Back in Feb. 2001, "Sex and the City" star Kim Cattrall was "all but a done deal" to play the emotionally unstable Blanche DuBois in a new Broadway revival of the Tennessee Williams classic, A Streetcar Named Desire, according to a spokesperson for Dream Street Theatrical Group. The producers sought to mount the revival in early fall, with Peter Hall directing the drama and John Dino making his Broadway debut in the star making role of Stanley.
The fall `01 didn't happen, but negotiations have been persisting ever since, with Hall and Cattrall's busy schedules the key. According to Broadway.com, in a recent interview with Vanity Fair's George Wayne, the actress said, "They are working on a November 2002 A Streetcar Named Desire — for me to play Blanche on Broadway."
Initially, Elisabeth Shue had been tapped to play Stanley's wife, Stella; no word on whether that remains the case. Dream Street spokesperson Laurel Kiefaber confirmed (Feb. 15) that Oliver Platt and Michael Rapaport have both had discussions about playing Mitch and that Bill Dudley was approached to do the set if his schedule permits.
Because the three stars would be signed for only six months, Streetcar was going to open cold in New York, with rehearsals set to begin just after Labor Day. "The show is likely for a Jujamcyn theatre," Kiefaber told Playbill On-Line months ago. "I know they're interested in the Virginia, depending on what happens with King Hedley II." A Los Angeles engagement is also planned for the play.
Producer Jerry Greenberg, who formed Dream Street Theatrical Group, spent years in the record business, including stints as president of both Atlantic Records and then Sony/MJJ. Recent months saw him form Mirage Music Entertainment (with the Mirage Records label), the umbrella company for Dream Street Theatrical Group. Spokesperson Kiefaber confirmed that Greenberg is in talks with Jerry Frankel and Fox Theatricals to co-produce Streetcar. Director Hall's credits include this season's epic Tantalus at the Denver Center, as well as a Romeo and Juliet currently at the Ahmanson in L.A.
Actress Cattrall plays the sexually uninhibited Samatha on "Sex and the City," an HBO series that also stars theatre veterans Sarah Jessica Parker (Sylvia, How to Succeed...) and Cynthia Nixon (The Country Club, June Moon).
Shue, best known for her role in the film "Leaving Las Vegas," would play Stella, the New Orleans wife in sexual thrall to her husband, the bestial, blue collar Stanley. Dino, a Hall protégé, will play the latter role. In fact, he already did; Dino apparently came to Hall's attention when he played Stanley in a well-received, 1997 Streetcar done at Florida's Hippodrome Theatre (a favorite venue for Williams when the author was still alive).
Streetcar is Williams' best-known play. Its original landmark production, directed by Elia Kazan, starred Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy and Kim Hunter. The most recent Broadway revival starred Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. Other Williams plays include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie and The Rose Tattoo.
