Students, staff and faculty tried their best Wednesday to imitate the famous scene in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” where Stanley Kowalski yells his wife’s name, Stella, in despair.
Each of about 20 contestants stepped up and belted out “Stella” to the judges sitting in the windows on the second floor of Mabee Hall. Judges were Associate Professor of English Virginia Fambrough, Professor of English Preston Fambrough and Adjunct Instructor of Communication Patti Heiman.
The idea to have the contest came from Assistant Professor of English Tracy Floreani.
“We were studying “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and it’s from the annual Tennessee Williams yelling contest,” Floreani said. “I told the class it would be fun to do.”
Prizes were awarded to the top three yellers, broken into men and women’s categories. Junior Kelly Vaughn placed first for the women. History professor John Richards placed first for the men.
The most spirited attempt at recreating the famous scene came from junior Brian Berrens and assistant professor of theater Tom Heiman. Both Berrens and Heiman recreated the scene by ripping off their undershirts.
The slightly more than $100 raised in the event will be donated to the New Orleans Literary Institute’s Katrina Relief and Emergency Support Fund.