Rachel McAdams to star in Amy Herzog's MARY JANE (Broadway/MTC, Spring 2024)

This IMO is Herzog's best play yet. The NYTW production was absolutely incredible and, while I loved Coon, feel like McAdam's is a worthy match for this.

I was in the minority as someone who really didn't enjoy this play at NYTW, and in fact I wasn't fond of Coon's performance either. But I'll happily see this again with McAdams. Great casting, and I'm guesing that I'll like her performance more than Coon's. 

Incidentally, anyone who might still be doubting McAdams's skill as an actor (nobody in this thread, just speaking generally) - I'd highly recommend watching this year's film adaptation of "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret." For my money, it's the best performance of McAdams's career. 

JoeW4 said: "I was in the minority as someone who really didn't enjoy this play at NYTW, and in fact I wasn't fond of Coon's performance either. But I'll happily see this again with McAdams. Great casting, and I'm guesing that I'll like her performance more than Coon's.

Incidentally, anyone who might still be doubting McAdams's skill as an actor (nobody in this thread, just speaking generally) - I'd highly recommend watching this year's film adaptation of "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret." For my money, it's the best performance of McAdams's career."

I think she is very underappreciated! 

east side story said: "Michelle Williams was attached to the Broadway transfer pre-pandemic, so Coon's involvement ended after the first production."

Williams would have been superb.

I'm excited to see McAdams on stage. She's wonderful in this year's ARE YOU THERE GOD, IT'S ME MARGARET film adaptation and of course her Oscar-nominated turn in SPOTLIGHT.

Updated On: 9/11/23 at 02:18 PM

RippedMan said: "Agreed she's undervalued. But she's fantastic.

Can anyone speak more to the play/production? What made it so great?"

Didn’t see the NYTW production but I did see it at Yale Rep, and I remember thinking it needed some work. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Miriam Silverman is cast in the Brianne / Chaya role, she played it at Yale Rep and she works with Anne Kaufman a lot! 

 

This is so exciting! Would love to see McAdams get some awards for this, Carrie Coon won the Obie Award and was nominated for the Drama Desk! 

This is very exciting. A must see......

Do u guys think this will sell better than Mother Play?

I also think this means MTC may have two Best Play nominee's this year (Prayer and Mary Jane) which is pretty impressive. I can't speak to the quality of Jaja yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

Robbie516 said: "How many characters are in this play? Wondering if anyone else with a name will join her"

there are 5 actors. It is very unlikely a name would join for any of the other tracks, as they play two characters each and are in "one off" scenes. But maybe Miriam Silverman will want to reprise the role she played at Yale Rep. This play really belongs to Mary Jane.

RippedMan said: "Can anyone speak more to the play/production? What made it so great?"

It’s about a single mother raising a child with severe mental and physical handicaps. We never see the child - they’re offstage the whole play - but we spend the entire runtime of the play with their mother, Mary Jane, and the women who come in and out of their home/lives on a day-to-day basis to help them. I remember being especially taken with the resilience of the character of Mary Jane, and that Amy Herzog didn’t just allow her to be a pillar of strength that finally caves and admits her human frailty. It’s as much a play about the fierce love of a mother for their child as it is about the support systems we rely on. Maybe I’m misremembering it, since it has been a few years, but that was my takeaway.

Opening night set for April 23