STREETCAR Opening Night 1946

The Brilliant ordinariness of the play's locale, the plainness of all the characters, the modesty of their wants, the recognizable colloquialisms in their speech, combined to make thrilling surprises, when, highlighted by the poetic gifts of playwright, Tennessee Williams, Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway in 1946. The play ran on Broadway for two years, and a road company, of course, toured America with Uta Hagen as Blanche, and Anthony Quinn as Stanley.

The world had never before seen a play about working class people that reached such poetic heights. The play damatized that our true life is our spiritual life, not our working life or our particular station or circumstances. Never had such an adult, cockeyed love story been so powerfully portrayed onstage. Stanley may have been a beast, but he truly loved, and proved it to Stella by begging her to remember the "colored lights" of their love making. He was cruel to Blanche, but he saw it as his duty to defend his territory. And, Blanche was wrong to attempt to alienate her sister from her husband. Of Course, Vivian Leigh gave the performance of her career in the magnificent, eloquent role of Blanche.

The audience that night had a feast of great acting. Brando at one fell swoop forever altered how we view acting. Vivian Leigh, only seven years after her movie Gone With The Wind  demonstrated the depth and variety of her skills.

Director Elia Kazan later published a book about the rehearsals of that play. He and Williams, and the actors, collaborated during reheasals to get the best results. It was a group effort. Brando had been on B'way before, even as a teenager, in 'I Remember Mama.' Movie star John Garfield was there that night and later swore that the moment Brando came onstage he knew that the acting profession had been changed forever. 

It's no acident, therefore, that later collaborations between Kazan and Brando, 'Waterfront' and 'Zapata' more than fulfilled the promise of 'Streetcar.' 

Barry