Blanchett Coming to Broadway
Friday, January 29, 2016 at 8:32AM The Team Experience prayer circle worked! Cate Blanchett will be returning to the New York stage, but finally on Broadway this time.
Her first steps on the Great White Way will be Anton Chekov's The Present, which will also be the first Broadway transfer of the Sydney Theatre Company that Blanchett co-artistic directed with her husband. They had previously brought Hedda Gabler, The Maids, and A Streetcar Named Desire (with Cate as none other than Blanche DuBois) to New York for those lucky enough to snag tickets to their limited engagements. The play, recently adapted by Upton, features themes of regret and unfulfilled desire that should prove meaty for the actress and her costar Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!).
Another exciting snippet of the production is John Crowley at the helm. He was criminally undervalued for his contributions this Oscar season with Brooklyn and is clearly gifted in stearing actors to rich portrayals. However, he is no stranger to the New York stage, having directed Broadway productions of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman and A Behanding in Spokane.
The Present is expected to open at the end of the year, so be ready to snatch those tickets for this likely sell-out once they become available!
Reader Comments (22)
Gillian Anderson is also bringin her Streetcar to Broadway?? I've a hunch both Cate & her might b nom for a TONY next yr!!!
Just what she needs,go away for a few years and return as Lucille Ball win your 3rd oscar.
Oh I believe a trip to NYC is in order for this ! :)
Blanchett is amazing. She wants to feel energized by live theater for her craft. Making movies can make a performer stale if that's all they ever do.
I think we should make a wishlist of auteurs for her to work with. What could she get from Jane Campion? Especially when she breathed so much life into a latter-day Woody Allen vehicle.
/3rtful-
I'd like to see what her and Lars von Trier could do
I saw Blanchett in "Uncle Vanya" a few years ago at the Kennedy Center with her Sydney Theatre Company. It was a lovely production all around. This one should be no different. Very exciting news.
I've been praying for years that Blanchett never work with von Trier. So far so good. But I think Olivier Assayas or Jacques Audiard would be great for her.
More like: Hey the Tonys, here is Cate!!!
How come her Streetcar did not get into full production in New York though?
von Tier is way overrated IMO.
I just submitted my ballot for the SAG Awards, and when Nathaniel posts his predictions
somemostall of you are going to think I'm crazy when I reveal my choices. Spoiler alert: I didn't vote for Blanchett for Best Actress.@Paul Outlaw
I have seen both Room and Brooklyn twice .. for a long time I chose Larson as BA, but I have changed my mind upon viewing each the 2nd time... I am going for an upset with Ronan winning!!??
If Blue Jasmine hadn't happened, would Cate be the Best Actress front runner right now? (I ask this having not yet seen Room, Brooklyn or 45 Years!)
I know everyone instantly says Tony here, but it's worth noting that Blanchett isn't really picking the best time of year to be on Tony voters minds-her production will be closed when voting is happening, which hurts quite a bit with the Tony Awards, even if you're a mammoth star (Bradley Cooper ended up losing for The Elephant Man amidst his Oscar fever, after all).
Brie Larson in Room is just the type of role that can not be beaten by a mostly subdued performance like Cate delivers in Carol (think Natalie Portman x Annette Bening in 2010). Cate is brilliant, but she is too quiet in the role, the movie is too subtle for the Academy's taste. They like their movies loud and their acting right up in your face. I actually doubt if Cate weren't such an Academy darling, if she would even have been nominated. Probably not.
That said, this year was sort of an anomaly, with understated performances nominated in almost all four categories (Blanchett, Ronan, Rampling, Mara, McAdams and Rylance). Only the Best Actor line-up is comprised exclusively of all caps ACTING!, with added raw bison liver for seasoning.
Regarding auteurs, I would love to see Cate work with Ang Lee next.
Ang Lee is boring. He's the least exciting two-time Best Director winner.
I wish she works with an auteur that ask her a non-performance. You know? No character, like the sublime acting Binoche delivered in movies like The Flight of the Red Balloon or Certified Copy. Or a Sofia Coppola movie, maybe, something that asks her a less aggressive work.
Was lucky enough to see Cate as both Blanche in Streetcar and Yelena in Uncle Vanya. Much to my surprise, I didn't really care for her as Blanche: to my mind she did not sufficiently convey the character's fragility. Maybe I'm just overly accustomed to seeing her play strong women, and yet I know from "Carol" and "Notes on a Scandal" she's perfectly capable of playing vulnerable and weak. So I dunno. I mean, I loved her in "Blue Jasmine," but then Jasmine is pretty different from Blanche despite being a riff on the character.
She was quite good in Uncle Vanya, though.
Cate is one smart thespian...she juxtaposes stage with screen roles so that the fatigue won't seep in (unlike Meryl and Nicole and how people just get tired of seeing them in movie after movie in recent times).
I was lucky enough to see Cate as both Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center in D.C and Claire in The Maids in New York City. Blanchett was extraordinary as Blanche and very good as Claire
I want to keep my mini tradition of watching her on stage. I am so sad that I missed her performance in Gross und Klein.
After a terrific run with Blue Jasmine, Carol, Cinderella and Truth, Blanchett is gonna return to the stage for a bit. She said during the Palm Spring Festival speech that where is she gonna go after the Carol experience? How can you top that?
I hope that maybe directors like:
Michael Haneke
Lynne Ramsay
Darren Aronofsky
Ang Lee
Jeff Nichols
Kathryn Bigelow
Steve McQueen
Joon Ho Bong
Tomas Alfredson
Spike Jonze
could write a great role for her
It's funny how much Blanchett's career mirrors Glenda Jackson's. You have The Maids and Hedda Gabler, both signature Jackson roles. And they've both played Elizabeth I in two different movies. I can't help but wonder if Blanchett studied Jackson's portrayals in preparation for the 1998 Elizabeth picture, then became a huge fan.
I don't see as much theater as I do movies. But living in NYC one can't help but be exposed to great theater. The best performances I saw in the last few years were 1) Cate in Streetcar and 2) Carey Mulligan in Skylight. They both should never stop working on stage.
Crowley was attached to Carol for quite a while but he dropped out because he had a scheduling conflict (presumably with Brooklyn?) and then Haynes was brought in.