On the heels of New Orleans' recent staging of A Streetcar Named Desire about as close to the source as possible, Broadway decided Tennessee Williams' famed play was due for some reworking. That is to say, they cast African Americans in the lead roles. The update, which replaces Galatoire's with Dooky Chase and brushes the Kowalskis' Polish heritage aside, opened this weekend to, shall we say, mixed reviews. The main verdict? L.A. Law's Blair Underwood looks good, but he's no Brando.

NoDef Theatre Critic Jim Fitzmorris gets off at Elysian Fields, and heads to Michalopoulos Stuido for Southern Rep and InsideOut's production of Tennessee Williams' New Orleans-set classic of the American stage.

The sounds of "Stellaaa!" in the air means it's time once again for the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. The meat of this year's French Quarter culture confab that takes topics far beyond Williams is slated for Thurs., March 21 - Sun., March 24.

Today, The Tennessee Williams Festival returns for this year's revival, Wednesday at the Square returns to action and journalism legend Bob Woodward has a public lecture/Q&A lined up at Tulane. This day in history, the New Orleans’ Good Friday ?re caused 2.6 million dollars worth of damage (1788), French emperor Napolean Bonaparte enacted a new legal framework, the "Napoleonic Code" (1804), and Louisiana joined the Confederate States of America (1861).

Jim Fitzmorris marks his one-year anniversary as NOLA Defender Theatre Critic right back where he started: with a clarion call to the theatre community. 

Today, Streetcar Season opens at the NOMA Sculpture Garden, Foburg Fest kicks off, Built to Spill rips into One Eyed Jack's and  Papa Mali brings together some of New Orleans' finest musicians. On this day, Pierre Lafitte died near Creve Coeur, Missouri - as one account had it (1844), and we wish a very happy birthday to Lloyd Price. Prove you've got Personality with these:

by Brad Rhines

Between playing poker and brushing up on the finer points of the Napoleonic Code, Stanley Kowalski seems unlikely to spend his Friday night at the New Orleans Museum of Art, but that’s just what he’ll be doing as NOMA presents the film A Streercar Named Desire this Friday in the Bestoff Sculpture Garden. 

Amazingly, life does go on in New Orleans between Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest.

In the second act of reviews of the opening night of the New Orleans Fringe Fest, NoDef's crack team of stage savants check out a circus, a sexed-up Streetcar, spaghetti western slapstick, and, as ever, girls and hip-hop.