NewsPHOTO CALL: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Opens on Broadway; Red Carpet Arrivals, Curtain Call and Cast PartyBroadway swelters as the past, present and an uncertain future perfume the stage of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where the revival of Tennessee Williams' 1955 family drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Tony Award winner Scarlett Johansson and Benjamin Walker, officially opened Jan. 17.
By
Matthew Blank
January 18, 2013
Tony Award winner Rob Ashford (Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Finding Neverland) helms the production, set within an upstairs bedroom of a sweeping Mississipi plantation, that began previews Dec. 18 and is currently scheduled to play a limited 15-week engagement through March 30.
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Opens on Broadway; Red Carpet Arrivals, Curtain Call and Cast Party
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Opens on Broadway; Red Carpet Arrivals, Curtain Call and Cast Party
Broadway swelters as the past, present and an uncertain future perfume the stage of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where the revival of Tennessee Williams' 1955 family drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Tony Award winner Scarlett Johansson and Benjamin Walker, officially opened Jan. 17. Read the Playbill.com story.
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Scarlett Johansson
Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Benjamin Walker
Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Vin Knight, Michael Park, Scarlett Johansson and Ciaran Hinds
The production, which is the third revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof within a decade, marks Ashford's directorial debut of a non-musical production on Broadway. He is known for his work on How to Succeed in Business; Promises, Promises; as well as Evita; Curtains; and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Ashford previously staged A Streetcar Named Desire and Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse.
Johansson (A View from the Bridge, "Matchpoint," "The Avengers") stars as Maggie opposite Walker (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," "Flags of Our Fathers," Les Liaisons Dangereuses) as Brick, with Irish actor Ciaran Hinds ("Game of Thrones," "Harry Potter") as Big Daddy and Tony Award winner Debra Monk (Curtains, Redwood Curtain) as Big Mama.
The cast is completed by Emily Bergl (Becky Shaw, "Desperate Housewives") and Michael Park (Middletown, How to Succeed...) as intrusive kin Mae and Gooper, respectively, with Vin Knight as Reverend Tooker, Brian Reddy as Doctor Baugh, as well as Will Cobbs, Tanya Birl, Jordan Dean, Lance Roberts and Cherene Snow. The design team includes Christopher Oram (scenic design), Julie Weiss (costume design), Neil Austin (lighting design) and Adam Cork (composer and sound design).
According to producers, "Big Daddy Pollitt, the richest cotton planter in the Mississippi Delta, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. He is distressed by the rocky relationship between his beloved son Brick, an aging football hero who has turned to drink, and his beautiful and feisty wife Maggie. As the hot summer evening unfolds, the veneer of Southern gentility slips away as unpleasant truths emerge and greed, lies and suppressed sexuality reach a boiling point."
