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Title details for A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams - Available

A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams
Theater Lincoln Center
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

Caedmon is proud to release this archival full-cast recording of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire on cd for the first time!

Blanche DuBois arrives at her sister Stella's New Orleans apartment seeking refuge from a troubled past—but her ethereal spirit irks Stella's husband, the loutish Stanley Kowalski. Crudely, relentlessly, he unmasks the lies and delusions that sustain Blanche, until her frail hold on reality is shockingly severed.

This atmospheric recording of Tennessee Williams's powerful classic stars Rosemary Harris and James Farentino as Blanche and Stanley—roles they performed to acclaim in a smash revival at New York's Lincoln Center.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 6, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780061729836
      • File size: 65151 KB
      • Duration: 02:15:43

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 27, 2009
      Williams's classic play begins with Blanche DuBois's arrival in New Orleans to stay with her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. The determinedly genteel Blanche is shocked by their lower-class lifestyle—and by Stanley's frequently aggressive behavior. As Blanche's secrets catch up with her, a seedy reality trumps her love for romance. Rosemary Harris embodies Blanche with all the flare, attitude and Southern drawl commonly associated with the cultural icon. The role of Stanley is so physical that his presence is diminished by the lack of a visual performance, but James Farentino's Stanley is excellent. The overall production quality is excellent with musical segues and sound effects that enhance without distracting the listeners. This recording captures the cast of the 1973 Broadway revival (which won Harris a Drama Desk award and Farentino a Theatre World award).

    • AudioFile Magazine
      To listen to this riveting performance, recorded live at Lincoln Center in 1973, is a revelation. It takes the listener right to the heart of what makes Tennessee Williams's 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play a literary icon--the words, every last word. From the lilting sounds of Blanche DuBois's fragile and flighty poetic visions to the staccato tones of Stanley Kowalski's streetwise poker games, the performances weave image after image. There are few histrionics in Rosemary Harris, James Farentino, and Patricia Conolly's naturalistic portrayals of Blanche, Stanley, and Stella. Their vocal choices make the play's final scenes sound all the more credible, and devastating. A classic performance of an American classic. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      May 15, 2009
      Available for the first time on CD, this is a full-cast recording of Williams's famous play as performed at New York's Lincoln Center in 1973. The sound effects and music can overwhelm the production, which suffers somewhat from the lack of visuals (there is no sense of time passing, so listeners unfamiliar with the play might mistake all the action to take place over a brief period). Rosemary Harris's reading of Southern belle Blanche DuBois is excellent; her performance lends an airy, unreal quality to Blanche's follies. James Farentino plays mocking, brutal Stanley Kowalski aptly, and Patricia Connolly, too, plays Stella with suitable passivity. Better seen than heard, this is still an important recording to own. [Audio clip available through www.harperaudio.com.Ed.]B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara P.L., Goleta Branch, CA

      Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Accentuating the biting intelligence, slashing humor, and emotional devastation of Tennessee Williams's 1947 script, BBC Radio and L.A. Theatre Works came together in 1998 to create an extremely natural, very human audio version of one of America's most acclaimed theatrical works. When a woman with nowhere left to go visits her sister and her sister's husband in New Orleans, she finds their present and her past won't meet her desires for any kind of bright future. Glenne Headly (Blanche), Amy Brenneman (Stella), and Vincent D'Onofrio (Stanley) all give wonderfully understated performances that present the characters' raw world not as make-believe but as something that could take place just around the corner. Audio theater at its finest. B.P. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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