Courtship is very much like a fine piece of theater. It requires poise and wit, well-defined roles and a healthy dose of poetic inspiration. Tennessee Williams knew how to woo lovers of language and drama. And no group of performers has fallen deeper under his spell than our very own Fusion Theatre Company.

The railyard and the theater: a musical love story

Go ahead. Make as much noise as you want.

When you’re parked in a railyard on the outskirts of the warehouse district, there’s no reason to keep it down. The neighborhood around First Street and Lomas is home to a family of storage units, light industrial complexes, a few banks and a legal office. By 5 p.m. each day, the place is as still as a cemetery--save for the rattle and hum of an occasional Santa Fe freight car.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your amplifiers.

“The Cell was born out of its surroundings,” says Cell Theatre proprietor Dennis Gromelski. “I don’t know if we could have done it elsewhere.”

The Fusion Theatre Company sticks five candles in its cake

Whatever you do, please don't refer to the Fusion Theatre Company as “edgy.” They don't like being called “alternative” either—or “cutting-edge.” “Those are such tired terms,” says Jacqueline Reid, one of Fusion's founders. “They don't say anything.”

The Fusion Theatre Company’s Tennessee Williams Festival

Suddenly Last Summer

Opens Thursday, Sept. 21, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 15. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $22 for general admission, $17 for students and seniors. The Sunday, Sept. 24, performance is pay-what-you-wish and every Thursday except opening night will have student rush tickets available for $10.

Williams One-Acts