June is a busy month for organizers of Columbus’ Tennessee Williams Tribute. A “Support Our Stars” fundraising event Friday, June 26 precedes auditions for “Suddenly, Last Summer” the following two days. Williams’ 1958 play will be performed for area audiences during the 14th annual Tribute set for Sept. 6-13.

A Williams play is not unusual at the local festival which has presented many works written by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning writer born in Columbus in 1911. But this time around, there is a traveling twist: The Tribute’s production will also go to the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Sept. 24-27.

A decade ago, Tribute founder and chair Brenda Caradine of Columbus received a call from David Kaplan in Massachusetts.

“He said, ‘Mrs. Caradine, I hear you have a Tennessee Williams Festival down there. Well, I am starting one, too, where he spent summers and wrote plays,'” Caradine recounted. Since then, she has attended every Provincetown festival and seen them gain an international following.

“Provincetown has brought several productions to Columbus and now has honored Columbus by asking us to join production companies from throughout the United States and from Cape Town, South Africa, at their 10th annual festival,” said Caradine.

SOS party

Friday’s event from 6:30-9 p.m. at Errolton, the antebellum home of Keith and Gaines Gaskin at 216 Third Avenue South, will welcome the play’s director to Columbus and generate funds to send “Suddenly, Last Summer” to Provincetown. It also offers music, food, libations and a drama presentation by Tom Hatcher, Laura Beth Berry and Daniel Talley. There is no admission cost.

Williams memorabilia will be among items in a silent auction. A live auction will feature a rare sheet of Tennessee Williams commemorative stamps donated by Rachel George.

“Gaines and I believe in the mission of the Tennessee Williams Foundation and the positive impact the annual tribute has on our community, so we are committed to helping in any way that we can,” said Keith Gaskin.

Auditions, visiting cast

Mississippi native Augustin J. Correro will direct the Tribute’s “Suddenly, Last Summer.” The Mississippi University for Women alumnus is co-artistic director of the Tennessee Williams Theatre Co. of New Orleans. He holds a master’s degree in theatre performance pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Correro will conduct auditions June 27 at 2 p.m. at the Columbus Arts Council’s Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501 Main St., and June 28 at 2 p.m. in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 318 College St. Auditioning actors must be prepared to not only perform in Columbus, but also in Provincetown.

“Local and regional actors will be acting with Beth Bartley and Brenda Currin,” noted Caradine.

Bartley performed on Broadway in the Tony-nominated “Fortune’s Fool” and most recently played the role Catherine Holly in Southern Rep Theatre’s “Suddenly, Last Summer” in New Orleans. Her lengthy credits include producing Williams’ “The Mutilated,” nominated for a 2014 Drama League Award. The Ohio native is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and The Juilliard School.

Currin is an Obie award winner and portrayed the character of Violet Venable in Southern Rep’s sold-out run of “Suddenly, Last Summer.” She has several times appeared in adaptations about Eudora Welty and has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. Her numerous credits include directing, as well as portraying multiple characters created by Williams.

Caradine said, “Taking this production to Provincetown will mean so much to the many local actors, volunteers and community supporters who have encouraged our 14-year-old event. We could not have done it without all the media support, The W, the Columbus Arts Council and grants from the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mississippi Arts Commission, Mississippi Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.”

That, and support from community donors throughout the Tribute’s history, have kept organizers focused on the mission of bringing worldwide attention to the literary life of Tennessee Williams and to Columbus, she added. “The Tennessee Williams Tribute is honored to represent our town on a national stage.”

For more information, contact Caradine at 662-328-5413.

Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.