MARY JANE Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 12:01am

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 8:58pm

TimeOut:

Review: Mary Jane

5 out of 5 stars

Rachel McAdams makes her Broadway debut in Amy Herzog’s exquisite portrait of everyday strength

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/mary-jane-broadway-play-review-rachel-mcadams-amy-herzog

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 8:59pm

NY Stage Review

MARY JANE: RACHEL MCADAMS, SUFFERING WITH A SMILE

By Frank Scheck

★★★★☆ The movie star makes her Broadway debut in Amy Herzog's award-winning drama about a mother caring for a seriously ill child.

https://nystagereview.com/2024/04/23/mary-jane-rachel-mcadams-suffering-with-a-smile/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:03pm

Variety:

‘Mary Jane’ Review: Rachel McAdams Makes a Solid Broadway Debut Depicting the Sacrifice of Motherhood

https://variety.com/2024/legit/reviews/mary-jane-broadway-review-rachel-mcadams-1235978406/

"Performances are solid throughout, though McAdams’ projection was muted at a recent performance. Still, it’s the story that truly drives “Mary Jane.” More often than not, the labor of child rearing lies heavily on the mother, who is frequently the primary parent, whether partnered or otherwise. As a single mom caring for a special needs child, the weight of Mary Jane’s existence and her adoration and love for her son are the anchors fortifying this narrative. By the time the final curtain on “Mary Jane” drops, the audience is fully immersed in the titular character’s experiences. McAdams masters her portrayal of a determined caregiver continually sitting in the uncertainty of worry, despite constantly leaning toward positivity."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:04pm

The Guardian

Mary Jane review – Rachel McAdams makes a magnetic Broadway debut

Four stars

The Oscar nominee is a captivating emotional anchor in this drama about a mother coping with her child’s health problems

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/apr/23/rachel-mcadams-mary-jane-review

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:05pm

USA Today:

Review: Rachel McAdams makes a staggering Broadway debut in 'Mary Jane'

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/04/23/mary-jane-review-rachel-mcadams/73412546007/

"But the production would crumble without a compelling Mary Jane to latch onto, and McAdams is nothing short of extraordinary. We’ve long known she’s an accomplished dramatic actress, with remarkably understated turns in “Spotlight,” “Disobedience” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” But in her radiant Broadway debut, the Oscar nominee unleashes every skill in her dizzying arsenal.

Her Mary Jane is immediately endearing, navigating each new hurdle of the American healthcare system with disarming humor and grace. The character is frequently forgetful and apologetic, and McAdams grounds her with a sort of awkward charm that feels completely lived-in."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:07pm

Vulture (McHenry) is positive

Review: Rachel McAdams Contends with Reality in 'Mary Jane'

Making her impressive Broadway debut as the title character in 'Mary Jane,' Rachel McAdams offers a layered depiction of navigating a parenting nightmare.

https://www.vulture.com/article/review-mary-jane-rachel-mcadams.html

"That tonal balance is delicate, and it could tilt in any number of directions: too grim and it might be impossible to watch (I would understand someone not wanting to engage with the premise), too woo-woo and it might become sentimental. It asks a lot, specifically, of the actress playing Mary Jane. Rachel McAdams turns out to be more than up for the task. She’s making her Broadway debut (if you vaguely recall her as a Canadian Shakespearean, you’re probably thinking of Slings & Arrows), but as she often does onscreen, McAdams works in ways that tend toward the understated, yet precisely observed. Crucially, she and Kauffman don’t treat Mary Jane as too much of a saint; in fact, she plays the part as someone who’s well-meaning but a flibbertigibbet. (A contrast to the 2017 Off Broadway version with Carrie Coon, who has an essential core of steel.)

Early on, I wondered if McAdams had fallen into the classic movie-actor trap of going too big once you get into a theater, but she used that energy to calibrate the character. In the first half, Mary Jane keeps making ill-timed half-jokes, which McAdams delivers with “Look at me” neediness. As Alex’s condition worsens, however, McAdams layers more anger and frustration into those jokes; her pointed, sometimes relentless niceness is more visible as a coping mechanism. Through that choice, I could see Mary Jane more clearly as a person, not just an archetype living through an experience. McAdams’s take helps draw out the arc underneath the surface of Herzog’s chain of one-on-one conversations. I was struck, at the end of the play, by her haunted stillness."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:10pm

Chicago Tribune/NY Daily News is positive:

Review: In ‘Mary Jane’ on Broadway, Rachel McAdams in a play about the lengths a mother will go

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/04/23/review-mary-jane-broadway-samuel-j-friedman-theatre/

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:13pm

Theatermania:

Review: Amy Herzog’s Mournful Lullaby Mary Jane Comes to Broadway With Rachel McAdams

Manhattan Theatre Club presents a new staging of Herzog’s 2017 drama, directed by Anne Kauffman.

