Cate Blanchett in a geometric LBD in NYC: stunning, boring or awful?

Here are some photos of Cate Blanchett at the opening night party (on Saturday) for the production of Uncle Vanya. Cate starred in the play in Sydney, and she and her husband Andrew Upton have brought the production to the New York City Center as part of the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival. Upton adapted the Anton Chekhov play for the Sydney production. As for Cate in this geometric dress… I’m not so sure about it. I mean, obviously, ON CATE it’s fantastic. She could make a burlap sack look like a one-of-a-kind couture piece. But I don’t think this dress would look good on anyone else. As for her face… I will literally burst into tears if Cate ever Botoxed or tweaked. Her face is magnificent. Here’s a bit more about the production and some quotes from Cate:

With five Academy Award nominations and one Oscar win to her name, it’s no doubt that Cate Blanchett reigns as one of the world’s most gifted actresses. While she’s widely known for her work on film, the statuesque performer never strays far from the stage.

Blanchett and her husband, writer and director Andrew Upton, are currently in town with the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of “Uncle Vanya.” The pair, who has been serving as the company’s artistic heads since 2008, brings the Anton Chekhov classic to the city after a premiere down under in 2010. Blanchett stars as Yelena in her husband’s new adaptation of “Uncle Vanya,” which is currently part of the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival.

“For me the importance was not so much to play Yelena but to be part of the ensemble. That was my drive,” Blanchett says.

Blanchett and Upton’s journey with “Uncle Vanya” began to germinate after they experienced another Chekhov play at the Lincoln Center Festival in 2009: a production of “Ivanov,” directed by Hungarian artist Tamás Ascher, who is now at the helm of “Uncle Vanya.”

“We approached him thinking he’ll never say yes because he doesn’t know us, he doesn’t know the company. And he said yes,” Blanchett says.

“He was very, very insistent that I pay very close attention to the actual structure of the Russian senses,” Upton says.

In recent years, Blanchett has been seen at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on the New York stage playing Hedda Gabler and faded beauty Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

“They’re not museum pieces and for me, that’s the challenge when you’re doing a classic. It’s through performing it you understand why these things live now,” Blanchett says.

And while the pair will officially step down from their post as Sydney Theatre Company heads in 2013, Blanchett says she hopes to eventually make her Broadway debut.

“I’d love to,” she says. “Yeah, I’d absolutely love to.”

[From New York 1]

I can’t believe Cate has never actually been in a Broadway production. She’s performed in plays in London, Sydney, and Washington, DC… someone offer her a Broadway play!

I should also mention this – after barely taking any film roles over the past few years, Cate has a slew of films coming out next year. She’s spent the last six months or so working back-to-back of various projects, including The Hobbit, a Woody Allen movie, that Knight of Cups film with Christian Bale, and something with Terrence Malick.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

33 Responses to “Cate Blanchett in a geometric LBD in NYC: stunning, boring or awful?”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Mauibound says:

    Cate is gorgeous! The dress …. Meh, she’s done better

  2. marie says:

    I’m not so sure about the dress but love the shoes..

    • Melissa says:

      I’m feeling the reverse – think the dress is great, but can’t stand the shoes!

      Edited to add: oops! I didn’t realize that paisley monstrosity was actually part of the dress – ick!

  3. kitty-bye says:

    Interesting outfit, She is a beauty.

  4. lucy2 says:

    Yeah, the dress on anyone else would be awful, but she makes just about anything work.
    I would LOVE to see her on Broadway.

    • arock says:

      agree. on anyone else it would have been questionable, in person im sure it has a flow and balance that works.
      i mean, its cate.

      totally heart her hair up like that.
      all hail.

  5. paola says:

    I love Cate but this dress is fug as well as the shoes

  6. Nanea says:

    Cate!

    I would have liked the dress without that random piece of paisley-patterned fabric.

    The shoes? Not for me.

  7. Jacq says:

    It looks like her dress is holding a hankie. Y u crying, dress?

  8. Aria says:

    My only complaint: the shoes.

  9. Carol says:

    She looks like Tilda Swinton here. The dress, shoes, and hairstyle are not her best choices IMO. Love her, though!

  10. Miles says:

    Love HER, but that dress and those shoes? Ugh. So matronly.

  11. RHONYC says:

    god, it’s a sad day when Cate Blanchett isn’t even ‘Cate Blanchett’ anymore. 😥

    thank heaven we still have Tilda. all hail! 😉

  12. Khalesi says:

    Knight of cups is by Malick. He also has another film coming out the same year (2013)

  13. BW says:

    What did she do to her hair? That is awful.

    I’m thrilled that she wears little makeup and isn’t tweaked, although it always bothers me that her SK-II ads photoshop the few lines she has right off her face.

  14. Gia says:

    In high school (Elizabeth days) someone told me I looked like her. Greatest compliment ever. I should only hope I age as well..

  15. crtb says:

    Not a good day. Looks like she got caught in the rain and pinned her hair up. Hate both the dress and the shoes. Love her!

  16. bns says:

    I love her, but she is so boring.

  17. RocketMerry says:

    Awesome lady! Thanks for mentioning she has a lot of movies coming up, ’cause I really needed something to look foward to.

  18. Dee Cee says:

    Dress; Very Joan Crawford the successful feminist in a mean man’s world on her own years..

  19. Reece says:

    Like the dress…Fug shoes!

  20. Momoftwo says:

    So refreshing to a woman with lines and no Botox/fillers! Gorgeous!

  21. Lindy says:

    I love the dress, actually–it’s unusual, and I’m liking the unexpected fabric at the side. It’s the shoes I can’t get behind. Ever since this trend of ankle-wrapped bootie shoes (for want of a better description) got going, I’ve been waiting for it to stop. It makes even long, slender legs look short and stumpy!

  22. Alexis says:

    She’s great.

  23. Lairen says:

    I like the dress. The shoes are too chunky though.

  24. Nikki Girl says:

    Love both the dress and the shoes! Even with her kind of thick calves she can pull it off because of who she is!

  25. I Choose Me says:

    Bad hair, awful shoes but still, Cate!

  26. Mara says:

    She is such a beauty no matter what she wears and very smart to ,love her !

  27. Ai says:

    She is forever my favorite style icon among actresses. Despite the bad dress, she still made it work!

  28. willjass says:

    FAIL