En Avant! An Evening with Tennessee Williams, William Shuman’s acclaimed solo play about the life and career of the famed playwright, will be presented in a special one-night-only New York City engagement at The Clarion Theater on Monday, May 25, 2015 at 7pm

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“An inspired cocktail of impersonation and imagination!”

David Hyde Pierce

“Illuminating and inspiring! An extraordinary glimpse into the soul of this iconic artist.”

Austin Pendleton

“You leave with a warm impression of Williams and a head full of his stunning language!”

Time Out New York

EN AVANT!

An Evening with Tennessee Williams

The Acclaimed Solo Play

Written & Performed by William Shuman

One Night Only! Monday, May 25th

 

NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2015 – En Avant! An Evening with Tennessee WilliamsWilliam Shuman’s acclaimed solo play about the life and career of the famed playwright, will be presented in a special one-night-only New York City engagement at The Clarion Theater on Monday, May 25, 2015 at 7pm.

En Avant! tells the story of a wounded man who would go on to become one of the greatest American dramatists of all time. Delving into the forces that shaped his life and defined his art, the play mines Williams’ early childhood and family dynamic through a series of personal reflections that illuminate the struggles that led him to the pantheon of the dramatic world.

 

“Tennessee Williams has intrigued and inspired me from the moment I first opened a copy of The Glass Menagerie,” said Shuman. “I began to wonder what it was that made this writer so different from the other great writers I had read. I looked at his photos and was instantly struck by his infectious grin and the unmistakable twinkle in his eye. As I learned more I couldn’t help but be humbled by the shy, almost diffident persona which shunned celebrity and all that that false god represented. But mostly, I am truly moved by the poetry in his dialogue, poetry which serves to differentiate him from all the other great playwrights of the 20th century.”

Shuman is a founding member of the Abingdon Theater Company who has acted in plays and films byTerrence McNallyRoger Corman and Tennessee Williams.

In a four-star review, Time Out New York proclaimed “Writer-performer William Shuman has distilled Williams’s private journals into an illuminating solo piece that spans the late playwright’s whole career and touches on his struggles with alcoholism, drugs, depression and his own homosexuality. You leave with a warm impression of Williams and a head full of his stunning language.” The Sun New Miami said “Shuman has created one of the very finest one-man plays I have seen. Shuman has chosen just the right words to convey the genius of a man now regarded as a gay icon, as well as one of the leading lights of 20th century American entertainment.”

Tickets for En Avant! An Evening with Tennessee Williams ($18) are available by visitinghttp://beautifulsoup.showclix.com/

The Clarion Theatre is located at 309 East 26th Street in New York City.

 

About William Shuman

William Shuman is an actor and playwright. He made his New York stage debut in 1977 as Percy in Charles Dyer’s Rattle of a Simple Man, having first appeared on stage in Boston as the Gentleman Caller in Northeastern University’s production of The Glass Menagerie. He has performed leading roles in Terrence McNally’s Witness, Charles Dizenzo’s The Last Straw as well as supporting roles Anouilh’s Antigone and Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano. His film work includes Simon Nuchtern’s horror film “Silent Madness”, Roger Corman’s “Street Walkin’ “, John Murray’s “A Place Called Accident” as well as several voices in Maciek Albrecht’s animated film “Closer to You”. He has recently completed principal photography as Ettore in Adam Buncher’s “Hole in the Wall”.

 

Shuman is a founding member of The Abingdon Theatre Company in NYC which produced his play The Most Important American Playwright since Tennessee Williams, and held readings of several of his plays including Retirement TangoTaking Selma’s Car, Seat of Knowledge and the Hibaku Piano. His short playThe Lift has been presented at several venues.

Shuman received a BA in English and Economics from Boston University and an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School but left the corporate world to pursue a life in the theatre.

 

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