They've dropped the "Kowalski" from Stanley's name in new Streetcar revival- Page 6

[justoldbill]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:18pm

We've dropped the show at this point. We're having fun here!
Remember Martin Sheen, Lotte Lenya and Patricia Neway on that TV presentation of TEN BLOCKHEADS ON THE CAMINO REAL?

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:27pm

Dolly, I taught the play to college freshmen and women, most of whom loved it. But each year I had one or two fundamentalists who insisted the story was about how Blanche was being punished for her fornication.

Apparently that's what God does with whores: he drives them insane. (I never got an answer to my question as to why God doesn't punish Stanley as well.)

So I've had quite a few talks along the lines of "Yes, that's very interesting. Now reread the play and tell me what Mr. Williams had in mind."

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:29pm

They probably thought Williams was being punished too... Was it a theatre class specifically? I'm surprised people with views like that would sign up (though of course I guess that's kinda a closed minded take).

[justoldbill]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:37pm

College kids can be amazingly stupid. Once in the 70's, OKLAHOMA! was on television. Everyone in my theatre class watched it. Almost no one could understand why the story suddenly stopped for a dream ballet. All I could say was, "It's OKLAHOMA!, for God's sake! Shows have their own rules!" They just wouldn't get it.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:37pm

(Double post.)

Updated On: 4/4/12 at 10:37 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:37pm

MB, I don't know what was going on with Harris but having him act alongside Parker in those scenes was just embarrassing.

What did you think about Stanley & Blanche's final scene? It really shocked me and I'm still not sure what I really think about it.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:45pm

What shocked you about it?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:49pm

How brutal it was, her bent over screaming and crying while being raped.

I was just curious if you liked that or not, is all. I'd never even thought of that scene as being a rape like that and it just made my jaw drop.

[Matt2]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 10:52pm

“The audience, at least around me, was pretty atrocious. Texting, unwrapping candy, phones going off, full conversations carried out, the man in the couple sitting next to me even started snoring at one point.”

It never ceases to amaze me how people will spend so much money to go see a show they clearly have no interest in whatsoever—and then do just about anything during the performance (text, talk, eat, sleep) except for simply sitting back and watching the damn play.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 11:10pm

You know I've seen some produions that have so exploited the rape scene, I confess I wasn't really as shocked in this production (In the abstract Van Hove production at NYTW, Elizabeth Marvel as Blanche was violently raped and choked in a bathtub filled with water).

But it was definitely a strong choice on Emily Mann's part and it as definitely clear that Stanley was not only raping her but punishing and humiliating her as violently as possible. I'm curious to see how a full audience reacts to it (again there were less than 30 of us at the final dress).

It was a very different approach from the Blanchett production in which if I'm remembering correctly the rape was almost mutual.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 11:17pm

Well usually it's staged as pretty mutual, is it not? I don't recall ever seeing it done where you get the impression (and God, I hope this doesn't come off wrong) that she doesn't really want it as well.

As for the audience reaction there were a lot of gasps but no laughing, so that's good at least.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 11:25pm

No I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's usually staged as consentual - Though I think the original production didn't actually depict the moment explicitly, Tandy's Blanche was apparently fairly prudish and asexual so Im sure the impression was pretty clear that she was Stanley's victim.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 12:29am

I saw it tonight and agree 100% about Parker. She is frickin fantastic. You're right Jordan that this is one of the hardest roles to pull off and damn. She just got everything right. I expect all Blanches to be uncertain at the third preview. Did she have some secret out of town tryout that we don't know about so she could seem extra impressive this evening? She worked all of her costumes perfectly and the accent was flawless. Congrats, welcome to Broadway, and why haven't you come to the stage sooner?!

Daphne was very good as well, especially in the final scenes. She's putting her all into this performance, and I'm sure she was exhausted after a two show day. I actually thought Wood Harris was strong. His Mitch is funnier than most I've seen; the whole play was funnier than I can ever remember. Certainly the Blanchett version wasn't ever played for laughs, brilliant as she was.

Blair Underwood was good, especially in the rape scene, but this is not a "Stanley" Streetcar. Everyone seemed like a supporting character next to Parker's Blanche.

Special mention must be paid to Carmen de Lavallade as the Mexican Woman. Carmen made her Broadway debut in House of Flowers (!) and also had a featured role in Hot Spot. To make your Broadway debut in 1955 and still be working on Broadway in 2012 deserves a standing ovation in my book.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 12:41am

An excellent production with superb acting - especially from Nicole Ari-Parker. I was captivated from beginning to end. This production is a must-see. I imagine this will only get better throughout the preview period and deserves to open to rave reviews. Congrats to all involved.

