Joe Manganiello to tackle Tennessee Williams' Kowalski onstage

Magic Mike star Joe Manganiello is set to tackle one of American theatre's most coveted roles when he portrays Stanley Kowalski in playwright Tennesse Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in New Haven, Connecticut later this year (13).

The TV and movie hunk will follow in the footsteps of Marlon Brando, who played Kowalski onscreen, and Blair Underwood and Joel Edgerton, who took on the iconic role in recent theater productions, when he stars in director Mark Rucker's new version, which will open at the Yale Repertory Theater in September (13) and run for three weeks.

Rene Augesen will play Blanche DuBois - Vivien Leigh's role in the epic 1951 film - in the production.

The 2013/2014 season at Yale Rep also features a new adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, with new music composed by Green Day star Billie Joe Armstrong.