Cate Blanchett Makes Her Broadway Debut in 'The Present'; Get Tickets Here
Often when Hollywood stars give Broadway a try, audiences and critics wonder what they're trying to prove. However, in the case of Cate Blanchett, the two-time Oscar winner and three-time BAFTA winner has no need to prove her acting ability on stage.
The Carol and Lord of the Rings star has performed on stage in her native Australia since the 1980s, including a five-year stint as co-Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company alongside her husband, playwright Andrew Upton. She has also made several appearances on the West End. Broadway audiences are now able to see Blanchett on stage for the first time in The Present, an originally-untitled comedic drama by celebrated Russian playwright Anton Chekhov that has been adapted by Upton. The production opened on January 8 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
In The Present, Blanchett portrays Anna, who is faced with the lust she has for an old lover, Mikhail (Richard Roxburgh, an Australian actor who appeared in the movies Moulin Rouge! and Mission: Impossible II), during a weekend birthday party in the Russian countryside. However, she is not the only woman at the party who falls for the handsome Mikhail. Upton has set his adaptation of the play, which was originally written in 1878 but undiscovered until 1920, shortly after the Soviet Union crumbles. The cast also includes Australian theatrical stars Jacqueline McKenzie, Marshall Napier, and Toby Schmitz, among others. The production is directed by Irish director John Crowley, who previously directed A Behanding in Spokane and A Steady Rain on Broadway (the latter starring another Australian theater actor turned Hollywood star, Hugh Jackman) as well as the acclaimed 2015 film Brooklyn.
While Blanchett and the Sydney Theatre Company are making their Broadway debuts with The Present, it's not the first time Blanchett and the company have appeared in New York. The company brought successful productions of A Streetcar Named Desire to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2009 and Uncle Vanya to the Lincoln Center Festival in 2012.
The limited engagement of The Present runs on Broadway until March 19. The Present tickets are available now through the box office, and prices range from $59-$159.
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