“There comes a time when you look into the mirror and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. And then you accept it. Or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking in mirrors.”

As a celebration of the centennial of the birth of one of America’s most enduring playwrights, Tennessee Williams, FUSION is proud to present, in association with the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, the world premiere of the one-act Once in a Lifetime. Opening at The Cell Theatre on September 29th at 8:00 pm and running for one weekend only through October 2nd, the play will be coupled with two other Williams works to create a full evening of theatre that forms the inaugural offering of FUSION’s 10th Anniversary Season, “All the World’s a Stage." Reservations are highly recommended for all performances as seating is limited.

In 1939, two conservative couples on separate cross-country automobile touring trips meet one summer evening in the lobby of the Hotel La Fonda de Taos. This meeting forms the backdrop for Once in a Lifetime, written by Williams in 1939. FUSION will be performing the piece at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival September 22nd – 25th before opening in Albuquerque.

“FUSION’s world premiere production of this play marks yet another example of the growing national stage that the company is both contributing to and performing on”, said Dennis Gromelski, FUSION’s Executive Director. “It is an honor to bring an original work from this master playwright to the Albuquerque community”.

In addition to Once in a Lifetime, FUSION will also stage The Unsatisfactory Supper and Talk to Me Like the Rain…and Let Me Listen, two other rarely seen Williams one-acts. The production is directed by Fred Franklin (FUSION’s Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Suddenly Last Summer and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur). Starring in the production are FUSION favorites Jacqueline Reid, Bruce Holmes, Laurie Thomas, Gregory Wagrowski, Demetrio Vialpando and Lauren Myers.

Once in a Lifetime: A Celebration of Tennessee Williams runs at The Cell, September 29th thru October 2nd, with Thursday and Friday performances at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for students and seniors. For tickets and information call 766-9412 or click here:

Group discounts are also available. Substantial discounts are available when you purchase a:

Free parking is plentiful in our lot just north of the theatre. The Cell is located at 700 1st St. N.W., just west of Broadway and south of Lomas.

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Once in a Lifetime: A Celebration Cast

