Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
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Cititour.com Review
When you’ve won a Tony Award for your Broadway debut – and you’re one of Hollywood’s hottest stars (in every sense of the word) -- what do you for an encore? If you’re Scarlett Johansson, you choose to sink your claws into one of the theater world’s most challenging roles, Maggie “The Cat” in Tennessee Williams’ blistering drama “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” now being given a solid revival by Tony winner Rob Ashford.
And if you’re as savvy a star as Johansson, you clearly try for a different interpretation than your celebrated predecessors (who include Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Ashley, Kathleen Turner, and Anika Noni Rose). While she still parades around in a slip, Johansson foregoes the traditional sultriness and seductiveness one might expect to see. Instead, she’s exchanged that demeanor for a harsh desperation and sub-Arctic coldness that exposes the hard and cruel person Maggie has become since being shunned by her heavy-drinking husband, Brick (an extremely fine – and extremely fit – Benjamin Walker) since revealing the unspoken truth behind his relationship with his former, now-dead best friend, Skipper. Her Maggie is definitely fighting for her marriage as well as her stake in the family fortunes, and there’s little doubt from the beginning that she will do anything to win.
It’s not always an easy performance to watch – especially in the first-act where Maggie dominates the stage with a seeming non-stop monologue -- as it emphasizes the unpleasant part of Maggie’s personality. But it’s an undeniably brave choice. Conversely, most everyone else on stage, good as they are, sticks to the more standard interpretations of their characters, including Ciaran Hinds as the coarse, bellowing plantation owner Big Daddy, Debra Monk as the alternatively simpering and strong-willed Big Mama, and Michael Park and Emily Bergl as Brick’s stolid brother Gooper and his scheming wife, Mae.
At times, Ashford’s production lays on the southern atmosphere a little thicker than necessary, notably in the soundscape provided by composer and sound designer Adam Cork. And although set designer Christopher Oram has done fine work here, the vast stage of the Richard Rodgers makes Maggie and Brick’s bedroom, where the entire play is set, seem positively enormous. But then again, “Cat” is dealing with larger-than-life characters who can suck the air out of any space with their venom and bickering.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.catonahottinroofbroadway.com
Cast
Scarlett Johansson, Ciarán Hinds, Benjamin Walker, Debra Monk, Emily Bergl, Michael Park, Vin Knight, Brian Reddy, Will Cobbs, Tanya Birl, Jordan Dean, Lance Roberts, Cherene Snow
Open/Close Dates
Opening 12/18/2012
Closing 3/30/2013
Box Office
877-250-2929
Theatre Info
Richard Rodgers Theatre
226 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
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