STREETCAR May Be Broadway-bound With Multiracial Cast

The Sydney Theater Company's production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' helmed by Liv Ullman and starring Cate Blanchett was an immediate success when it played a limited engagement at the BAM Harvey Theatre late last year. Since the closing of the show, rumors abound of a possible Broadway run. An entry in the The New York Times' ArtsBeat blog today reports that Stephen C. Byrd, the producer who holds the rights to 'Streetcar' has decided not to attempt to transfer the Sydney Theatre Company's production. Instead, spokesman Gary Springer said on Tuesday that a revival of sorts may be in the works, incorporating a multiracial cast into the production, while eyeing a Broadway run in the Spring 2011.

In a statement made in December, Byrd announced that while he would "love" to arrange a Broadway transfer for the Blanchett production of the Tennessee Williams play, he also acknowledged that "he was unsure if the Sydney Theater Company would be interested or if the logistics would work out," reports the New York Times.

To read the rest of the article in the New York Times ArtsBeat blog, please click here.

Sydney Theatre Company returned to BAM with Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by renowned actor/director/writer Liv Ullmann and featuring Academy Award-winning actress/Sydney Theatre Company Co-Artistic Director Cate Blanchett as Blanche DuBois, Joel Edgerton at Stanley Kowalski, Robin McLeavey as Stella Kowalski, and Tim Richards as Mitch. The production marks Liv Ullmann's U.S. directorial debut and Blanchett's second BAM engagement-following her acclaimed performance in Sydney Theatre Company's Hedda Gabler (2006 Spring Season). The production had a sold-out run from November 27- through December 20, 2009.

'A Streetcar Named Desire' is the story of the determined, yet fragile, repressed and delicate Blanche DuBois, set in the New Orleans apartment of her sister, Stella, and animalistic brother-in-law, Stanley. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play opened on Broadway in New York in 1947 and guaranteed Williams' status as one of the major American Playwrights.

The production featured set design by Ralph Myers, costume design by Tess Schofield, lighting design by Nick Schlieper and sound design by Paul Charlier.

Australian actress and director Cate Blanchett came to international attention in the 1998 film 'Elizabeth', directed by Shekhar Kapur, in which she played Elizabeth I of England. She is also well known for her roles in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' and for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's 'The Aviator', a role which won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Along with her husband Andrew Upton, Cate Blanchett has been Co-Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company since January 2008. For the Company, she has previously performed in 'The War of the Roses', 'Hedda Gabler', 'Sweet Phoebe', 'Kafka Dances', 'Top Girls' and 'Oleanna', and has directed 'The Year of Magical Thinking', 'Blackbird' and 'A Kind of Alaska'. Other theater credits include productions with the Almeida, London, Company B, and Griffin.

 

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