Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh make Broadway debuts in all-Australian production of The Present

CATE Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh hit Broadway for the first time in a production that is already making history.

Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh will star on Broadway in The Present. Picture: Alex Towle for The Australian

CATE Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh will make their Broadway debuts in the much- anticipated first performance of the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Present.

Blanchett and Roxburgh will be joined on stage at New York’s historic Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Saturday by 11 other members of the Australian theatre company.

It is the first time an all-Australian cast has performed a play on Broadway.

Richard Roxburgh and Cate Blanchett in The Present in Sydney 2015. Picture: Lisa Tomasetti

The Present is playwright Andrew Upton’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Platonov. The performances will officially begin on January 8 and last for 13 weeks.

Andrew Upton (pictured with wife, Cate Blanchett) adapted the play. Picture: Supplied

Husband-and-wife Upton and Blanchett, along with Roxburgh, have dabbled in New York theatre before, including 2012’s run of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at the Lincoln Centre, but not on Broadway.

Broadway critics have high hopes, with The New York Times’ Ben Brantley telling readers “I am licking my chops” in anticipation of the production.

Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh starred together in the 1997 Australian film, Thank God He Met Lizzie. Picture: Supplied

Blanchett and Roxburgh, of course, have appeared together numerous times on stage, while

Blanchett’s first big Australian cinematic break came opposite Roxburgh in the 1997 film, Thank God He Met Lizzie. The Oscar winner also made a guest appearance as a judge on Roxburgh’s hit TV show, Rake.

The all-Australian cast of the Sydney Theatre Company’s The Present will hit Broadway. Picture: Steven Chee

Originally published as Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh make Broadway debuts in all-Australian production of The Present