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A Streetcar Named Desire CD

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Tennessee Williams is one of America's finest playwrights, and his 1947 Pulitzer-Prize winning "A Streetcar Named Desire" is his undisputed masterpiece. "The Glass Menagerie" moves us to tears and "Suddenly, Last Summer" is luridly fascinating, but "Streetcar" remains in, and haunts, our souls. Sam Staggs, in his definitive history of "Streetcar," correctly describes the play as "a root canal on the soul."
The production of "Streetcar" recorded here played at the Vivian Beaumount Theatre in New York from April-July, 1973. The plot, in brief, concerns Blanche DuBois, who arrives in New Orleans seeking refuge from her troubled past in her sister Stella's small apartment. Blanche hadn't counted on her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, being so brutish and intensely sexual, however. She hopes to find a measure of happiness and peace with Stanley's friend Harold Mitchell (Mitch). A lesser playwright than Williams may well have given Blanche, and the audience, a happy ending with Mitch. But neither Williams nor his characters are that easy or simplistic. His characters are not all good or all bad. They exist in a morally gray area; with Williams exposing the harsh realities of life. When the truth of Blanche's sordid past is crudely, relentlessly exposed by Stanley, Mitch cruelly rejects her. Blanche and Stanley have a final, violent confrontation; which in turn leads to one of the most soul-shattering conclusions in theatre history.
The big question here is: how does the 1973 Lincoln Center revival compare to the excellent ensemble cast of Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden in the 1951 film version? Of course, the 1973 cast does not have to contend with the censorship issues that plagued the otherwise outstanding 1951 film version. So, here we have the full text and content of Williams' original play. If you are not familiar with the play, however, I strongly advise you to have a copy of the script with you as you listen to this recording. Otherwise, you might not understand the important actions that occur in several key scenes-- including Stanley's violent actions during the poker game and, more importantly, Stella's exact reaction to it.
Rosemary Harris is often her own worst enemy as Blanche DuBois. Her powerful performance is undermined by her own unfortunate penchant for over-acting in several scenes where a more subtle approach would have been much more effective. Harris totally goes over the top in the scene just before the newspaper boy arrives, ("Ah, me...") and the scene where Blanche describes the suicide of her gay husband; completely ruining the beautiful end line of the scene, when Blanche says to Mitch, "sometimes, there is God-- so quickly!" While she does not match or equal Vivien Leigh's definitive and devastating portrayal, it is truly heartwrenching when Harris' Blanche loses her tenuous grip on reality. Elsewhere, while she is not exactly mis-cast, Patricia Conolly is a rather odd choice, and makes some rather odd acting choices, as Stella. Robert Symonds is merely adequate as Mitch. The most startling surprise here is James Farentino as Stanley. As Sam Staggs shrewdly observes, Farentino "does what few actors can: he makes you forget (Marlon) Brando. To do this, he discards nuance in favor of hustler directness. You hear the price tag in his voice."
The genius of Tennessee Williams and the power of "A Streetcar Named Desire" remains undiminished. This CD recording of one of the greatest plays is essential in the library of every fan of Tennessee Williams and every serious theatre aficionado.

Now available for the first time on CD, A Streetcar Named Desire is the full-cast archival recording of the famous musical by Tennessee Williams, as performed by the cast at the 1973 revival at Lincoln Center (including Pulitzer Prize-winning stars Rosemary Harris and James Farentino as Blanche and Stanley). When the troubled Blanche seeks shelter in her sister Stella's New Orleans apartment, Stella's brutish husband Stanley Kowalski relentlessly strips away the lies and delusions propping up Blanche's insubstantial dreams. A modern-day theatrical classic, A Streetcar Named Desire is highly recommended for anyone who loves the musical, and for public library audio CD collections.