BRANDO BECOMES STANLEY

Williams, Tennessee (1911–1983)

A Streetcar Named Desire [Original Broadway Production — Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden]

BRANDO, TANDY, HUNTER AND MALDEN IN THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY PRODUCTION THAT MADE A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE AN AMERICAN THEATRICAL LANDMARK.
An early 1948 Playbill from the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, documenting the celebrated first cast with Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski, Jessica Tandy as Blanche DuBois, Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski, and Karl Malden as Mitch, under the direction of Elia Kazan.

Dated the week beginning February 16, 1948, this program comes only about ten weeks after the production opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 3, 1947. The production ran for 855 performances, won the 1948 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and Williams received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Tandy won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

Brando's Stanley became the defining stage performance of his early career. Unlike later Playbills from the run, this issue retains the principal original quartet before subsequent replacements entered the production. Brando, Hunter, and Malden would reprise their roles in Elia Kazan's 1951 film adaptation, while Vivien Leigh replaced Tandy as Blanche.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Original stapled Playbill in illustrated cream wrappers printed in brown, the front depicting a New Orleans streetscape with balcony and streetcar tracks. Approximately 6½ by 9 inches. 44 pages.

Production pages identify Irene M. Selznick as producer and Elia Kazan as director, with scenery and lighting by Jo Mielziner and costumes by Lucinda Ballard. Cast listings include Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Peg Hillias, Rudy Bond, Nick Dennis, Gee Gee James, Vito Christi, Edna Thomas, Ann Dere, and Richard Garrick.

Illustrated throughout with contemporary theatrical features and advertisements for Helena Rubinstein, Germaine Monteil, Philip Morris, Rogers Peet, Old Crow, PM Whiskey, Bellows, and other products. Rear wrapper carries a full-page Chesterfield cigarette advertisement featuring Metropolitan Opera soprano Risë Stevens,

This issue is specifically dated February 16, 1948, placing it early in the original Broadway run and preserving the principal original cast of Tandy, Brando, Hunter, and Malden.

CONDITION: Stapled wrappers remain intact with moderate handling and age wear. Prominent black ink scribble to the center of the front wrapper, affecting the blank area below the title but not obscuring the title, cover illustration, or Playbill identification. Light edge and corner wear with minor soiling and age toning.

Interior pages remain clean and well preserved, with the production and cast pages particularly strong and readily legible. Overall a sound surviving copy, with the front-cover ink marking the principal defect.

THEATRICAL SIGNIFICANCE — BEFORE STANLEY BELONGED TO HOLLYWOOD
A Streetcar Named Desire occupies a central position in postwar American drama, but this Playbill documents the work before its characters became inseparable from the celebrated 1951 film.

When the production opened in December 1947, Brando was a 23-year-old stage actor whose portrayal of Stanley Kowalski helped redefine American acting. Opposite him, Jessica Tandy originated Blanche DuBois, while Kim Hunter and Karl Malden created Stella and Mitch. The production brought together Williams's writing and Kazan's direction with Jo Mielziner's scenic and lighting design and Lucinda Ballard's costumes. Playbill records Brando's Stanley as an original Broadway role and the production as his final Broadway appearance.

The distinction between stage and film casts is important. Tandy—not Vivien Leigh—created Blanche on Broadway and received the 1948 Tony Award for the performance. Brando, Hunter, and Malden subsequently carried their roles into the film. Thus this February 1948 program records the theatrical ensemble during the period in which the performances later associated with American film history were still being shaped nightly on the Broadway stage.

AN EARLY DOCUMENT OF AN AMERICAN CLASSIC.
The February date adds substantially to the appeal. This is not simply a Playbill issued sometime during the production's two-year run: it dates from roughly ten weeks after opening and retains the four actors who established its central roles.

The production's historical standing was confirmed almost immediately. Williams received the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and Tandy received the Tony Award for Best Actress.
 
SUBJECTS: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Elia Kazan, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway, American Theatre, 1940s New York, Theatre Programs, Playbills, American Drama, Broadway Ephemera, Performing Arts Ephemera

Item #22417

Price: $24.00