Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: initial casting announced

Tony Award-winner Scarlett Johansson returns to Broadway to star as 'Maggie,' with Ciarán Hinds as 'Big Daddy,' Benjamin Walker as 'Brick' and Tony and Emmy Award-winner Debra Monk as 'Big Mama' in Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Directed by Tony and Emmy Award-winner Rob Ashford, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on 17 Jan 2013, following previews from 18 Dec 2012.

In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, "Big Daddy" Pollitt, the richest cotton planter in the Mississippi Delta, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. He is distressed by the rocky relationship between his beloved son Brick, an aging football hero who has turned to drink, and his beautiful and feisty wife Maggie. As the hot summer evening unfolds, the veneer of Southern gentility slips away as unpleasant truths emerge and greed, lies and suppressed sexuality reach a boiling point.

Additional casting and the design team will be announced soon.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is being produced on Broadway by Stuart Thompson.

The play premiered on Broadway in 1955. Directed by Elia Kazan, it starred Barbara Bel Geddes as 'Maggie,' Burl Ives as 'Big Daddy,' Ben Gazzara as 'Brick' and Mildred Dunnock as 'Big Mama.' The production was nominated for Tony's for Best New Play, Best Director and Best Actress in a Play (Barbara Bel Geddes).

It was revived on Broadway in 1974, 1990, 2003 and 2008. The 2008 revival featured an all Black cast, directed by Debbie Allen, and starred Anika Noni Rose as 'Maggie,' James Earl Jones as 'Big Daddy,' Terrence Howard as 'Brick' and Phylicia Rashad as 'Big Mama.'

Bios:

Scarlett Johansson (Maggie) is making her second appearance on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in the 2010 Arthur Miller revival 'A View from a Bridge' opposite Liev Schreiber. Johansson stars in the recently released worldwide Box Office hit "Avengers Assemble," in which she stars as 'Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.' She first played the role of "Natasha Romanoff" in "Iron Man 2" is rumored to returning to it in The Avengers 2 expected in 2015. Her many films include "Lost in Translation " (Bafta Award) and "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (Bafta nomination). She has recently finished wrapped production on the independent film Under "The Skin" for director Jonathan Glazer playing the lead role and plays "Janet Leigh" in the upcoming film "Hitchcock."

Ciarán Hinds (Big Daddy) has previously starred on Broadway in Patrick Marber's 'Closer 'and Conor McPherson's 'The Seafarer.' West End theatre credits include 'Juno & the Paycock,' 'Burnt by the Sun,' 'The Yalta Game,' 'Closer'at the National Theatre, and 'Simpatico,' 'Machinale' and 'Assassins' at The Donmar Warehouse. Hinds TV credits include starring as "Mance Rayder" in "The Game of Thrones," "Bud Hammond" in "Political Animals," "Gaius Julius Caesar" in "Rome." His many film credits include "John Carter," "There Will Be Blood," "Munich" and "Road to Perdition."

Benjamin Walker (Brick) has starred on Broadway in "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and "Inherit the Wind." His film credits include starring as 'Abraham Lincoln" in the recently released "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," other film credits include "The War Boys," "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Kinsey." He will next be seen in HBO's "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight" as "Kevin Kennedy," a Supreme Court clerk who wrote the legal briefs resulting in the guarantee of Ali's status as a conscientious objector.

Debra Monk (Big Mama) has starred on Broadway in 'Curtains' (Tony nomination), 'Reckless,' 'Thou Shalt Not,' 'Ah, Wilderness!,' 'Steel Pier' (Tony nomination), 'Chicago,' 'Company,' 'Picnic' (Tony nomination), 'Redwood Curtain' (Tony Award), 'Nick & Nora,' 'Prelude to a Kiss' and 'Pump Boys and Dinettes.' Her Off-Broadway credits include starring as 'Leona Samish' in the Lincoln Center Theater's production of Arthur Laurents' 'The Time of the Cuckoo.' TV credits include: "Damages," "Grey's Anatomy," "A Nero Wolfe Mystery," "NYPD Blue" (Emmy Award). Films include: "One for the Money," "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits," "The Savages," "The Devil's Advocate" and "The Bridges of Madison County."

Rob Ashford (Director) is an American director and choreographer who works extensively on Broadway and in London's West End. As an Associate Director for London's Donmar Warehouse, Ashford's productions include 'Anna Christie' starring Jude Law and Ruth Wilson (Olivier Award for Best Revival), 'A Streetcar Named Desire' starring Rachel Weisz (Olivier nomination) and 'Parade' (Olivier nominations for Direction and Choreography). In New York he is currently represented by 'Evita' for which he provided the choreography (Tony nomination). He won a Tony Award for his choreography of the 2002 revival of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie.' Ashford won an Emmy Award for his choreography for the 81st Academy Awards and has staged tributes for Meryl Streep, Barbara Cook, Jerry Herman, Barbra Streisand and Andrew Lloyd Webber for The Kennedy Center Honors. He did the choreography for the film "Beyond The Sea" directed by, and starring, Kevin Spacey.