Best Blanche Dubois on Broadway?

[Mark-o]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 4:24pm

Nicole Ari Parker?

Natasha Richardson?

Jessica Lange?

Blythe Danner?

Lois Nettleton?

Rosemary Harris?

Tallulah Bankhead?

Uta Hagen?

Jessica Tandy?

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 4:29pm

I doubt there is anyone, alive or dead, who saw every one of those performances and would therefore be qualified to give you his or her opinion.

[Mark-o]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 4:33pm

I saw Lange, Richardson and Parker.
Richardson was my favorite.
Lange was over the top... Alec Baldwin dominated the play...
Parker, unmemorable.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 4:34pm

It sure wasn't Natasha Richardson, that's for sure. That was still one of the worst interpretations of any character I've ever seen.

But from that list (and from who I've seen), I'd have to say Jessica Lange.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 4:38pm

But Cate Blanchette's was the best interpretation of the character I'm sure I'll ever see.

[CarmenDeBris]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 5:00pm

Jordan's got it right. Cate definitely gave the best interpretation of the character I've seen on stage.

[Tink2]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 5:44pm

I would loved to have seen Cate Blanchette in that role.

I did not see Jessica Lange, but I have always thought she is such a great actress. Her Maggie in Cat on A Hot Tin Roof is my favorite.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 5:49pm

I saw Rosemary Harris and she was magical.

And I saw Shirley Knight who was also, but that was at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, so it doesn't count.

Posted: 8/26/13 at 6:22pm

I was Tallulah Bankhead's dresser and was transfixed by her transcendental performance each night but we were both pretty wasted so who knows?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 6:38pm

I really felt for Nicole Ari Parker. I think she would've been luminous with the right director and supporting cast. There were glimmers of what could've been in that performance.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 7:07pm

The choice Nicole Ari Parker made at the end gave me chills.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 7:19pm

Nicole "I would go straight for you AND sleep with your husband" Ari Parker wasn't bad at all.

I only saw Jessica Lange in the TV movie version re-make and for me Diane Lane was the stand out.

I loved Ann-Margret in the first TV movie remake but I am biased because Ann-Margret could fart through a performance and I would still love it.

The only actress I had the privilege to see on Broadway as Blanche was Blythe Danner. Aidan Quinn was her Stanley....and the only reason I went was because I just loved me some Aidan Quinn. She was very good though as far as I can remember...but since she's the only one I've seen on stage I can't truthfully say she was "the best".

The best on screen for me would be Miss Vivien Leigh with Ann-Margret nipping at her heels.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 7:28pm

Ari-Parker was great, I thought. It was just such a WEIRD production, that all I think about when I think about seeing it was the audience bursting into laughter when she was being raped and laughing throughout the entire thing.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 7:30pm

Yeah Jordan...that *reaaaaaallllly* pissed me off. I was like WTF!!!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 9:11pm

I didn't see all of these performances but I DID see Rosemary Harris and she was sublime. Jessica Lange was lost on stage.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 10:02pm

I'll always be partial to the Vivling, but I did enjoy Parker's performance.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 10:50pm

Lange didn't seem lost to me. I was close, which I'm sure helped, but I thought she was electrifying.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 11:16pm

I saw Lange early on previews. Alec Baldwin told me that she improved considerably with time.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 11:21pm

[greatwhiteway72]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 11:54pm

"The choice Nicole Ari Parker made at the end gave me chills"

Can someone elaborate on this? What choice did she make? You've gotten me curious...

[Someday]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 12:53pm

Fwiw, the late, great Dixie Carter was a phenomenal Blanche in Memphis, Tennessee in 1993. This was shortly after Designing Women had been cancelled but before she impressed stage folk in NYC as a strong replacement Callas in Master Class.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 1:19pm

For me, the moment that sticks out when thinking of Parker was her "unwashed grape" monologue. Truly stunning. I would've left at intermission if she wasn't so good.

The audience, the direction, the cast... Just a bizarre production all around. But Parker rose above it. Imagine what she would've done with a better director and cast!

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 1:32pm

Thought Lange was pretty bad. The way she dropped her voice an octave when speaking "important" lines really bugged me.

I loved Patricia Clarkson in Washington DC. Wish that had come to NYC. And wish I had seen Cate Blanchett!!

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 2:00pm

@greatwhiteway72 She struggled with the doctor for a bit, and then all of a sudden, she just got up straightened her clothes and walked out of the house with the doctor with her head up high as if nothing happened.

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 8/27/13 at 8:36pm

I saw Blanchett three times at BAM. It was the most electrifying performance I have ever seen. Talk about energy moving across a stage. I have no desire to see another production of one of my favorite plays ever again because of that woman. I don't know how others felt about the actual production but I thought it was magical. Liv Ullman really knows how to stage a scene. When Blanchett is sitting by the door giving that chilling monologue about her young lover you could hear pin drop in the theater. Unbelievable nights, thanks for reminding me with this post!


Updated On: 8/27/13 at 08:36 PM