Big Daddy makes this ‘Cat’ hot

By MILAN PAURICH

entertainment@vindy.com

NEW CASTLE, Pa.

Scott Mackenzie’s extraordinarily layered performance as Big Daddy in the New Castle Playhouse production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” singlehandedly justifies director Lester Malizia’s decision to revive Williams’ 1955 Pulitzer Prize winner.

Mackenzie, so terrific as Joe Keller in last summer’s NCP revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” is equally strong here. The Westminster College professor has such an intrinsic understanding of what makes Big Daddy tick — a genuine tenderness alternating with the coarsest vulgarity — that you feel the weight of his presence even when he’s offstage.

Which, unfortunately, is all of Act 1 and much of Act 3. Many of the production’s flaws are built into the text itself. Despite its exalted status in theatrical circles, “Tin Roof” was never a masterpiece like Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” or “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Riddled with needless, ceaseless repetition, the three-hour play at times seems longer than “Nicholas Nickleby.” It also suffers from a too-pat, anticlimactic ending that never satisfactorily resolves any of Williams’ central conflicts.

The major conflict is between Maggie (Whitney Ann Jenkins who resembles a fleshier Tori Spelling) and her embittered, alcoholic ex-football star husband Brick (Jesse Pomerico, as pretty as an Abercrombie and Fitch model). Understandably peeved that Brick will no longer sleep with her (he’s only married to the bottle these days), the coquettish minx spends the entirety of Act 1 haranguing Brick for his shortcomings. Jenkins confidently delivers Maggie’s tempestuous extended soliloquies, but there isn’t enough modulation in her vocal delivery to make the character seem more than a collection of shrill tics.

And while Pomerico simmers and broods handsomely, his Brick never truly convinces. He also seems too young and a tad callow for Williams’ most hauntingly tortured male protagonist. Pomerico is most effective in his big confrontation scene with Mackenzie.

The other key dispute involves Big Daddy’s fractious extended family. When word filters out that their pater familias has terminal cancer, Brick’s conniving big brother Gooper (a fine Alan McCreary) and Lady Macbeth of a sister-in-law Mae (Alison Carey in an impressive NCP debut) do everything within their power to ensure that the bulk of his $10-million-plus estate is bequeathed to them. With its faint echoes of Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes” and even Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” Act 3 seems as randomly patched together as a lumpy quilt.

There are strong supporting turns by Audra Moesta (Big Mama), David Dougherty (the ineffectual Rev. Tooker who cuts and runs when the going gets tough) and Bill Shorr (bearing-of-ill-tidings Dr. Baugh). As Gooper and Mae’s “no-neck monsters,” Madeline Fleeger, Roger Jones, Tyler Lucas and Elle Moesta are suitably, er, rambunctious. Malizia’s set and costume designs (with a major assist from stage manager Paula Ferguson) are both spot-on in evoking the “New Old South.”

Flaws and all, the production demands to be seen for Mackenzie’s triumphant portrayal. He makes Big Daddy one of the most compelling and unforgettable characters you’re likely to encounter all season.

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” runs through next Sunday at the New Castle Playhouse Annex. For reservations, call 724-654-3437