A Homecoming For Rachel Griffiths On Broadway

[TotallyOz]

Australian actress Rachel Griffiths, best known in the U.S. for her work on HBO's Six Feet Under and ABC's Brothers and Sisters, has made an acclaimed Broadway debut in the new play Other Desert Cities.

Griffiths, who is well-known in Australia for her stage work, tells NPR's Scott Simon she would have been happy if all she had ever done was act onstage.

"Theater was where I began and what I really thought my career would be in Australia," she says. "That was my thing. ... The movies were an unexpected joy, and television even more unexpected."

In 1994, the Melbourne native was cast in the quirky independent Australian film Muriel's Wedding. The film's success led to more movie roles and eventually to TV roles in the dark family dramas Six Feet Under and Brothers and Sisters.

"I've been playing in families for 10 years, which is quite absurd, exploring the dichotomies and seething undercurrents in the American family," she says.

Even as Griffiths became something of a cult favorite for her American TV roles, nabbing a Golden Globe, she still commuted back to Australia during breaks, performing in plays as diverse as A Doll's House and Proof. Her appearance on Broadway — in a play that ironically explores the dichotomies and seething undercurrents of an American family — feels almost like coming home.

"I had the great joy to practice being a stage actor outside the microscope of Broadway and not coming to Broadway until I was fully formed," she says.

In Other Desert Cities, Griffiths plays Brooke, an author who's working her way out of a nervous breakdown by writing a tell-all memoir about her family. Her parents are Hollywood Republicans, with some shocking family secrets.

New York Times critic Ben Brantley is a fan of both the play and Griffiths' performance.

For the rest of the article:

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/24/144186143/a-homecoming-for-rachel-griffiths-on-broadway

Griffiths will be performing on Broadway in Other Desert Cities through March 4.

[TotallyOz]

She has been one of my favorite actresses for years and I loved Brothers and Sisters. I hope to get to Broadway to see her. If others get there, please let me know what you think!

[Lucky]

I saw Other Desert Cities last month and agree that Rachel Griffiths was excellent. The entire play, which takes place in Palm Springs, is wonderful. It got better as it went along, something that always appeals to me.

It will play in LA Nov 20 - Dec 20, 2012 at the Mark Taper Forum.