Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) has announced the Broadway premiere of Mary Jane. Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog and directed by Anne Kauffman, Mary Jane will star Academy Award nominee Rachel McAdams in her Broadway debut. The new play will begin previews at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on April 2, 2024.
A full cast and creative team announcement, as well as an official opening night date, are forthcoming.
Mary Jane tells the story of a single mother who, when faced with a slew of challenges in raising her chronically ill young son, relies on optimism, humor and the wisdom of women around her to tackle each new day. The play received its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in 2017 and, later that year, ran at New York Theatre Workshop in a production also helmed by Kauffman.
McAdams received an Oscar nomination for her role in the film Spotlight. Her select film credits include Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, Doctor Strange and Midnight in Paris.
Kauffman most recently directed the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. She made her Main Stem directorial debut with the 2017 production of Marvin’s Room.
Herzog recently made her Broadway debut with her adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House for the 2023 revival of the drama. The production received a Tony nomination for best revival of a play. Herzog’s play 4000 Miles was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow said of the upcoming Mary Jane: “I’m thrilled and very proud to be bringing this moving and heroic story of human experience by one of our great American playwrights to a Broadway stage, following its acclaimed run Off-Broadway in 2017, which was also directed by the brilliant Anne Kauffman.”
Meadow continued, “I’m equally pleased and honored to give Rachel McAdams her Broadway debut after audiences have enjoyed her many renowned performances on film. As a great fan of all three of these fabulous artists, I so look forward to sharing Mary Jane with our audiences.”
Manhattan Theatre Club is under the leadership of Meadow and executive director Chris Jennings.