Variety
Paul Chai
December 2, 2009

 

The drawing power of Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Richard Roxburgh in "Uncle Vanya" pushed the Sydney Theater Company to an all-time single-day box office sales record Tuesday, with some 5,000 tickets snapped up.

High mark was achieved on the first day in which tickets sales for STC's 2010 season were open to the public after subscriber sales. "Vanya" was the main driver as well as William Hurt and former STC topper Robin Nevin in "A Long Day's Journey Into Night."

"We're thrilled that casual ticket buyers are also responding with such enthusiasm," said g.m. Rob Brookman. "We're now about half-way to our ambitious box office target of A$13.9 million ($12.9 million) for 2010. But with both season tickets and single tickets selling strongly, we're optimistic about the outcome."

STC's production of "A Streetcar Named Desire," starring Blanchett and directed by Liv Ullmann, opened Tuesday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theater for a sold-out transfer engagement through Dec. 20.