Kathy Randels

My initial call to be an actor came in the voice of Tennessee Williams. I was in the 7th grade, reading The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. He died the same year and it felt like a sign. Much later, in college at Northwestern University in 1990, I created my first full-length solo performance, To Flee, Flee This Sad Hotel, as a sort of mini-rebellion against Chicago’s cold climate and the canonical works of all those male playwrights from similarly cold places. What better way to bring together my southern roots, my theatrical studies, my initial call to theatre and my penchant for playing men (because their characterizations were often richer than the female roles) than to create a solo performance in which I portrayed my beloved Tennessee? Composed entirely of his own words, To Flee, Flee This Sad Hotel is my tribute to the playwright who started me on my path.