Ullmann to direct Blanchett at Washington's Kennedy Center

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.