A Streetcar Named Desire (The SOB Review) - Harvey Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, New York
***1/2 (out of ****) The hottest ticket in New York right now is for a little show over in Brooklyn. And with good reason.
Director (and onetime actress)
Liv Ullmann is mounting a crackling revival of
Tennessee Williams'
A Streetcar Named Desire. By that, I mean one that expertly finds each of the fissures and cracks in Blanche DuBois, arguably Williams' most artfully drawn character.
The revival becomes a must-see event not only because it stars the magnificent
Cate Blanchett, indisputably one of the world's greatest living actresses, but also because it so forthrightly showcases this classic work for what it is -- one of the best plays ever written.
As Blanche DuBois, the superbly luminescent Blanchett leads a strong cast that includes fellow
Sydney Theatre Company ensemble members
Joel Edgerton as her menacing brother-in-law Stanley, and
Robin McLeavy as Blanche's doormat of a sister Stella.
But at its center, this play is all about that unbalanced woman in the middle named Blanche, and Blanchett offers a remarkably balanced portrayal that evenly teeters from one extreme to the other. Unafraid to embrace Blanche's sensually needy side, Blanchett demonstrates that there's still plenty of red left in this faded rose. Yet the thorns are also very evident.
There's a reason why New Yorkers are using every conceivable mode of transportation to witness this
Streetcar. Ullmann's import from the Sydney Theatre Company makes Williams' work both fresh and vital. No wonder
there are the beginnings of a clang, clang, clang to bring this to Broadway. Whether Brooklyn remains its final stop remains to be seen.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Streetcar Named Desire, Brooklyn, Cate Blanchett, Joel Edgerton, Liv Ullmann, Off-Broadway, Play, Revival, Robin McLeavy, Sydney Theatre Company, Tennessee Williams, The SOB Review
Sydney Theatre Company Formally Announces August: Osage County For August 2010
American theatre lovers! You
heard it here first.
Way back in July, I first reported that
the original August: Osage County would be trekking Down Under to Sydney, Australia. Now, the
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) has made it truly official.
STC Artistic Directors
Cate Blanchett and
Andrew Upton have
now said:
This monster of a production from Steppenwolf cleaned up at last year’s Tony Awards, taking five gongs including Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, Best Leading Actress and Best Featured Actress. This is a unique opportunity to see the legendary American ensemble deliver what might well be the next American classic.
While casting is yet to be announced (more on that in a moment), the original stateside creative team will be Australia bound. The limited run is now slated to begin previews on August 13, 2010, with an opening scheduled for August 17.
August: Osage County will run through September 25, 2010.
As for the cast, in addition to the above notes from Blanchett and Upton, the official
STC Web site adds that this production will be "Featuring Steppenwolf ensemble members from the Chicago and Broadway companies." Expect to see most of the familiar names you know and love recreating their roles in Sydney.
I'll reiterate my question from nearly four months ago: Anyone game for going Down Under?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Andrew Upton, August Osage County, Cate Blanchett, Play, Steppenwolf, Sydney, Sydney Theatre Company, Transfer
Latest Gabler Gamble Opens On BroadwayPerhaps it's because the title character provides such an amazing opportunity for actresses to show their moxie that
Henrik Ibsen's
Hedda Gabler is opening on Broadway -- this evening -- for an astounding
19th time.
Coming just eight relatively short years after
Kate Burton's celebrated, Tony-nominated turn as Hedda -- and just three after
Cate Blanchett famously packed a pistol across the East River in
Brooklyn -- now
Mary-Louise Parker is sinking her teeth into the role of Sweden's coveted temptress.
Directed by
Ian Rickson,
Roundabout Theatre Company is presenting this latest incarnation with fresh adaptation from
Christopher Shinn. The ensemble includes
Michael Cerveris as Jorgen Tesman,
Paul Sparks as Ejlert Lovborg,
Peter Stormare as Judge Brack,
Helen Carey as Miss Juliane Tesman,
Lois Markle as Berte, and
Ana Reeder as Thea Elvsted.
Will critics hail this latest revival? Find out tomorrow as I not only provide my critics' capsule, but my own SOB Review.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Ana Reeder, Broadway, Cate Blanchett, Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen, Ian Rickson, Mary-Louise Parker, Michael Cerveris, Opening Night, Paul Sparks, Peter Stormare, Play, Revival
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #2: Cate BlanchettIntroduction: Throughout the course of 2006, I've had many incredible opportunities to see some of the best actors, singers and dancers of our time perform live on the stage. Rather than recap the best shows of the year (which I'll do at the close of the 2006-07 Theatrical Season), I'm devoting the last six days of the calendar year to those live performances that have stayed with me throughout the year. Yesterday, I weighed in on Academy Award-winning actress
Cate Blanchett's directorial debut in Sydney. But earlier this year, I was thrilled to see her actually perform live in her celebrated, luminous turn as
Hedda Gabler at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. There are few actresses today who have the presence and versatility that Blanchett possesses, and it shows in virtually every role she takes on, making each her own brilliant creation.
Here's
what I had to say about Blanchett's performance earlier this year:
In the troubled and tragic title role, the exquisite Cate Blanchett commanded the stage with a forceful range of exhilarating emotions going from luminescent to fiery. While Julia Roberts is currently the hottest ticket on Broadway, movie star gazers would have been wise a couple months ago to hop on the number 2 train from Manhattan to Brooklyn where the year’s most exceptional acting was in full bloom.
