Stars turn out for opening night of "A Doll's House," starring Jessica Chastain
NEW YORK - Broadway mixed with Hollywood on Thursday for the glitzy opening of a legendary play with a bold new adaptation.
The show is being called much more than a revival of the classic work. It's retooled and reinvented, with a cast led by an award-winning Hollywood favorite. Oscar winner Jessica Chastain returns to Broadway in the revival of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House."
Stars of stage and screen had an opening night invitation to see Chastain put her stamp on the role of Nora Helmer in the landmark play, originally set in 1879.
This production gives audiences a modern take, as Nora leaves her children and husband, played by Arian Moayed.
"It just feels so rooted in truth, and yeah, it definitely wrings, it wrings me out. I get exhausted," Chastain said. "She's in some sense ending part of her life as she's starting to soar in another part. It might be a little constraining and also who are we to know what she does in the next moments of her life?"
"Jessica is one of the great actors living. Being her scene partner every day is exciting, and the opportunity to just look in her eyes and see so much truth and pain and hope," Moayed said.
"The story remains the same about this woman emancipating herself in the world, but what's great about this is that in this day and time, there's so much more awareness about the power of women and women standing up for themselves," actress Tasha Lawrence said.
It's been more than a decade since Chastain made her Broadway debut in "The Heiress," which ran for three months in 2012.
"A Doll's House" runs through June 10 at the Hudson Theatre.