Bruce Holmes	BRUCE HOLMES* most recently appeared with FUSION as the less-than-civil husband in God of Carnage. Previously, he was one of two multi-faceted "Clowns" in Alfred Hitchcock's 39 Steps and "Bill Fordham" in August: Osage County. He had the principle role in The Seven's Jury and Bosser Award-winning Hiding From Adults by Greg Kalleres. He also appeared in Jen Silverman's award-winning The Education of Macoloco as part of The Seven: New Works, which recently won the Samuel French Off Broadway New Works Festival. Previously, he was "Brother Timothy" in The Mandrake, "Ned" in Parlour Song and "Teddy" in The Homecoming. He made his debut here as "Christy" in Martin McDonaugh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore. In Seattle, he worked at A.C.T., Center Stage, AHA!, N.W. Shakespeare Ensemble, and The Empty Space Theatre. Favorite roles at The Space include “Pat” in The True History of Coca-Cola in Mexico, “Jess” in The Complete Wrks of Wilm Shakespeare Abridged, “Horace” in The School for Wives, “Bertozzo” in Accidental Death of an Anarchist and “Sgt. Match” in What the Butler Saw. In Idaho, Bruce performed with The Idaho Repertory Theatre as “Leon” in Voice of the Prairie, “Max” in Lend Me a Tenor, “Trevor” in Bedroom Farce, and as “Andrew” in I Hate Hamlet. In Washington D.C., he appeared as a longshoreman in Arena Stage’s Anna Christie, and “Pee-Wee” in Orpheus Descending. At the Washington Shakespeare Theatre, he appeared as “Sampson” in Romeo & Juliet. In Virginia, Bruce appeared as “The Narrator” in For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again at The Metro Stage Theatre. Recent film/tv credits include the USA series In Plain Sight, the feature film Fright Night and the lead in Ultimatum Pictures’ Voiceover. He received his B.F.A. from the University of New Mexico and his M.F.A. from the Professional Actor’s Training Program at the University of Washington.
Jacqueline Reid	JACQUELINE REID* is a founding member of FUSION. Most recently at FUSION she was “Veronica Novak” in God of Carnage, directed The Lost Ending, was “Annabella Schmidt,” “Pamela,” and “Margaret” in The 39 Steps,“Barbara Fordham” in August: Osage County and “Mrs. Juno” in Overruled. Other credits include: “Dorothea” in A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur by Tennessee Williams, “Theresa” in Alan Ayckbourne’s How the Other Half Loves, “ Ruth” in Pinter’s The Homecoming and “Joy” in Jez Butterworth’s Parlour Song. She directed last season’s The Mandrake, as well as Death of a Salesman, Doubt, Lieutenant of Inishmore, the world premiere of Mad Hattr, and FUSION's children's tours of The Invention and The Lost Ending. Past acting credits at FUSION include The Seven: That One Thing, "Beth" in Orange Flower Water, “Catherine” in Suddenly Last Summer, “Amanda” in Private Lives, the title role in Hedda Gabler, “Laura” in The Glass Menagerie, “Stella” in A Streetcar Named Desire, “Kate” in The Taming of the Shrew, “ Zelda Fitzgerald” in Bye, Bye Blackbird, “Anna” in Closer, and “Maggie” in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Regional lead roles include Romeo and Juliet, Agnes of God, and Crimes of the Heart. Film roles include Heat Lightning for which she received Best Actress at the Bend, Oregon Film Festival, the Italian series Doc West, In Plain Sight, Unsolved Mysteries, and True Confessions with Adam Arkin. She is a BFA graduate of The North Carolina School of the Arts. Jacqueline has been a proud member of the Actors‘ Equity Association since 1983.
Laurie Thomas	LAURIE THOMAS* is a co-founder and Artistic Associate of FUSION Theatre Company. She is a director, actor, writer and a member of Albuquerque Academy’s Performing Arts Faculty. She has performed professionally at California Shakespeare Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, On the Boards, A Contemporary Theatre, Berkeley Stage Company, The Empty Space, and Playwrights Horizons in such works as the premiere of Cheryl L. West’s Jar the Floor and Jen Silverman’s The Education of Macoloco. Last season, Laurie played back-to-back acclaimed performances as "Violet" in August: Osage County and "Winnie" in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days as well last month's God of Carnage. Most recently she directed FUSION's production at the Albuquerque Museum, George Bernard Shaw's Overruled. Her television credits include three seasons working in casting for the CBS series Northern Exposure. Laurie has been a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association since 1990.
Gregory Wagrowski	GREGORY WAGROWSKI* returns to FUSION having played the pater familias in last season's August: Osage County. He has been working professionally as an actor and director for over thirty years. He served as the Artistic Director for both the Smokebrush Theater and The Colorado Actors Theater. He has performed a variety of roles in theaters all around the country including the Public Theater in New York, the St. Louis Repertory Company, the Magic Theater in San Francisco, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Los Angeles Theater Center where he was an Artistic Associate for seven years. He was a founding member of two theater companies, The Old World Theater Company in Chicago and The Noe Street Theater in San Francisco. He has also worked extensively in both film and television where his most recent credits include, Mad Men, The Unit, Criminal Minds, and ER. Mr. Wagrowski is also a sometime writer, poet, and educator.
Lauren Myers	LAUREN MYERS† was last seen at FUSION as "Maddie" in Formaldehyde from this past year's The Seven, as well as “Jean Fordham” in August: Osage County. Locally, Lauren recently played "Steph" in Duke City Repertory Theatre's reasons to be pretty, “Bianca/Grumio” in DCRT's The Taming of the Shrew, “Holly” in DCRT’s Trust, and “Molly” in Love Song with Mother Road Theatre Company. She holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Chapman University in Orange, California. Credits there include “Liz Morden” in Our Country’s Good, ”Whitney” in A Piece of My Heart, and “Witch/Lenox” in Macbeth. Regional credits include “Jaimie Brown” in The Reincarnation of Jaimie Brown at UC Irvine and “Jafar” in Aladdin, Jr. with Summer Repertory Theatre. Lauren has also worked on various award-winning film projects throughout New Mexico, including In Plain Sight, Spiral, Warrior Woman, Ilegales, Mindless, L’Americano, Missing You, Screwed, LadyFingers, and others.
Demet Vialpando	DEMET VIALPANDO† returns to the FUSION stage, having played leading roles in Sarah Ruhl's eurydice, The Homecoming, Death of a Salesman, and a number of our past productions of The Seven: New Works Festival. His screen credits include Crash and I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash.

* Member Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States
† Equity Membership Candidate