Jean Smart, a veteran stage and screen actress whose oft-praised comedic chops reached new audiences via the Max series “Hacks,” plans to return to Broadway this spring and summer in a one-woman show.
Smart will star in “Call Me Izzy,” a dark comedy about a rural Louisiana woman. The play, which has not been previously staged, is written by Jamie Wax, a CBS News contributor, and is directed by Sarna Lapine, who also directed the last Broadway revival of “Sunday in the Park With George.”
Smart, 73, is best known for her prolific work on television; she has won six Emmy Awards, for “Frasier,” “Samantha Who?” and “Hacks,” and has been featured in shows including “Designing Women” and “Mare of Easttown.”
She made her Broadway debut in 1981 in the play “Piaf.” She has returned just once since, in a 2000 revival of “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” and was nominated for a Tony Award for that performance.
“Call Me Izzy” is scheduled to begin previews on May 24 and to open June 12 for a 12-week run at Studio 54. The play is being produced by Robert Ahrens and P3 Productions (Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez and Fiona Howe Rudin), and is being capitalized for up to $5.4 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.