Updated On: 4/5/12 at 12:41 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:16am

So glad to hear so many good things about this production.

But right now I am jonezing for more Mississippi Williams!

Has anyone ever see his play about nutritional information labeling?

Small Kraft Warnings

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 11:06am

Oh, yes! That drama about a series of small town deaths from contaminated macaroni and cheese.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 12:35pm

The unforgettable scene where the hunky male lead, kicked out by his wife, tears off his t-shirt and begs to come home, yelling:

"Hey, Vel-vee-ta! VEL-VEE-TAHHH!"

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 12:49pm

I haven't seen this production yet...though I very much want to. But I think it's important that, in my experience, Blanche succumbs to Stanley's sexual assault...which is very, very different from consenting to it.

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 1:36pm

As a director, Emily Mann has had a very strong and lauded reputation for decades.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 2:04pm

In the printed edition of the play (which may differ from the acting version), it is stated that Blanche stops resisting Stanley once he picks her up. Students picked up on this and questioned whether that constituted "rape".

Yes, Blanche's constant bathing can be interpreted as a form of absolution for her past.

Regarding the color symbolism (I don't know if it's followed carefully in this production), Blanche shows different aspects of her personality when she changes colors. She's sensual in red, confused when in white, and virginal in blue. At the end when she's wearing the famed "Dellarobia Blue" (which is a combination of ble, red and white) she becomes crushed and delusional

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 3:06pm

^^^Actually, I used to assign essays on the question of Stanley's line to Blanche, "We've had this date from the beginning." (Forgive me if that's a paraphrase.)

Certainly it is a rape legally, according to our laws today.

But is it a rape dramatically? Or is Stanley correct that Blanche has been coming on to him, i.e. "asking for it", since the day they met?

Frankly, I think the latter is more interesting. It makes Blanche a truly tragic character in that she engineered her own destruction, rather than the mere victim of a sadist. Ultimately, Blanche's tragedy is that she believes in a world of ideals where not even she can live. And the tragedy of that idealism destroyed her husband, nearly destroys her sister's life and ultimately destroys herself.

None of which makes her one bit less sympathetic, in my book. Nor does it relieve Stanley of his responsibility for the destruction.

***

They probably thought Williams was being punished too... Was it a theatre class specifically? I'm surprised people with views like that would sign up (though of course I guess that's kinda a closed minded take).

Eric, I taught theater majors at a nationally known and hard-to-get-into college program; I taught mostly required courses there. But that very reputation meant we also had smart kids from very limited backgrounds in the middle of the country. I was shocked one day when a student told me his dream was "to open a Christian theater where no cursing is allowed." He was appearing in a Jean Genet play I happened to be dramaturging at the time. I could only respond, "Good luck with that."

Updated On: 4/5/12 at 03:06 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 3:36pm

One more classic by Mississippi Williams: Sweet Bird of Vermouth

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 3:40pm

To add onto what you say Gaveston, there is further tragedy in that while Blanche aims to believe in a world of ideals, her own self destructive behavior renders her at heart a hypocrite. This is a woman who believes in chivalry, art, beauty and poetry and yet can't keep her hands off of alcohol, young boys and the 'kindness of strangers'

Tennessee Williams believed that ultimately Blanche is a survivor. In a recent interview with Emily Mann, she recounts asking Tennessee what happened to Blanche after STREETCAR and he replied 'she opens a very successful clothing store in the French Quarter while Stanley and Stella descend further into squalor.'

This may have been Williams own fantasy of survival, because he had an awful lot in common with Blanche's ideals and her self destructive behavior (see my first paragraph), but while Stanley is ultimately the catalyst for her final descent into madness, he (if we are to believe Williams about Blanche's ultimate triumph) could also be interpreted as something of her exorcist; stripping away once and for all the sexual repression and delusion that has been at the root of her undoing.

So I agree that when the rape is as a sort of co-creative endeavor between Blanche and Stanley it doesn't make Blanche any less sympathetic.

In the Liv Ullman production, the rape ended with a sort of jump in time to the image of Stanley naked on the bed and Blanche rising clutching a sheet around her moving to the window in a moment that somehow combined tragedy and complete self awareness - something we really hadn't seen in Blanche up until that moment.

There are endless ways to interpret these characters and this play which is why it is some beloved and so truly great.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 4:10pm

Glad to see this wasn't a last minute thrown together production.

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 4:35pm

As his playwriting career went into decline, Mississippi Williams began writing night club act material for rising stars. He's best remembered in that arena for "Orfeh Descending".