Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger will star in the world premiere of “Mother Play,” a new Broadway show by playwright Paula Vogel.
Tina Landau is directing the limited engagement, which will begin previews on April 2 before opening night on April 25 at the Hayes Theater. Second Stage is mounting the play as part of its 45th anniversary lineup.
Vogel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “How I Learned to Drive,” wrote “Mother Play,” which is described as “a bitingly funny and unflinchingly honest new play about the hold our family has over us and the surprises we find when we unpack the past.”
Here’s the logline: “It’s 1962, just outside of D.C., and matriarch Phyllis is supervising her teenage children, Carl and Martha, as they move into a new apartment. Phyllis has strong ideas about what her children need to do and be to succeed, and woe be the child who finds their own path. Bolstered by gin and cigarettes, the family endures — or survives — the changing world around them. Blending flares of imaginative theatricality, surreal farce, and deep tenderness, this beautiful rollercoaster ride reveals timeless truths of love, family, and forgiveness.”
Keenan-Bolger’s vast Broadway credits include “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Glass Menagerie,” “The Cherry Orchard,” “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Les Misérables.” On film and TV, she’s appeared in “The Gilded Age,” “The Good Wife,” “Nurse Jackie” and “Good Behavior.”
Lange, a Tony, Oscar and Emmy winner, is known for projects such as “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “American Horror Story,” “Tootsie,” “Blue Sky,” “Frances,” as well as “Grey Gardens,” “Feud: Bette and Joan” and Sweet Dreams.”
Parsons, the Emmy-winning star of “Big Bang Theory,” most recently appeared onstage in the 2022 Off-Broadway revival of “A Man of No Importance.” He also starred on Broadway in “An Act of God,” the Broadway revival of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “Harvey,” “The Normal Heart” and “The Boys in the Band.”
“Mother Play” will feature scenic design by David Zinn, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Jen Schriever and sound design by Jill BC Du Boff.
A revival of Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive,” about a woman who is coming to terms with the way her uncle impacts her past, present and future, returned to Broadway in 2022. Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse reprised their roles from the original 1997 off-Broadway production. The show was nominated for best revival of a play, as well as best performance by a leading actor (Morse) and actress (Parker) in a play.
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