BROOKFIELD - Two Newtown artists and one from Oxford will be featured in the inaugural exhibition at The Gallery, a new addition to the Brookfield Theatre for the Arts, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary season.Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which also premiers on Friday, March 3, at 8 pm. The play is being directed by Jeanine A. DeFalco and stars Anna Fagan, James Wilding, Will Jeffries, and Monica O'Brien in the leading roles.

Oil paintings by Dorothy Calio of Oxford and Anne Marie Foran and Roberta Shea of Newtown will highlight the first exhibition, which will open Friday, March 3. An artists' reception will be presented Saturday, March 11, from 2 to 4 pm, which will provide an opportunity for guests to meet and talk with the artists.

The three women have won numerous awards and their works appear in numerous galleries and private collections.

Dorothy Calio paints frequently in bold abstracts and has had a diverse career ranging from advertising design to fashion illustration. Anne Marie Foran is noted for her vivid use of color and was recently awarded first prize in the Members' Exhibition at Washington Art Association. Roberta Shea, with her rich Irish heritage, often paints vast, open landscapes, combining a sense of place with imagined scenes and memories.

Commemorating Brookfield Theatre's six decades of bringing arts to the community is also a stunning revival of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama

Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8, and Sunday, March 12, at 2 pm. Doors open one hour prior to curtain.

"For our 60th anniversary, we have rededicated ourselves to being an open and welcoming place for creativity," said its president, Lou Okell. "To everyone who appreciates fine art and compelling theater that welcome is extended."

The theater is at 184 Whisconier Road (Route 7) in Brookfield Center, behind Brookfield Library.