Tennessee Williams’ classic drama “A Streetcar Named Desire” is back on the stage in New York — with a new London production that opened at the Brooklyn Academy of Music starring Paul Mescal, recently of “Gladiator II.”
In 2009, an acclaimed production of Streetcar, from Sydney, starring Cate Blanchett as the faded Southern belle Blanche DuBois, played a short, sold-out run at BAM. It did not transfer to Broadway, which is particularly unfortunate because good productions of the play are hard to find, as demonstrated by botched Broadway revivals in 2005 (with Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly) and 2012 (with Nicole Ari Parker and Blair Underwood), and a 2016 in-the-round production at St. Ann’s Warehouse (Gillian Anderson and Ben Foster) in which the set never stopped spinning.
In this new London production, Mescal stars as the brutish Stanley Kowalski alongside an English cast including Patsy Ferran as Blanche. It is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, who previously helmed the extremely divisive Broadway revival of “Cabaret.”
This “Streetcar” is minimalist with concept-heavy iteration; the set design (which is intended to depict the interior and exterior of a crowded apartment building in 1940s New Orleans) is reduced to a square platform. A percussionist on a balcony above adds live scoring that accentuates raw violence. It is also unusually speedy, running under three hours (half an hour shorter than normal).
Had I seen this production in a small black box space, or been one of the lucky few to snag an onstage seat, I might have gotten swept up in it. Instead, sitting in the middle of the orchestra, I felt distant from a self-conscious, over-stylized, gratuitously violent revival.
That being said, Mescal is a youthfully vibrant and magnetic Stanley, while a jittery Ferran goes all in on depicting Blanche amid a nervous breakdown and on the verge of total madness.
BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St., bam.org. Through April 6.
Model Ashley Graham to join ‘Chicago’
Plus-size model and body positivity advocate Ashley Graham will step into the role of Roxie Hart in “Chicago” from April 15 to May 25.
Erika Jayne (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”), who was playing the role when the pandemic shutdown occurred five years ago, just finished an encore engagement as Roxie.
According to the show’s website, Roxie is currently being played by Dylis Croman, a veteran dancer who has played the role many times and whose other credits include “A Chorus Line,” “Fosse,” and “Movin’ Out.”
‘Othello’ breaks box office record in previews
The new Broadway production of “Othello” with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, which is currently in previews, has already broken the record for the highest weekly box office gross by a play in Broadway history, earning $2.8 million during its second week of previews.
According to the Broadway League, the average paid admission for the week was $338, while tickets ranged from $197 to $497, with premium tickets going for $897.
Broadway introduces quarterly theater dimming program for memorials
Much controversy has arisen in recent years over which theater performers and industry workers should receive the honor of Broadway theaters dimming their lights upon their passing.
In response, the newly formed Broadway In Memoriam Committee, which consists of theater owners, has established a quarterly “Broadway In Memoriam” program, in which the lights of all 41 Broadway theaters will be dimmed to honor newly deceased industry professionals and artists.
A website has been created, broadwaymarqueeinmemoriam.org, where individuals can be submitted for consideration. However, occasions may still arise in which a single individual will be honored apart from the quarterly program.
