Hollywood star
Scarlett Johansson dressed down for her Broadway debut last night and wowed critics with her “enchanting” performance.
The 25-year-old blonde actress toned down her stunning good looks with a brunette wig and dowdy dress to play a teenage orphan in the revival of Arthur Miller ‘s classic A View From The Bridge at the Cort Theatre.
The reviews of her performance were mainly positive with USA Today critic Elysa Gardner saying “Johansson – in a brunette wig – (makes) an enchanting Broadway debut in Arthur Miller’s sobering fable…”
“Only afterward will you likely realise the actress’s youthful sensuality and capacity for good-natured goofiness constitute a perfect fit for this sheltered 17-year-old struggling to come to terms with her effect on men.”
Johansson plays Catherine, an orphan living in Brooklyn in the 1950s with her aunt and uncle (Jessica Hecht and Liev Schreiber).
Her life is changed when her aunt’s two cousins Rodolpho and Marco arrive illegally from Italy.
She begins to fall in love with Rodolpho (Morgan Spector) much to the annoyance of her uncle Eddie who has developed a dangerous obsession with her.
The New York Times critic Ben Brantley claimed her star turn was better than those of Katie Holmes and Julia Roberts on Broadway.
“In recent years Broadwayâs stages have been littered with dim performances from bright screen stars, including Julia Roberts and Katie Holmes… By comparison, Ms. Johansson melts into her character so thoroughly that her nimbus of celebrity disappears.”
Bloomberg’s John Simon wrote: “Scarlett Johansson makes an assured and quite convincing stage debut.”
“Johansson, looking less cosmeticised than she does onscreen, fits the bill well enough as an otherwise ordinary but appealingly young girl and comes across sincere and believable.”
Hugh Jackman, Ellen Barkin, Heroes star Zachary Quinto and Schreiber’s girlfriend Naomi Watts were some of the stars in the audience.
Johansson later changed into a floral gown to join the cast and crew at the ESpace venue in the Clinton neighbourhood of Manhattan for the after-show party.
