“This is one of those rare productions in which the cast, director, conductor, and designers are all deeply committed to the story and were pretty much on the same page from day one.”
Virginia Opera’s production of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, based on the enduring Tennessee Williams classic, is coming to Richmond’s Carpenter Theatre after recent success in Norfolk.
Set in the slums of 1940’s New Orleans, Streetcar revolves around the strained and discomforting relationships between the fragile Blanche DuBois, her sister Stella, and Stella’s brutish husband, Stanley Kowalski.
When Blanche arrives at her sister’s apartment, tension arises between herself and her sweat-stained brother-in-law. Passions erupt and two very different worlds collide trapping the loving, faithful, down-to-earth Stella in the middle. This remarkably dark and torrid story draws audiences inside the minds of these characters and exposes their humanity and vulnerability.
Directed by Sam Helfrich and conducted by Ari Pelto, this operatic version will have you experience the Pulitzer prize-winning play in an entirely new and bold way. The cast of the opera features Kelly Cae Hogan as Blanche, David Adam Moore as Stanley, Julia Ebner as Stella, and Scott Ramsay as Mitch.
Julia Ebner, who plays Stella, calls the score lush, bold, and American. “It fills the moments between lines of dialogue with meaning and tension that is unique to the opera.”
“The music that Tennessee Williams describes in the scenes of the play is brought to life in this opera, which alternates deftly between colloquial American styles, such as jazz and blues, and severe atonality,” Moore added.
And for all you Streetcar devotees out there who understand the challenges in finding directors and actors who can truly articulate the raw essence of the Williams’s genius, you won’t be disappointed.
“This is one of those rare productions in which the cast, director, conductor, and designers are all deeply committed to the story and were pretty much on the same page from day one,” said Moore. “The production came together smoothly, and has continued to blossom since opening in Norfolk.”
Can’t wait.
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© Tin Nguyen, 2013, GayRVA