This adaptation commenced with Hedda pondering her self-inflicted boredom from her ill-conceived marriage, brooding at marrying beneath her aristocratic position. Yet the play quickly picked up a head of steam that didn’t quit until the final gunshot. Blanchett was at her wicked best when rolling over Justine Clarke’s Thea for the affections of Ejlert (poignantly portrayed by Aden Young) or when going head-to-head with Hugo Weaving -- whose riveting portrayal of Judge Brack proved the only character capable of seeing through, yet aiding, Hedda’s manipulative mayhem.
Here's toasting you, Cate Blanchett, and wishing you and
Andrew Upton all the best as you embark on an exciting new chapter for the Sydney Theatre Company!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Reunion / A Kind Of Alaska (The SOB Reviews) - Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (December 29, 2006)
Artistic Differences Celebrated: Blanchett & Upton Take Over Sydney Theatre Company (November 22, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (Brooklyn Academy of Music – Harvey Theatre, New York, NY) (May 25, 2006)
Labels: Australia, Cate Blanchett, Hedda Gabler, International, Play, SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06
Reunion / A Kind Of Alaska (The SOB Reviews) - Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaReunion - *1/2 (out of ****)A Kind Of Alaska - **1/2 (out of ****)Presented as a "Double Bill," David Mamet's Reunion and Harold Pinter's A Kind Of Alaska are currently being performed in tandem at the Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf Theatre with two of the same actors and all essential design elements used in both short plays. The key difference aside from the playwrights is that each piece is individually directed -- the first by Andrew Upton, the second by Cate Blanchett. The married duo are set to jointly share the duties of artistic director for the famed theatre company at the close of 2007. Because the two plays are distinct from one another, I am reviewing each separately.Reunion is a 50-minute play about the first meeting of alcoholic American veteran Bernie Cary (Robert Menzies) and his daughter Caroline Mindler (Justine Clarke) since he left her mother when Caroline was merely a child. With no pretense of even attempting a Boston accent (or an American one for that matter), Upton's direction loses something in the translation especially in steeping Bernie so deeply in lower class Aussie accent when this is really an American story. This makes it extremely difficult to understand Menzies.
Upton punctuates this short story with many sharp breaks scattered throughout as if to accentuate the passage of minutes or perhaps longer periods of time. However, one can't help but feel cheated for missing key dialogue that might have helped propel the story further along.
Still, there is some poignancy in learning how truly isolated and lonely these two individuals are, and indeed they do seem to connect as daughter and prodigal father. Bernie is clearly a lonely loser, although he indicates more than once that he plans to get remarried. Caroline expresses her loneliness and dissatisfaction with the state of her current marriage, thus the rationale for her reaching out.
Ultimately though, this Mamet tale simply doesn't feel complete, nor is the audience ever given any reason to really care about either character.
In her directorial debut, Blanchett achieves something more with Pinter's
A Kind Of Alaska. This is an intriguing, quirky story about Deborah (Caroline Lee), a 45 year old woman who has been brought out of a deep sleep or coma after 29 years by her long-suffering Doctor Hornby (Menzies).
Hornby confronts Deborah with the shades of the truth regarding her years of sleep before finally allowing her sister Pauline (Clarke) to engage her in conversation. The acting in this one act play is much sharper and focused than in
Reunion, and the exquisitely stark set design by Ralph Myers in which most of the stage is covered in water for both plays finally begins to make some sense -- especially as Deborah notes how for 29 years, her world has seemed like a hole with water seeping in. And as she agonizes over how that felt, the water slowly closes in around her.
While many in the sold-out crowd no doubt were enticed by the desire to glimpse the Sydney Theatre Company's future with the Upton/Blanchett team today, my recommendation would be to give them some time until they've completely adjusted to their new artistic roles.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Artistic Differences Celebrated: Blanchett & Upton Take Over Sydney Theatre Company (November 22, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (Brooklyn Academy of Music – Harvey Theatre, New York, NY) (May 25, 2006)
Labels: A Kind Of Alaska, Australia, Cate Blanchett, Play, Reunion, The SOB Review
Artistic Differences Celebrated: Blanchett & Upton Take Over Sydney Theatre CompanyConsider this week's opening of the double bill at Australia's
Sydney Theatre Company as its precursor to life with acclaimed actress
Cate Blanchett and her husband, writer
Andrew Upton. Saturday evening marks opening night Down Under for the dynamic artistic duo's direction of two short plays presented in tandem:
David Mamet's
Reunion with
Harold Pinter's
A Kind Of Alaska.
Upton helms the first play, while Blanchett directs the second.
But if you're a Cate Blanchett fan and want to see the considerable magic she's able to cast over a live audience with her
acting, you'll want to consider planning a trip to Sydney come January of 2008. That's when she and Upton will begin joint duties serving as the Sydney Theatre Company's artistic directors. The two will not only steer its programming, but they also expect to be acting and writing for the company. While described as full-time positions, each will have up to three months every year to pursue other interests, presumably including film acting for the Academy Award-winning actress.
Reunion / A Kind Of Alaska will play at Wharf I of the Sydney Theatre Company through January 14, 2007. I'll be in the audience for this dual presentation in late December and report on the show then.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (Brooklyn Academy of Music – Harvey Theatre, New York, NY) (May 25, 2006)
Labels: A Kind Of Alaska, Australia, Cate Blanchett, Play, Reunion
