Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger On Bringing Mother Play to Broadway

Mother Play, a world-premiere family drama by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel, opened on April 25 at Second Stage's Hayes Theater. Directed by Tina Landau, the play stars Tony winner Jessica Lange as Phyllis, with Tony winner Celia Keenan-Bolger and Jim Parsons as her children Martha and Carl.

“I've always done family plays,” Lange, who was last on stage in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, told The Broadway Show on opening night. “I always think that's the most powerful kind of story to tell.”

"What excites me about a play like this is being in a field that this year has so many wonderful, wonderful colleagues," said Vogel. "I'm thrilled to be in their company. The fact that there's Amy Herzog and David Adjmi and Joshua Harmon and Kristoffer Diaz and Carson Kreitzer... I have never felt part of the Broadway community until this year. Something's changing in a really great way."

“One of the things that I'm thrilled about that I've never really felt before is people have no idea what they're coming to,” said Parsons. “I mean, there's not a great mystery, but there is something you don't see coming, and that is very lifelike. And I think that that resonates in the whole theater.”

“Jessica Lange is an absolute inspiration,” said Keenan-Bolger, using an unprintable intensifier. “If I am half the woman she is when I am her age, I'm gonna feel really good about myself.”