Posted by: Rope

20 Sep 2012

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The Scarlett Johansson-toplined revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” has gone from possibility to certainty, with a production also starring Ciaran Hinds, Benjamin Walker and Debra Monk gearing up for a run that begins in December.

Set to direct is American helmer Rob Ashford (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”), best known for staging musicals in the States but also the director of well-received play revivals in London.

Johansson, whose last gig on Broadway scored her a Tony for her turn in the 2010 revival of “A View From the Bridge,” will play Maggie the Cat. Hinds, last on the Rialto in 2007 play “The Seafarer,” is onboard as Big Daddy and Walker (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) — returning to Broadway after his breakout 2010 perf in musical “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson — is set to play Maggie’s husband Brick. Monk takes on the role of Big Mama.

Ashford is no stranger to starry play revivals, having won raves in Blighty at the helm of the 2011 Jude Law starrer “Anna Christie” and the Rachel Weisz-toplined 2009 staging of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” both produced by London’s Donmar Warehouse.

Stuart Thompson, one of the producers of “View From the Bridge,” produces “Cat.”

Production of the 1955 Tennessee Williams play is the third to land on Broadway in the last decade, with a 2003 revival starring Ashley Judd followed in 2008 by an all-black production with a cast that included James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad.

Newest version of “Cat” begins previews Dec. 18 ahead of a Jan. 17 opening at the Richard Rodgers Theater.

Source: Variety

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