Dream Cast Thursday! Suddenly Last Summer

This week's Dream Cast Thursday is Suddenly Last Summer. The original film came out in 1959 as is an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play by the same name that was published a year before. A television adaptation came out in 1993. A stage adaptation of the original play came out more recently. I looked at all of these when making my casting decisions.

The first character that I recast was Catherine Holly. She has been played by Elizabeth Taylor, Natasha Richardson, and Carla Gugino. For my adaptation, I cast Natalie Dormer.

The second character that I recast was Violet Venable. She has been played by Katherine Hepburn, Maggie Smith, and Blythe Danner. For my adaptation, I caste Annette Bening.

The last character that I recast was Dr. Cukrowicz. He has been played by Montgomery Clift, Rob Lowe, and Gale Harold. For my adaptation, I cast David Conrad.

So what do you all think? Who would be in your adaptations?

Dream Cast Thursday! Little Women

This week's Dream Cast Thursday is Little Women. It was originally a novel by Louisa May Alcott and was published in two volumes in 1968 and 1969. There were three adaptations that I looked at when making my decisions. These adaptation came out in 1933, 1949, and 1994.

The first character that I cast was Abigail "Marmee" March. She has been played by Spring Byington, Mary Astor, and Susan Sarandon. For my adaptation, I cast Emma Thompson.

The second character that I cast was Jo March. She has been played by Katharine Hepburn, June Allyson, and Winona Ryder. For my adaptation, I cast Rachel McAdams.

The third character that I recast was Meg March. She has been played by Frances Dee, Janet Leigh, and Trini Alvarado. For my adaptation, I cast Rebecca Hall.

The fourth character that I recast was Beth March. She has been played by Jean Parker, Margaret O'Brien, and Claire Danes. For my adaptation, I cast Carey Mulligan.

The fifth character that I recast was Amy March. She has been played by Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, and Kirsten Dunst. For my adaptation, I cast Elle Fanning.

The last character that I recast was Theodore "Laurie" Laurence. He has been played by Douglass Montgomery, Peter Lawford, and Christian Bale. For my adaptation, I cast Matt Bomer.

So what do you all think? Which adaptations have you seen? Who would be in your adaptations?

Dream CAst Thursday! Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

This week's Dream Cast Thursday is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It was originally a play by Tennessee Williams and was originally published in 1955. When developing my cast for my adaptation, I looked at the casts from the film adaptations made in 1958 and 1984 and the Broadway adaptation that came out in 2008.

The first character that I recast was Brick. He has been played by Paul Newman, Tommy Lee Jones and Terrence Howard. For my adaptation, I cast Patrick Wilson.

The next character that I cast was Maggie. She has been played by Elizabeth Taylor, Jessica Lange, and Anika Noni Rose. For my adaptation, I cast Natalie Dormer.

The last character that I recast was Big Daddy. He has been played by Burl Ives, Rip Torn, and James Earl Jones. For my adaptation, I cast Richard Griffiths.

So what do you all think? What adaptations have you seen? Who would be in your remake?

Suddenly, Last Summer

I just saw Suddenly, Last Summer for the first time. I really enjoyed watching it. I didn't really know anything about the film or the story, but had pretty high expectations. I have really loved every other film that I have seen that has been based on a Tennessee Williams' play (except perhaps the Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone).

 I thought that Katherine Hepburn was really good. Montgomery Clift was okay, but it really wasn't a role meant to showcase one's acting abilities. The person that I was really blown away by was Elizabeth Taylor. I have seen her in so many really good roles and honestly thought that at this point it would be impossible to be really surprised and blown away by her, but I was. She was absolutely amazing.

As could be expected, the dialogue was also amazing. This might be my favorite Tennessee Williams script so far (though I tend to change my mind a lot). The way he creates phrases is so poetically southern and so wonderfully exaggerated and dramatic. One of my favorite quotes was when Mrs. Venable said, "My son, Sebastian and I constructed our days. Each day. We would carve each day like a piece of sculpture, leaving behind us a trail of days like a gallery of days until suddenly, last summer."

After I watched it, I became really interested in other adaptations. I found two adaptations in particular that I found to be really interesting. The first adaptation was a made-for-television movie of Suddenly, Last Summer that came out in 1993. It stars Maggie Smith as Violet Venable, Rob Lowe as Dr. Cukrowicz, and Natasha Richardson as Catherine Holly. The second adaptation that I found interesting was a 2006 stage production of Suddenly, Last Summer starring Blythe Danner as Violet Venable, Gale Harold as Dr. Cukrowicz, and Carla Gugino as Catherine Holly. This will definitely be making an appearance in a future installment of Dream Cast Thursday. This film is definitely a must-see!

Dream Cast Thursday! Cleopatra

For this week's Dream Cast Thursday, I will be recasting historical figures. These figures have appeared in many adaptations (including Caesar and Cleopatra 1945, Cleopatra 1963, Cleopatra 1999, and Rome 2005). I tried really hard to pick the right people for the roles. It was really difficult (especially since I love some of the past casting choices - especially in Rome), but here are my choices.

Cleopatra has been played by Vivien Leigh (Caesar and Cleopatra), Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra), Leonor Varela (Cleopatra), and Lyndsey Marshal (Rome). I feel as though Cleopatra is an extremely important character. I actually ended up choosing an Italian-born actress. I thought that this would be a good idea, since she was a descendant of Ptolemy (Macedonian General to Alexander the Great) and by many accounts looked Roman. I ended up choosing Giovanna Mezzogiorno.

The next character that I cast was Julius Caesar. He has been played by Claude Rains (Caesar and Cleopatra), Rex Harrison (Cleopatra), Timothy Dalton (Cleopatra), and Ciaran Hinds (Rome). This was another character that was really hard to cast. I wanted to get the age relationships right between characters. I ended up choosing Liam Neeson.

Next, I cast Mark Anthony. He has previously been played by Richard Burton (Cleopatra), Billy Zane (Cleopatra), and James Purefoy (Rome). I went back and forth between several actors for this role, but ended up choosing Eric Bana.

The second to last character that I recast was Brutus. He has been played by Kenneth Haigh (Cleopatra), Sean Pertwee (Cleopatra), and Tobias Menzies (Rome). I ended up casting Dougray Scott.

The last character that I cast was Octavian. He has been played by Roddy McDowall (Cleopatra), Rupert Graves (Cleopatra), and Simon Woods (Rome). I ended up casting Laurence Fox.

So what do you all think? Who would you cast?