Streetcar Named Desire

From Publishers Weekly Williams's classic play begins with Blanche DuBois's arrival in New Orleans to stay with her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. The determinedly genteel Blanche is shocked by their lower-class lifestyle—and by Stanley's frequently aggressive behavior. As Blanche's secrets catch up with her, a seedy reality trumps her love for romance. Rosemary Harris embodies Blanche with all the flare, attitude and Southern drawl commonly associated with the cultural icon. The role of Stanley is so physical that his presence is diminished by the lack of a visual performance, but James Farentino's Stanley is excellent. The overall production quality is excellent with musical segues and sound effects that enhance without distracting the listeners. This recording captures the cast of the 1973 Broadway revival (which won Harris a Drama Desk award and Farentino a Theatre World award). (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Product Description Starring Rosemary Harris as the vulnerable Blanche DuBois, this dazzling drama of love, lust, and unbridled passion set against the steamy backdrop of New Orleans is an unrivaled classic of modern American theatre. This recording features the cast of the smash revival in 1973 at Lincoln Center. About the Author Tennessee Williams, born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi won Pulitzer Prizes for his dramas, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other plays include The Glass Menagerie, Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real, Suddenly Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth and Night of the Iguana. He also wrote a number of one-act plays, short stories, poems and two novels, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone and Moishe and the Age of Reason. He died in 1983 at the age of 72. Review Lyrical and poetic and human and heartbreaking and memorable and funny.--Francis Ford Coppola From AudioFile To listen to this riveting performance, recorded live at Lincoln Center in 1973, is a revelation. It takes the listener right to the heart of what makes Tennessee Williams's 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play a literary icon--the words, every last word. From the lilting sounds of Blanche DuBois's fragile and flighty poetic visions to the staccato tones of Stanley Kowalski's streetwise poker games, the performances weave image after image. There are few histrionics in Rosemary Harris, James Farentino, and Patricia Conolly's naturalistic portrayals of Blanche, Stanley, and Stella. Their vocal choices make the play's final scenes sound all the more credible, and devastating. A classic performance of an American classic. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine