I wonder how the gay white author, Tennessee Williams, would like his classic, "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" now done in real color?. The movie starred Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor and a few other stars, but it was the scenes with Mr. Newman and Ms. Taylor that I found electrifying. I can remember, I believe, a high school teacher told me that the reason Mr. Newman's, character, named Brick, didn't want to make her love to Maggie the cat, Elizabeth Taylor, was because he was gay and since it was done in the 1950's, in the south, all he could do is drink and became an alcoholic. Paul Newman in this movie is hotter than July! He was an extremely handsome, sexy man in his hay day and Elizabeth Taylor, need I say more, one of cinema's true beauty's.

As for Brick being gay, it was probably true, since Mr. Tennessee Williams always portrayed the women in his novels as weak and strange, just think about "A Streetcar Named Desire", Blanche was a bit weird. Anyway, the new star cast of "Cat" are Terrence Howard as Brick, Anika Noni Rose (Dreamsgirls) as Maggie, James Earl Jones as Big Daddy and Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama and younger sister to Phylicia is the director, Ms. Debbie Allen.

Stephen Byrd, 54, a private equities investor with no experience in producing put his $3.9 million towards this "Cat" being "black". I understand that there were a lot of re-casting, but it sounds like its been worth finally finding the perfect fit. The setting is in the south, Brick is moody (probably in need of a man) or should I say he has his own demons to deal with and her wife is hot, beautiful and horny, she's the cat on the hot tin roof. Big Daddy is overbearing and controlling of his uptight family and Big Mama, the peace maker, looks away when things are uncomfortable.

From what I've heard the Broadway play is long with two intermissions. And the tickets are selling faster than…. Well just selling too fast. I'm going to NYC in the next few weeks but now I hear that its for a limited engagement. So I may not be able to see it. As Florence from "Good Times" would say, Damn! Damn! Damn! Hopefully by popular demand, it will be held over.

The wonderful thing about American playwrights is that if it's excellent writing, it will be able to stand the test of time. Finally Broadway is seeing that there's money to be made with an all black cast. Yes, we've had the musicals, like Dreamsgirls, The Wiz, Ain't Misbehaving, which are wonderful, however, our actors can do more than just sing and dance, we can hit that home run out of the park, just like the rest of them.

The Color Purple proved that people of color will spend the money to see plays of excellence, see plays that tell our stories.

And Ms. Phylicia Rashad has really blossomed into a serious seasoned actress. I hear another Tony Award may come her way. As for Terrace Howard, it gets no better than him, he's a real actor, after "Hustle & Flow", I'm sure that he has a lot of offers but he appears to be the kind of actor that will only be apart of something great. Mr. James Earl Jones is a veteran of the Broadway stage and Anika Noni Rose who's no stranger to Broadway is finally coming into her own. And last but not least, what can't Debbie Allen do. She does it all. Carry on my people, carry on!