EXCLUSIVE: Ashford Will Return to Donmar in 2011; Could Weisz Ride Streetcar to U.S.?

By Adam Hetrick
07 May 2010

Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

While Broadway audiences missed out on the chance to see Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett's performance as Blanche DuBois, Tony-nominated choreographer Rob Ashford is hopeful the Donmar Warehouse production of A Streetcar Named Desire could arrive in the U.S.

Ashford, who received a 2010 Tony nomination for his choreography on Promises, Promises, spoke with Playbill.com about his upcoming projects during the May 5 Tony nominees reception.

"There's definitely a possibility," he said of a New York bow of Streetcar. Ashford is an associate director at the Donmar Warehouse and staged the Tennessee Williams play there in 2009 with Rachel Weisz as the fragile Blanche. He continued, "Rachel Weisz, who played Blanche, is interested in revisiting it again. So, we'd love to get it here. I'm so proud of it, and she's unbelievable in it."

As previously reported, producer Stephen C. Byrd, who holds the rights to Streetcar and also produced the 2008 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring James Earl Jones, will present a multi-racial production of the drama on Broadway in spring 2011.

Ashford has also been tapped to direct another play for the Donmar in 2011. "I'm going to do a play there next summer. It will be an American classic. I like William Inge – that's someone I love and I'm looking at," he said.

Ashford revealed that the Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, with "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe as J. Pierrepont Finch, would begin rehearsals in early 2011 and begin Broadway previews in late spring, just in time for the Tony Awards. According to Ashford, the production will reflect the original version of the Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert version of the musical.