LIBRARY NOTES
 
Metropolitan Playhouse
The Heiress
Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Members' Room; free of charge
This innovative theater company will perform a full-cast, creatively staged production of The Heiress, which has had two successful Broadway runs following its premiere in 1947 and was also made into a classic 1949 film. The Goetzes adapted this story from
Washington Square.
Founded in 1993, Metropolitan Playhouse explores America's theatrical heritage to illuminate contemporary American culture. The Playhouse produces early American plays, new plays drawn from American culture and history, and plays from around the world that resonate with the American canon. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Alex Roe since 2001, the company has grown into an institution recognized for both artistic excellence and cultural significance.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. The program is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.
This year's Big Read book is
Washington Square by Henry James. The story focuses on heiress Catherine Sloper, whose domineering father thwarts her attempts at love and happiness with cad-about-town Morris Townsend. Critic Donald Hall proclaimed, "everybody likes Washington Square, even the denigrators of Henry James."
Through such events around the city as reading groups, lectures, walking tours, performances of The Heiress, and screenings of movies based on the works of Henry James, the Merc hopes to build a new audience for this emotionally subtle, yet universal novel.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.
The previously announced fee for this event has been waived. Those who pre-paid will be refunded at the door.
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