A Streetcar Named Desire Review 5/27/05

Posted: 5/31/05 at 4:56pm

I saw the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire on Friday night, May 27th. I had heard many a negative things about this revival(as the reviews had been less than kind). However, I was pleasently surprised.

John C. Reilly is not someone I'd expect to be an ideal Stanley but he really did as well as he could. He's very different than Brando obviously but that doesn't make him unsuitable to play the role. His interpretation was more caveman like and animalistic but it worked as well.

Natasha Richardson was also very strong. I'm very surprised she didn't recieve a nomination for Best Actress. She was very strong in the "seduction" scene and she had quite a lot of chemistry with that young boy.

Chris Bauer and Amy Ryan were both very good in their featured roles. Amy Ryan never had a stand-out scene but she was consistently good throughout and that's what made me impressed with her. She made Stella extremely strong and tough enough to be able to stand up to her husband which made the character, for me, become the main protagonist of the piece.

The technical aspects(such as the lighting and the set) were also very well done and served the play well. There might have a bit too many people on stage during the scene changes but it did give the impression of a clustered neighborhood.

Although this production has been recieving quite a lot of flack for being miscast, wrongly interpreted by the director Edward Hall,etc. I felt that this production was better than the critics had made it out to be. It wasn't the "be all end all" version of Streetcar that some might have been expecting but it should definitely be looked at as a valiant effort that, while not always 100 percent successful, strived to prove Tennesse proud...and to a certain extent, they succeeded.

[mikewood]

Posted: 5/31/05 at 5:02pm

I have to respectfully disagree with some of your points. I thought Reilly was painfully miscast and that he and Chris Bauer could have easily switched roles and had a much better play. Amy Ryan was the highlight of the show for me and stole several scenes from Richardson. I never bought any sort of sexual chemistry between Stanley and Blanche, needed to add the spark to put this show over.

Additionally, the show had all kinds of sight line problems with the set unless you were lucky enough to view it straight on.

I'm glad you enjoyed it more than I did.

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/31/05 at 5:06pm

Glengarry,

You're not the only one who thought that this was a remarkable revival.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 5/31/05 at 5:20pm

It was easily my favorite play revival this year and I thoroughly enjoyed the performances and direction.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/1/05 at 6:34am

Fantastic review, Glengarry. Natasha Richardson's Blanche is the performance of the year, IMO.

[mandy2loveRB]

Posted: 6/1/05 at 7:12am

Me, too...respectfully disagree with the original post & have to agree with mikewood. I really did not feel any chemistry going on on the stage. It was missing some "beat" on the stage. I don't know it is actors or the director, but I could not engage with the play until the end. Also, (don't kill me...) Richardson was not Blanche at all for me. Maybe it is because I saw it in early stage...it might have evolved. Could happen and that is also the joy of live theatre.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/1/05 at 8:02am

Add me to the other side of the aisle, along with Margo and Robbie. We all wrote detailed approvals of this production (some of which read as apologia, in light of the negativity toward it in some camps).

I stand by my feelings toward the staging -- this Blanche has stayed in head and heart. When the Roundabout seasonal brochure arrived recently, with the poignant photo of Richardson, I felt a stab of pain for the character and her fate, as if Blanche were a real person, not a freshly interpreted role. This production made an indelible imnpression, perhaps for mysterious reasons.

[ken8631]

Posted: 6/1/05 at 8:20am

I also enjopyed this play very much - had no expectations going in, but was pleasantly suprised.