Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Liev And Let Scarlett: Live On Broadway

Liev And Let Scarlett: Live On Broadway

In perhaps the most exciting Broadway casting news since last summer when it was announced that Daniel Craig would be opposite Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain, came word yesterday that movie starlet Scarlett Johansson would make her long-awaited Great White Way debut alongside Liev Schreiber in the third Rialto revival of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge.

Directed by Gregory Mosher, A View From The Bridge will begin previews at the Cort Theatre on December 28, 2009 and open January 24, 2010.

Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) offers this succinct description of Miller's play: "In the apartment and environment of Eddie Carbone, all in Red Hook, on the Bay seaward from Brooklyn Bridge."

A View From The Bridge was first produced on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in 1955. But it was a combination of two of Miller's one act plays, A Memory Of Two Mondays and A View From The Bridge. Helmed by Martin Ritt, both plays starred such headliners as Eileen Heckart, Van Heflin and Jack Warden. Earning two Tony nominations, the production would enjoy a 149 performance run until February 1956.

The first revival (of the second play only) wouldn't come for nearly 30 years, but it would also run for 149 performances, this time at the Ambassador Theatre where it opened February 3, 1983. Directed by Arvin Brown, this View From The Bridge would also earn two 1983 Tony Award nominations, including one for Best Reproduction (a precursor to the Revival honors now bestowed) and the other for Tony Lo Bianco's portrayal of Eddie. The cast also included Rose Gregorio as Beatrice and Alan Feinstein as Marco.

The last and arguably most successful mountingl to date came just 12 years ago. The 1998 Tony-winning Best Revival of a Play first opened at the non-profit Criterion Center Stage Right where it ran from December 14, 1997 through February 22, 1998, before transferring to a commercial run at the Neil Simon Theatre, where it reopened April 3, 1998 and ran through August 30 of the same year. Michael Mayer directed a cast that included Allison Janney as Beatrice, Anthony LaPaglia as Eddie and Adam Trese as Marco. While Mayer, Janney and LaPaglia would each receive Tony nominations for their efforts, only LaPaglia would win.

So is it too soon for yet another revival of Miller's classic? Well, in my humble opinion, any work that can bring Schreiber back to Broadway's boards is fine with me. He's only been absent since earning a Tony nod for Talk Radio two years ago, but there are few finer living American stage actors.

And as for Miss Scarlett? Who wouldn't want to see her make her Broadway debut?

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Labels: A View From The Bridge, Arthur Miller, Broadway, First Word On New Show, Liev Schreiber, Play, Revival, Scarlett Johansson

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, October 28, 2009