When Blanche Met Brando - Annotated by Sam Staggs (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Exhaustively researched and almost flirtatiously opinionated, When Blanche Met Brando is everything a fan needs to know about the ground-breaking New York and London stage productions of Williams' "Streetcar" as well as the classic Brando/Leigh film. Sam Staggs' interviews with all the living cast members of each production will enhance what's known about the play and movie, and help make this book satisfying as both a pop culture read and as a deeper piece of thinking about a well-known story.

Readers will come away from this book delighted with the juicy behind-the-scenes stories about cast, director, playwright and the various productions and will also renew their curiosity about the connection between the role of Blanche and Viven Leigh's insatiable sexual appetite and later descent into breakdown. They may also--for the first time--question whether the character of Blanche was actually "mad" or whether her anxiousness was symptomatic of another disorder.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" is one of the most haunting and most-studied modern plays. Staggs' new book will fascinate fans and richen newcomers' understanding of its importance in American theater and movie history.

From the Back Cover

"WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO: The Scandalous Story of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' promises something salacious but delivers something better...a witty, insightful probe of Tennessee Williams' most famous play in all its variations."--The Dallas Morning News

The play launched Marlon Brando's career, and the movie shot his star into the stratosphere. The film also redefined Vivien Leigh as another kind of Southern belle: Blanche as Scarlett on the skids. And the movie as modern audiences know it barely escaped the unforgiving knife of censorship. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is more than a classic piece of American art--it's a daring and raw masterpiece as alive with meaning today as it was when first performed in 1947.

Witty, rich with detail and exuberantly opinionated, WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO is the full behind-the-scenes story of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Moving from the opening of Tennessee Williams' groundbreaking play and the scandalized audiences it left on Broadway to its London debut to Elia Kazan's exceptional movie version, Staggs illuminates "Streetcar's" surprising complexities and the powerhouse personalities behind them.

"Staggs' book is an excellent companion piece, giving a fine and often funny account of the many difficulties Williams' story faced on the way to becoming history."--Reuters

Review Quotes

"Opinionated, revealing, constantly entertaining account of the birth and growth of Tennessee Williams's most famous play." --Kirkus Reviews

"A comprehensive minihistory of 20th-century American stage and screen and [Staggs] doesn't skimp on tabloid juice." --Publishers Weekly

"With his infectious devotion to "Streetcar," Staggs surely will motivate many to revist the play and watch the film." --Los Angeles Times

"as loquacious and overripe as Blanche herself and as hard to resist." --Washington Post

"...a spellbinder..." --The Hollywood Reporter

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