She plays a reclusive widow in Tenessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo.
But
Marisa Tomei was full of cheer at the Broadway opening party of her
production at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York on Tuesday.
The
54-year-old Oscar winner slipped into a cheeky see-through floral Valentino
dress for the occasion, putting her curves on display.
Letting her luxurious wavy hair down, the virtuoso actress accentuated her
unmistakable features with scarlet lipstick.
Marisa held a red
rose while posing up against a themed backdrop, a nod to the tattoo on the
chest of her character's late husband.
She mingled during the
event with her dashing co-star Emun Elliott, who plays Alvaro, the suitor of
her bereaved character Serafina.
Carolyn Mignini, who is playing Assunta, wrapped a
black shawl over her black and scarlet floral gown as she posed up on the
red carpet.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Sanchez, who can be seen in the
role of Mariella, wore a scarlet shade of lipstick that matched her
dress.
In the play, Serafina's husband Rosario dies in a truck crash
during her second pregnancy and the shock of his death causes her to
miscarry.
She discovers he cheated on her, struggles to cope and
haltingly begins to find love again with Alvaro, as her daughter Rosa
strikes up a romance with a sailor.
Tennessee originally wrote
the play for Italian screen legend Anna Magnani, who declined because of her
insecurity with the English language.
The play eventually opened
on Broadway in 1951 with American theater icon Maureen Stapleton in the role
of Serafina.
Maureen won a Tony for her performance, and when a
movie was made in 1955, Anna finally agreed to play Serafina and earned an
Oscar.
Ben Brantley of the New York Times complained
in his new review that 'Tomei must pitch her performance at an exaggerated
level to be seen.'
He added of the My Cousin Vinny star:
'Fluttery and anxious from the get-go, she doesn’t establish a whole lot of
difference between Serafina before and after her husband’s death, which is
mostly signaled by a change in hair style.'
