Ullmann to direct Blanchett in 'Streetcar'

Norway's Liv Ullmann will direct Oscar-winning Australian actress Cate Blanchett in "Streetcar Named Desire" this year at Washington's Kennedy Center, officials announced Tuesday.

Ullmann, best known for the films she made with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, will direct Blanchett as fading southern belle Blanche DuBois in the Tennessee Williams classic, the best-known movie version of which starred Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh in 1951.

Blanchett won an Oscar for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in 2004's "The Aviator" and recently played in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

"Streetcar" will open in late October and run throughout the month of November at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater.

Among other theatrical productions at the Kennedy Center during the 2009-2010 season are "Young Frankenstein," for which comic actor Mel Brooks wrote the music, lyrics and co-authored the script; a stage version of Disney classic "Mary Poppins"; and "Thurgood," a play about the life of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Starting in March next year, the performing arts center will showcase the works of Emmy award-winning US playwright Terrence McNally, performing three of his plays concurrently on three different stages at the center.

Also gracing stages and concert halls this season at the imposing arts center on the banks of the Potomac River will be the Mariinsky and Bolshoi ballet troupes, who will be part of the ballet season and of "Focus on Russia," a tribute to the rich artistic legacy of the vast country.

The National Symphony Orchestra will mark its 79th season with soloists including Polish-born pianist Emanuel Ax; 31-year-old Canadian violinist Leila Josefowicz; and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet from Lyon, France.

Marvin Hamlisch, who composed the scores for Broadway musical "A Chorus Line" and the films "The Sting" and "The Way We Were" will mark his 10th year as conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra Pops, which performs popular and show tunes in addition to classical works.

Pilobolus will open the Kennedy Center's contemporary dance series, which will include performances by the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan -- a troupe that blends Asian mythology and folklore with martial arts, tai chi, meditation and ballet to produce a unique brand of modern dance.

Singer Patti LaBelle will perform at the inaugural concert of the VSA arts International Festival, which showcases artists with disabilities from around the world.

The Kennedy Center's season will also feature classical ballet, chamber music, gospel performances, jazz gigs and events for children to bring to the US capital what chairman of the board of trustees Stephen Schwarzman said would be "a season that will be remembered."