she did a great job of creating a character and living in the moment that it went very smoothly. The bit got a big laugh and I learned first-hand that Sally is very strong. It was also wonderful to see how she changed the way she moved and spoke to further enhance her character. When I got off-stage, I was able to observe her even more closely. She always put a great deal of energy into he performance, and reacted easily to what other people gave her. I know that performing with her and Chuck will be a wonderful chance for me to learn about theatre and I can't wait for tomorrow's rehearsal.

In today's rehearsal, I noticed that Chuck did a great deal of interpretation with his lines. He managed to take words that had been extremely ambiguous every other time I had seen this play, and give them a strong conclusion by the way he intoned them, and by using his physicality to suggest what his character meant by them. His interpretation strengthened the scene and his character, as well as tie up some threads of the plot that would have been left loose. Sally also did something that I thought were interesting. She took the blocking we had set down earlier; then expanded on it, and improvised with it to suit her character better. Not only did it strengthen her performance, it forced the rest of us to adjust ours, and make strong choices on the turn of a dime. The result was that everyone's performance was instantly infused with energy and spontaneity. I look forward to tomorrow's rehearsal.

Last night I got to watch Chuck Hayes and Sally Struthers really interact. It was an amazing experience. What a thrill to get to sit and watch two such accomplished people. Sally and Chuck were reacting to each other beautifully! I could see in 2 minutes of watching them that they had been married forever, and there was so much going on with both of them. The way that Chuck and Sally were picking the cues up off of each other was almost flawless. We also go to work through to the end of the play where Big Daddy decides he's going to give the place to Brick and Maggie.

In today's rehearsal, we worked scenes from the last two acts. During the course of the rehearsal, we often stopped and reworked, blocking, line reading, and body language that was needed to be altered. I noticed how Chuck and Sally would immediately incorporate any notes given to them into their performances. They looked like the blocking given to them two seconds ago had been what was set down during the first few rehearsals. I realized that this is because they have developed a deep sense of their characters, so that no matter how the details of their performances changed, the essential core of it would remain the same.

In today's rehearsal, I noticed very good interaction in a scene between Chuck and TJ (Big Daddy and Brick). In the scene the two character are having an extremely intense discussion. I could see that they were really taking what the other was giving and adding to it, so that the scene picked up a natural momentum and rhythm. Chuck and Sally also had great interactions in a scene where Chuck's character tells Sally's that their relationship of forty years has been a sham. They created a realistic relationship where you could tell that Big Mama really loved Big Daddy to the point where she was oblivious to his contempt for her and that Big Daddy just wants Big Mama out of his hair.

In today's rehearsal, I noticed Sally do something very interesting. There was some stopping and going, and every time Sally had to repeat a line, she would do it differently. This caused her performance to stay fresh and enabled her to explore different aspects of her character. If she liked something she did, she stuck with it; if she wasn't satisfied with it, she tried something else. I was very impressed with her ability to experiment on the spot like that.

The most striking thing about working with Sally is her voice. She has such an excellent interview and she uses it brilliantly with every line. She can take a scene that was worked and worked and worked before she was added and raise the stakes so much more by one line with the way she uses her voice. She has so much power in her voice and so much depth of feeling exudes through everything she says. Another characteristic of Sally that makes working with her a joy and a challenge is her eyes. For example I have a speech in Act III in which I am finally purging my true feelings towards Big Daddy and the situation the family is in and I feel so sure of myself and what I am saying until she looks at me and makes me feel so small. It works so well for that particular moment because for a split second I feel that I am wrong for saying what I am saying and it happens at the precise moment when I change my tactics to get what I want from the speech. In all, Sally is incredibly talented and it is truly a joy to work with her, especially in this educational stage of being an actor, because it forces me and everybody else on stage to raise our stakes and "up our game" and in the end it is incredibly rewarding as an artist and student.

Tonight's rehearsal was a working rehearsal. We ran through ACT III to begin with. The start of the act was a little slow, I think it might have been due to the fact that lights were going on around us. Sally was throwing it out last night! She was great, really moving and exploring the space. It's so easy for me to relate to her in this show, because I feel so bad for her character, but at the same time the only thing Miss Maggie wants is the MONEY!!! The end of the show went really well, I was finding new things all over the place. Sally told me two days ago that I was doing REMARKABLE work, which I must say, made me feel incredible! What a compliment to hear that from Sally Struthers! I'm so thankful to get to watch her and Chuck from off stage. The intense monologue that big Daddy says to Big Mama really moves me every time I hear it. Chuck throws out emotion like nobody's business, and Sally picks it up and takes it in. I'm looking forward to getting on stage with all of the lights and the set being finished. I can only imagine what Sally will come up with next!

In today's rehearsal, Sally integrated what was really going on with her into her performance. Tonight, she was being very funny, and she put that silliness into her performance which strengthened her character and brought new life and energy into it. Chuck had great momentum tonight. He would make one strong choice that would lead to another strong choice, and before I knew it he was on fire. I really learned a lot tonight by watching them.

So far, working on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has been a wonderful experience. This being my first show at Radford, I have been able to learn so much about our theatre department. When I first found out that Sally and Chuck were going to be in the show I was nervous, but after working with them, have found that they are two of the nicest people you can meet and are a pleasure to work with. I love being able to watch them perform and having the chance to learn from them. They truly make you want to be better when you're onstage, making you give it your all. Everyone in the cast is doing such a good job and have improved so much since we first started rehearsals. I can't believe that our first performance is a week from today! It doesn't seem like it's been very long since our first read through!