Stepping up to 'Streetcar'

WATERTOWN — Sixty years after its Broadway debut, ‘‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’’ Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of desperation and disappointment, still packs an emotional punch. But with the iconographic images of Elia Kazan’s film version — a young, hunky Marlon Brando shouting out Stanley’s sexual desire for Stella, the indelible Vivien Leigh as the fluttering, faded Southern belle Blanche Dubois — is it possible to offer a fresh take on this classic?

The four lead actors in the New Repertory Theatre production, which runs Wednesday through Oct. 7, confront the ghosts of the film on their own terms. As they dug into rehearsals with director Rick Lombardo, we asked them how they’re finding their own paths.

TODD ALAN JOHNSON — Stanley

Johnson has played a series of compelling, hard-bitten characters in musicals (‘‘Sweeney Todd,’’ ‘‘Threepenny Opera,’’ ‘‘The Wild Party’’), but he says Stanley Kowalski is far from just another tough guy. And the role is a wonderful opportunity: ‘‘It’s easy to get typecast as a musical theater guy,’’ says Johnson, who’s sweet, almost shy offstage. ‘‘But it doesn’t matter if there’s music or not. For me, it’s always about the character.’’

Of all the characters in ‘‘Streetcar,’’ Johnson says, Stanley changes the least; he’s the anchor around which all the drama swirls. ‘‘His arc is to become even more triumphant, to become even more convinced that his way is the right way,’’ Johnson says.

Of course, Brando’s ‘‘Stella’’ moment is so well known that it has become a cliché, Johnson says. But he adds that he always does extensive research to add depth to his portrayals. ‘‘I do look at other sources as a kind of ‘do or don’t’ guide,’’ he says. ‘‘You know the saying, ‘Amateurs borrow, professionals steal.’ But I can’t worry about anyone’s preconceived notions, I just have to make each moment work as best I can.’’

What’s amazing about Williams’s play, Johnson says, is that the emotional force starts from the outset. ‘‘Everyone’s fuse is lit when the curtain goes up,’’ he says. ‘‘Everything is in motion, and that’s exhilarating to play. If we do our jobs, audiences will just get swept up in these people’s tragedy.’’

RACHEL HARKER — Blanche

Just back in Boston after a New York run of New Rep’s production of ‘‘Bill W. and Dr. Bob,’’ Rachel Harker says that as soon as she was cast in ‘‘Streetcar’’ she began reading the script over and over. ‘‘There’s a poetry in the writing that you don’t always hear,’’ she says. ‘‘What you remember from the movie are these strikx ing visual images, but when you go back to the script, you start absorbing the character from the written word.’’

And what of Leigh’s performance in the film? ‘‘I couldn’t possibly do what she does,’’ Harker says. ‘‘Her history, her own personal background brought things to the role no one else can. I think it’s hard not to be aware of that when you see the movie.’’

But Harker says her own upbringing in Texas and Oklahoma gave her insights into Blanche’s world. ‘‘I know a lot of older Southern women for whom presentation is so important,’’ she says. ‘‘How you look, how you’re perceived by others, is everything. But when the play opens, it’s taking all of Blanche’s strength to keep up those appearances.’’

At first it seems the woman who’s ‘‘always relied on the kindness of strangers’’ is quite fragile, but Harker says that’s only on the surface. ‘‘She’s an incredibly strong woman,’’ she says. ‘‘She’s a survivor. It takes really intense outside forces to break her. Outside influences have created a load that’s just become too much for her to bear.’’

MARIANNA BASSHAM — Stella

No role seems beyond Marianna Bassham, who’s moved from Ophelia in the Actors’ Shakespeare Project ‘‘Hamlet’’ to various roles in the Lyric Stage’s award-winning production of ‘‘Miss Witherspoon.’’ But the part of Stella — Blanche’s sister and Stanley’s pregnant wife — worried her.

‘‘I avoided watching the film on purpose,’’ Bassham says. ‘‘I need to not know what Kim Hunter did [in the role]. I’m a really good mimic, and I didn’t want to get trapped. My dad told me the scene where Stella comes downstairs after her fight with Stanley and he carries her off is one of the sexiest movie scenes ever.’’

Bassham says Stella’s physicality offers lots of opportunities. ‘‘Sex and carnality are the No. 1 values to her. I like that,’’ she says. Although Stella is much more grounded in her body than her sister Blanche, Bassham says, the two are similar in other ways. ‘‘Stella avoids and represses as much as Blanche does,’’ she says. ‘‘They’ve both learned to avoid what’s right in front of them. Stella has to balance her desire for Stanley with the emotional and physical abuse she endures.’’

What has surprised Bassham is the fascinating dynamic between the two sisters. ‘‘Stella is totally isolated,’’ she says. ‘‘She’s alone in the apartment all day, waiting for Stanley to come home. She doesn’t notice the disaster she’s living in — her inability to take care of the apartment ..... or the baby she’s expecting — until Blanche comes in with her own perspective.’’

Stella, Bassham says, is not an adult. ‘‘If she was a really good sister, she’d make sure Blanche was cared for,’’ she says. ‘‘The idea that Blanche and [Stanley’s friend] Mitch would get together is a great solution all around, and when Stanley ruins that, Stella’s in trouble, too.’’

BATES WILDER — Mitch

Casting Bates Wilder as Mitch, Stanley’s affable, well-meaning pal, seems almost too obvious. The easygoing father of five appears to be a natural for the role of Blanche’s eager suitor.

‘‘It’s great to be able to play a nice guy after ‘Frozen’ (in which he played a murderer),’’ Wilder says. But that doesn’t mean Mitch is a simple part. ‘‘There are so many layers to this role, it’s a terrific challenge to explore. Mitch is a sweet guy who wants to do the right thing,’’ Wilder explains. ‘‘He desperately wants his relationship with Blanche to work, as a replacement for a lot of other things.’’

Wilder says he never comes in with any preconceived notions about a role, no matter how familiar it is. ‘‘I did watch Karl Malden in the movie and he’s amazing, but I can’t do what he did. Even if I could copy him, I’d just be an ape.’’

Wilder says that Lombardo allowed the actors to create as much of a back story for their characters as they wanted. ‘‘This isn’t anywhere in the script,’’ Wilder says, ‘‘but I decided that Mitch introduced Stella to his friend Stanley. Stanley’s the kind of guy who takes whatever he wants. Mitch always follows Stanley around like a puppy dog. He keeps coming over to the apartment for these card games. Maybe it’s to be close to Stella, and when her sister arrives, why not take her?’’

The terrible tragedy of the play, Wilder says, is that ‘‘no one sees anything but their own needs.’’