Clang, Clang, Clang Went the Trolley

A Streetcar Named Desire  - The previous Broadway incarnation of Streetcar, starring Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange was a disaster, with an outclassed Baldwin-brother squeaking at a timid and practically mute Lange.

This production with John C. Reilly and Natasha Richardson is much better though doesn't reach the highest ideal of this great American tragedy. Sadly for all actors, Brando's performance on film is still the epitome of method acting. Reilly doesn't have the magnetism which really explains the fatal attraction between Stanley and Blanche, but he does have the stage presence to command attention and drive the story forward.

Richardson's Blanche is similarly on key yet misses some of the grace notes of the character -- she seems not nearly exhausted or worn down by her lies, nor repelled enough by Stanley.

Still, a very worthy production.