Previews for the gritty new staging, directed by Gregory Mosher, began Dec. 28 at the Cort Theatre.
Golden Globe nominee Johansson ("Match Point," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona") makes her Broadway debut as Catherine, the object of her uncle's affection. When she shows interest in cousin Rodolpho (Morgan Spector), a charming Sicilian immigrant that Eddie brought into the country, the walls and streets of the play's Red Hook, Brooklyn, setting take on a shade of black. (The bridge of the title is the Brooklyn; Red Hook is on the bay side of the Brooklyn Bridge.)
The ancient tragedy-tinged drama also stars Michael Cristofer as the narrator-lawyer Alfieri, who serves as Eddie's counselor on the topics of justice and passion.
Also in the cast are Jessica Hecht as Eddie's wife, Beatrice (Catherine is the daughter of her late sister); Corey Stoll as immigrant cousin Marco; plus Alex Cendese, Anthony DeSando, Antoinette LaVecchia, Matthew Montelongo, Mark Morettini, Joe Ricci, Robert Turano, Marco Verna, Bonnie Dennison and Jim Iorio.
Tickets for the limited engagement of A View From the Bridge are on sale through April 4. A 14-week run was announced. According to production notes, "In A View From the Bridge, Miller's most passionate drama, Schreiber plays Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman obsessed with his 17-year-old niece Catherine, played by Scarlett Johansson. When Catherine falls in love with a newly arrived immigrant, Eddie's jealousy erupts in a rage that consumes him, his family, and his world."
The play was first seen on Broadway in 1955 as a play paired with A Memory of Two Mondays. Miller (1915-2005) is, of course, the major American playwright known for All My Sons, Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, among others. A View From the Bridge resurfaced Off-Broadway in 1965, starring Robert Duvall. A 1983 Broadway revival starred Tony LoBianco. In 1997, Anthony LaPaglia played Eddie in a Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway revival. The actor won a Tony for his turn, and the production won the Tony as Best Revival.
Schreiber won the Tony Award for his work in Glengarry Glen Ross. He was Tony-nominated for his work in Talk Radio, and was seen in Broadway's Betrayal and In the Summer House. He has also been hailed by critics as one of America's greatest Shakespearean actors, having starred in Public Theater/NYSF productions of Macbeth, Henry V, Othello, Hamlet Cymbeline and The Tempest.
For the record, the role of Rodolpho in this production was created by Santino Fontana (Billy Elliot), who withdrew following an injury sustained in the run.
Cristofer (a Pulitzer Prize winner for The Shadow Box) was recently seen in Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures at the Guthrie.
Hecht is known for Broadway's Last Night of Ballyhoo, Julius Caesar and After the Fall.
Drama Desk nominee Stoll appeared in Off-Broadway's Intimate Apparel and as Vershinin in Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Three Sisters at the Cincinnati Playhouse on the Park.
The creative team includes John Lee Beatty (scenic design), Jane Greenwood (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), Scott Lehrer (sound design), Tom Watson (hair and wig design). Production stage manager is William Joseph Barnes.
A View From the Bridge is produced by Stuart Thompson and The Araca Group. Additional producers include Jeffrey Finn, Broadway Across America, Olympus Theatricals, Marisa Sechrest, The Weinstein Company, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman/Robert G. Bartner, Swinsky/Deitch, Adam Zotovich/Ruth Hendel/Orin Wolf, and The Shubert Organization.
Tickets are available through Telecharge.com, by phone at (212) 239-6200 or (800) 432-7250, online at www.Telecharge.com.
For more information, visit www.AViewFromTheBridgeOnBroadway.com.
