Novato Theater Co-Opens with A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Novato Theater Company Begins its 2016-2017 season with the Tennessee Williams classic, A Streetcar Named Desire, September 9-October 2 at the NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Dr., Novato 94949. The play is directed by Michael Barr and features Gregory Crane, Amber Collins Crane, and Emily Radosevich. It is produced for NTC by Kim Bromley and Janelle Ponte.

Tennessee Williams' masterpiece depicting the descent of fragile and iconic Blanche Dubois, a woman whose life is undermined by her romantic illusions. The pressure brought to bear upon Blanche by her sister, Stella, with whom she goes to live in New Orleans along with Stella's earthy and brutal husband, Stanley, leads to a tragic revelation of self-delusion and madness.

Cast and Home Cities

Stanley - Gregory Crane (San Anselmo)

Stella - Emily Radosevich (Lafayette)

Blanche - Amber Collins Crane (San Anselmo)

Harold Mitchell - Matt Gunnison (San Francisco)

Eunice - Amy Deitz (San Rafael)

Steve - Matt Farrell - (Rohnert Park)

Pablo Gonzalez - Javier Alarcon (Mill Valley)

Young Collector/Doctor - Michel B. Harris (San Anselmo)

Neighbor/Flower Vendor/Nurse - Neiry Rojo (Oakland)

In the Cast

Gregory Crane's (Stanley Kowalski) theater credits include: Valentine "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at South Coast Rep (dir. Mark Rucker), Peter "The Diary of Anne Frank" at Hangar Theatre, Bassanio "Merchant of Venice", "The Gamester" at ACT, "Carnival 'round the Central Figure" at Symmetry Theatre. Creator of the one man show "Love, 10: An Evening with Tennessee Williams". Film and TV: S.W.A.T., NCIS, Any Day Now, Boston Public. Training: BFA from NYU (Playwrights Horizons, ETW).

Amber Collins Crane (Blanche DuBois) worked in theatre and film in NYC, LA, and in regional theatres such as Actor's Theatre of Louisville and Berkshire Theatre Festival before making Marin her home. Some favorite Bay Area credits include Agnes in "Bug", May in "Fool for Love", April in "Savage in Limbo," Ann in "All My Sons," and Birdie in "Little Foxes." She has guest starred in television ranging from "Sex in the City," to "7th Heaven." Amber received her B.A. in Theatre from Hollins University and trained with Michael Howard Studios in New York and Anne Bogart of the Siti Company. Amber is also a clinical psychologist in private practice in Marin and SF. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled "Nomads of the Self: Identity Development and the Actor."

Emily Radosevich (Stella) was last seen at NTC as Bec in 4000 Miles. Other Bay Area credits include Isabella/Kit/Shona in Top Girls (A.C.T.), and Celia in Sycamore (Bay Area Playwrights Festival). In New York she was seen as Mary 1/Elsa in Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play (NYU), Clare in The Upper Room (IRT @ The New Ohio), Clarice in These Bodies are Garbage (The Shop Theatre), and Jennie in Island Girls (Theatre for a New City). Film/TV credits include I (Almost) Got Away With It; Dorm Therapy. She holds a BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Notes from the Director - Michael Barr

As a lover of the English language and dramatists that have mastered its use, I've long held Williams as a favorite writer of mine. A Streetcar Named Desire is full of dramatic intensity, gorgeous language, and compelling, three- dimensional characters. My production will be set in 1947, the year the play was originally written.

While there are universal themes in Streetcar which can absolutely allow it to be set in many different times, there are several reasons for my choice to set it in its original context: #1, I don't see it done that way much anymore, and #2, I am interested in Williams' take on the last gasp of the romanticized plantation culture in the South, represented by Blanche, colliding with the upcoming, post- World War II vibrancy of the urban working class American, represented by Stanley. Rehearsals for this play have been like choreographing a boxing match between caged animals, and my production will go into the raw drives of the characters' desires, which is the blind force driving them. The production will get close to these characters in all their messy, ugly, beautiful, raw life. Every aspect of the play is predicated upon a primal hunger and the fallout caused by that hunger. The way people hide from it, the way people go after it, the way people destroy each other because of it.

The Play and the Playwright

The original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 3, 1947. The producer originally wanted to cast Margaret Sullavan and John Garfield, but settled on Jessica Tandy and Marlon Brando, who were virtual unknowns at the time. The opening night cast also included Kim Hunter as Stella and Karl Malden as Mitch.] Tandy was cast after Williams saw her performance in a West Coast production of his one-act play Portrait of a Madonna. Williams believed that by casting Brando, who was young for the part as it was originally conceived, would evolve Kowalski from being a vicious older man to someone whose unintentional cruelty can be attributed to youthful ignorance. Despite its shocking scenes and gritty dialogue, the audience applauded for half an hour after the debut performance ended. In 1948, Streetcar won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play award and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama

After years of obscurity, Tennessee Williams became suddenly famous with The Glass Menagerie (1944), closely reflecting his own unhappy family background. This heralded a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and Sweet Bird of Youth (1959). His later work attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences, and alcohol and drug dependence further inhibited his creative output. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on the short list of the finest American plays of the 20th century alongside Long Day's Journey into Night and Death of a Salesman. (Source: Wikipedia)

CURTAIN TIMES AND TICKETS

Venue: NTC Playhouse, 5420 Nave Dr., Novato

Preview: Thursday, September 8 at 7:30 pm

Opens: Friday, September 9 at 8:00 pm

Runs: Fridays and Saturdays: 8:00 pm; Sundays: 2:00 pm, through October 2

Running Time: 2 hours+

Tickets: $27 Adults, $21 NTC Members and Subscribers, $24 Seniors/Students, $12 Children 12 and under, $15 Preview. Online ticketing at www.novatotheatercompany.org; call (415) 883-4498 for questions/information only. No credit cards accepted at the theater box office for walk ups, cash or checks only. Open Seating • Free Parking • ADA Compliant

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