If you’re someone who spends a lot of time seeing theatre in South Florida, then you may have already run across the work of actress Elizabeth Price, who is also a proud ensemble member of New City Players. But though the Silver Palm winning and Carbonell nominated performer has no shortage of impressive credits, it’s only in the company’s current production of A Streetcar Named Desire that she’s finally gotten the chance to play her ultimate dream role: the fading southern belle Blanche Dubois.
Since the formative moment in her childhood when mother first showed her its iconic 1951 film version, Price has felt a special connection to the story and to the character.
“I thought it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.” she describes
Though she was captivated from the start by the “extreme” nature of Blanche’s fall from grace, her obsession only deepened as it became part of a larger fascination with the “fallen south” and the people that had fallen with it. Building on her innate connection to the region as a native Texan, she would later choose a focus on Southern Literature in college, which she also chose to attend at Tulane University in New Orleans— the very city in which Streetcar is set.
“New Orleans is my favorite city in the world. I chose to go to college there because I’m fascinated by it as a place of darkness and beauty, of tragedy and revelry.” Price describes.
As Price grew older and had her first tastes of playing Blanche DuBois in scenes from the show during college and grad school, she also formed a strong connection with the character that went far beyond their shared southern roots.
“I identified with her struggles with being a sensitive person in the world, her struggles with alcohol, with men, with not being able to understand other people easily. Her love of literature, and art, and the beautiful things in the world.” Price described.
Yet it wasn’t until Price had all but given up on realizing her Blanche DuBois dreams that the opportunity finally materialized as plans commenced for New City Players’ current production, which has at its helm director Stuart Meltzer. And while some of her co-stars embraced intensive pre-show processes to help them prepare for their roles, Price by then felt so “familiar” with Blanche and Streetcar that she was just about ready for her spotlight.
“It felt like I had it inside me,” she describes.
“But I trusted Stuart and loved his vision, and wanted to be able to find things with him and with my fellow actors in the rehearsal room. So a lot of it was just showing up and being open and present,” she says.
And though Price, unlike DuBois, doesn’t seem to be particularly dependent on the kindness of strangers, she did find that having the “humility” to reach out for help when she needed it to be an invaluable resource when it came to learning her lines.
“We did a lot of detail work. And what that meant is we didn’t do a lot of revisiting of scenes until later when we started runs. And what that meant is I had to do more work at home than I expected.” Price noted.
Accordingly, Price ended up hiring her former student and fellow theatre artist Dayana Morales, who she described as “wonderful to work with,” to help her get everything down.
She’s also found the supportive atmosphere of New City Players’ ensemble to be a powerful counterbalance to Streetcar’s emotional intensity.
“I always thought that if I played Blanche at another time in my life that I would really have to watch my sanity. And I think I still will. I’m at a more grounded and centered place in my life than I’ve ever been, but I will have to work on it. By the time I reach the last scene of the play, I feel boxed out of my mind,” she says, borrowing a turn of phrase from her character.
“But I have wonderful people I’m working with, so it’s great to look at them again and realize, oh yeah, these are my friends.” she notes.
And, at least so far, all of her hard work seems to have been paying off, with our own Mindy Leaf referring to Price as “THE Blanche of my imagination” and stating that she deserved “every possible local award.”
In an NCP first, this Streetcar Named Desire also managed to sell out its entire opening weekend, and several more performances seem poised to follow suit.
“It’s a great surprise,” Price muses.
She also noted the unusually positive responses that initial audiences have had to the piece.
“I’ve noticed that there are often moments where they are unbelievably quiet. And I think that they are really with us, and really listening, and that’s amazing. The other thing i have loved is that a lot of them have been finding the humor in the play which is so fun because there really is a lot that’s funny. And, our director said this, I think it’s necessary to allow yourself to laugh at what is funny. Because the whole thing is, we’re not supposed to know where we’re headed.”
As for what roles are left on Price’s dream role bucket list now that Blanche has finally been crossed off? Along with any Chekov character she hasn’t played, a few more she mentioned include Hedda Gabbler, Mother Courage, and Lady Macbeth. And if you happen to find yourself in the mood for an Elizabeth Price encore after you’re blown away by her Blanche, you’ll be able to catch her next this October in Jesus Hopped the A Train at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center or next January in POTUS at Zoetic Stage.
In the meantime, though, she couldn’t be better pleased with how things are turning out on this Streetcar for the ages.
“I’m over the moon, I really am. It’s amazing, and I can’t believe it’s happening,” she says.
Ilana Jael earned her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Sarah Lawrence College and a BA in Writing and Psychology from Florida Atlantic University’s Wilkes Honors College. She also served as co-founder of the student theatre troupe “Theatre in the Raw.” She has been dabbling in both playwriting and acting since high school. A few favorite roles include Rebel in Columbinus (Bob Carter’s Actor’s Rep), The Fearful One in The Cave (G-Star School of The Arts), and Amanda in The Glass Menagerie (Theatre In The Raw). Her one-act plays Goodbye, Karma’s A Bitch, Certainly Not About Him, and Open Heart have also been previously performed at Actor’s Rep and/or at Florida Atlantic University. More recently, Ilana appeared in and created the original musical ZeeZou’s Stardust Extravaganza with Area Stage’s Miami Queer Theatre Collective. Her short plays have been produced virtually by New City Players, Theatre Lab, and Femuscripts. She is also a current company member of New City Players, and you can check out her theatre blog at ilanaintheatreland.com!
