It would be a shame if she never performed again. She was the absolute highlight of Follies and is a brilliant talent. I hope she pursues whatever fulfills her, but I'd love to see her sink her teeth into a really meaty part again.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
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These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
Her performance in "City of Conversation" was one of the highlights of the last decade (yes, along with her Phyllis). I left the theater wildly impressed. And then I read the play. What she did with the role was simply remarkable. She is a gift to new work, and after wowing us with lovely performances in "Royal Family" and "Follies" (and even "Mr. Sloane," in which she was probably miscast), it's a terrible shame that new plays won't benefit from all she brings to the mysterious exploration of a new role.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Apologies in advance for those who think I'm bumping this thread with news of Jan returning to the stage, but I just inadvertently found out that Jan is a series regular on the summer CBS series Brain Dead from the creators of The Good Wife, co-starring with frequent theatre actors Tony Shalhoub, Aaron Tveit and Nikki M. James:
I've read a lot of casting news about the series for more of the well-known actors like Shalhoub, but how exciting she gets a starring role on a new series!
The first time I ever saw Jan Maxwell she was playing Christine to Janet McTeer's Nora in A Doll's House. I had never heard of her before that night. I was completely blown away by her stage presence and the beauty of her performance.
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I have to admit that I don't get all this Jan Maxwell love. I thought she was very good in The Royal Family, but she could not compare to Rosemary Harris, admittedly almost 40 years earlier. I thought she was only okay as Phyllis. Her acting was fine, I thought she did a great job with Could I Leave You, but she completely botched Lucy and Jessie, which has always been the highlight of the show for me...her movement was plain awful. As Phyllis, I have seen Alexis Smith, Diana Riggs, Blythe Danner, Donna Murphy (the best in my opinion) and her. I honestly thought hers was the most forgettable. I did not like her performance in Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and agree with a prior poster that she was probably miscast.
I admit that I have not seen her in Coram Boy or Lend Me A Tenor or A Doll's House, which might have made a difference in my overall opinion of her.
I know from reading here and from her varied stints on LAW & ORDER that Maxwell is versatile, and I loved her in FOLLIES. It was the first time I felt the role was truly acted beat by beat (though Alexis Smith was glorious strutting around in her red dress). (I've seen Smith, Juliet Prowse and Patty Duke in the part.)
But unless they added a second female character to SLOANE, Maxwell as Kath strikes me as shockingly miscasting in one of my favorite plays. Barbara Bryne (also Jack's Mother in INTO THE WOODS) was definitive in that role off-Broadway in the 1980s. Does anyone believe that if you slapped Jan Maxwell her teeth would fly across the room?
I love Bernadette Peters, but when I saw Jan Maxwell in FOLLIES with Victoria Clark in Los Angeles, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Caught it four times at the Ahmanson. I saw Alexis and Dorothy, too...I was too young to appreciate, but God knows at least I was there...
Follies was the only show in which I've ever seen Jan perform, and I was floored. I concede that she was my first Phyllis, but her performance is one I'll never forget. I pray that she'll take a page out of Cher's book when it comes to her vow to retire from the stage.