Jessica Lange's New Broadway Mother Play With Jim Parsons And Celia Keenan-Bolger: All We Know So Far

Jessica Lange stars in Paula Vogel's Mother Play on Broadway with Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger. The play explores family dynamics, receiving Tony nominations for all three actors.

By Shovan Roy

Published on May 31, 2024 | 02:06 PM IST | 63.5K

Jessica Lange's New Broadway Mother Play With Jim Parsons And Celia Keenan-Bolger

Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons And Celia Keenan-Bolger (PC: Getty Images)

Jessica Lange has shared the stage and screen with many talented actors. However, her latest role in Paula Vogel's new drama, Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions, holds a unique place in her heart.

Now playing at Broadway’s Hayes Theater, this production features Lange alongside Emmy-winner Jim Parsons and Tony-winner Celia Keenan-Bolger.

Outstanding ensemble

Lange, now 75, eulogized her co-stars through a heartfelt statement after all three were nominated for the 77th Tony Awards to be held on June 16 next month. "Working with Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger has been one of the great joys of my life," she told PEOPLE. Lange underscored their strong connection and language created from the beginning, which she said was ‘one of the things’ that excite her about performing every night.

The play is directed by Tina Landau, who describes it as being “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.”

Mother Play also signifies an important first step on Broadway for Lange as an original character. This follows previous performances on Broadway such as A Streetcar Named Desire (1992), The Glass Menagerie (2005) and her Tony-winning role in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2016).

Challenges and triumphs

Premiering at Hayes Theater on April 25 without a preview run, using preparation time wisely was very vital for Lange: “To open cold on Broadway, a brand-new play, not even moving from downtown or something, after only three weeks of rehearsal, it's insane. At the time, it was thrilling. But when I look back and think about it, it's just like, ‘Oh my God, were we nuts or what?’”

As Phyllis in Mother Play, Lange plays the role of the strict mother to Martha (Keenan-Bolger, 46) and Carl (Parsons, 51). Explaining why the character is complex, Lange says “It's a mixed bag because of course there are things about her that are incomprehensible to me as a mother.” Nevertheless, Lange feels deeply for the character’s journey, which she finds ‘painful’ and ‘heartbreaking.’

No need for her 1968 refusal to accept Carl as gay to be taken out of the context of her time and background. As Lange notes “We all have that experience in life where you've made a decision based on something, and then you spend the rest of your life regretting it.”

For all the difficult scenes that may break hearts in Mother Play, with them Jessica experiences relief and joy. Through these Broadway veterans, Parsons and Keenan-Bolger help her retain an attachment towards live theater. She said, "When you step onto that stage, I mean, you have no out." The audience’s reaction, whether they are crying or gasping, enhances this.

Lange expressed deep appreciation for her fellow Tony nominees, adding, “I don't want to sound too crazy about this, but it fills you with joy. Just to be onstage with them, to know that they're there and we're all supporting each other, that makes a huge, huge, huge difference.”

Mother Play, A Play In Five Evictions is now playing at the Hayes Theater, showcasing Jessica Lange's talents among others like Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger.

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