Playhouse Actor Pops The Question On A Bridge Overlooking The Canal In New Hope

NEW HOPE, PA — After weeks of performing in the emotionally charged world of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at Bucks County Playhouse, actor Tony Roach found himself celebrating a dramatic moment of his own in New Hope.

Roach, who stars as “Gooper” in the critically acclaimed production running through May 23, recently proposed to his girlfriend, Aria Braswell, on the Mechanic Avenue Bridge overlooking the Delaware Canal.

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Roach, who biked through New Hope several years ago and remembered the town fondly, said spending several weeks here during the run of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” made the moment feel even more meaningful.

"I got down on one knee and in the middle of my proposal,” Roach said, “Aria shouted … ‘What? What?’ Then, ‘Yes! Yes!’ She knew it was happening eventually — just not now.”

Braswell, a fiction writer and vocal coach, was caught completely by surprise. Roach had told her the cast was heading to a nearby bar after the performance, only to stop on the bridge and get down on one knee. She said, “Getting engaged in this beautiful town named New Hope, in mid-spring, felt like a perfect time and place for a new beginning.”

Meanwhile, Roach and the company of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” continue to earn rave reviews for their performances in director Eric Rosen’s gripping new staging of the Tennessee Williams classic. Praised for its acting and atmospheric production design, the Playhouse production transforms Williams’ explosive family drama into a thrilling theatrical event.

A battle of wills erupts as a wealthy Southern family clash over inheritance, loyalty, truth and desire during Big Daddy’s explosive 65th birthday celebration. Roach portrays Gooper, one of Big Daddy’s ambitious sons, in a production critics have called “scorching,” “powerful,” and “riveting.”

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” continues through May 23 at Bucks County Playhouse. Tickets start at $44 and are available at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121.