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-amy-herzogs-mournful-lullaby-mary-jane-comes-to-broadway-with-rachel-mcadams_1737981/

"McAdams, in her Broadway debut, does a commendable job in an extremely difficult role. She performs Mary Jane’s long arc, especially her mind and body’s gradual wearing down, with minute attention to detail. However, I can’t help feeling that a different performer could have been stronger and rawer. The supporting cast is, without exception, exceptional. Sanitago is tender and sincere, Wehle sturdy and wise, Pourfar overwhelmed and stalwart, and Matthis intimate and distant. It is no coincidence that the cast is all women, and that the two professional caregivers are played by a Black actor. As Mary Jane highlights, care almost always falls on the shoulders of women, particularly women of color."

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:28pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/theater/mary-jane-review-rachel-mcadams.html?unlocked_article_code=1.m00.lPrN.cBr_TMIuZn4J&smid=url-share

Green, critic's pick, gift link. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:28pm

NYT Critic's Pick from Green

‘Mary Jane’ Review: When Parenting Means Intensive Care

Amy Herzog’s heartbreaker arrives on Broadway with Rachel McAdams as the alarmingly upbeat mother of a fearfully sick child.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/theater/mary-jane-review-rachel-mcadams.html

"This turn toward questions of faith, and the way they finally breach Mary Jane’s defenses, took me by surprise. I hadn’t remembered the play that way, perhaps because I’d seen it first through parental tears. Now, as its chorus of diverse women suggests, it seems to be about everyone’s participation in loss.

What has changed? Other than a brief allusion to the pandemic, little in the script. The shrewd staging, by Anne Kauffman, looks and sounds much the same, too. Lael Jellinek’s set performs its wondrous midcourse transformation; Leah Gelpe’s soundtrack of susurrations and beeps implies what the rest keeps hidden. New to the production, Brenda Abbandandolo delivers pinpoint costumes (the Orthodox mother’s outfit is a triumph) and Ben Stanton makes marvelous images from streetlights, night lights and hospital fluorescents. The cast, returning or not, is unimprovable.

It’s McAdams, with her fetching warmth, who alters the temperature. If Carrie Coon’s more businesslike approach in 2017 was also valid, the greater distance between McAdams’s natural sunniness and Mary Jane’s reality enhances the play’s tension. It leaves you to wonder what Mary Jane was like before Alex’s illness gave overwhelming purpose to her life — and, more painfully and permanently, what she will be like after it no longer does."

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:30pm

I'm so happy for everyone, but especially Herzog. I saw the play in its first NYC iteration (with the quiet but ever sturdy Carrie Coon, magnificent) and always wondered why it didn't move. It's what I called the anti-Joe Egg, a play that daringly uses the theater to earnestly explore what we've grown used to in cable drama. The straightforward depiction of this 11th hour is what so touched me, the play refusing to pretend that this isn't what it is; portrait of an unsung hero(ine) working with a staggering life circumstance. It's no frills yet poetic; yet so honest, "poetic"- which suggests artiness - isn't quite fair. I have the published play - a marvel of economy - but may have to go back and see this company..

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:37pm

The Wrap is (eventually?) positive

‘Mary Jane’ Broadway Review: Rachel McAdams Goes From Mom to Hero to Saint

The actor makes her Broadway debut in Amy Herzog’s play about a parent who cares for a child with severe challenges

https://www.thewrap.com/mary-jane-broadway-review-rachel-mcadams/

"In the scenes set in the apartment, the four visitors tend to take focus away from Mary Jane. Each of the four actors is exemplary, but there’s too much still air on stage before each of them can establish her presence, especially in the play’s first half. Stoic is not an easy look to convey to an audience, and McAdams’ performance doesn’t really take shape until Mary Jane sets up residence in the hospital. Ultimately, McAdams gets her big theatrical moment, but much of the play’s power comes from Herzog’s scheme to withhold that moment. We expect Mary Jane to break down, explode, get pissed off long before she does. What sets her off is unexpected. It’s worth the wait."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:40pm

NY Sun:

Now on Broadway, ‘Mary Jane’ Mesmerizes Even With Subject Matter Than Can Be Difficult To Handle

Amy Herzog captures, with dialogue that feels bracingly, fearlessly authentic — and that is often very funny besides — how powerful love can be in the face of pain and loss and, just as significantly, the limits of that power.

https://www.nysun.com/article/now-on-broadway-mary-jane-mesmerizes-even-with-subject-matter-than-can-be-difficult-to-handle

"“Mary Jane” nonetheless remains a work of remarkable courage, and far more than that: Ms. Herzog captures, with dialogue that feels bracingly, fearlessly authentic — and that is often very funny besides — how powerful love can be in the face of pain and loss and, just as significantly, the limits of that power.

Under Anne Kauffman’s vigorous, compassionate direction, the screen star Rachel McAdams steps into the title role, and acquits herself nicely. Where Ms. Coon brought more of a wry quality and a sense of latent, perhaps worn ferocity to Mary Jane, Ms. McAdams plays her very credibly, and movingly, as a fundamentally gentle woman who is overwhelmed by her lot."

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 9:42pm

DTLI Consensus: A haunting, harrowing portrait of love, loss, and community, led by a heartbreaking Rachel McAdams.

8 positive (including the NYT). 

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/mary-jane/

Updated On: 4/23/24 at 09:42 PM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 10:25pm

Looks like Sarah Paulson now has some real competition for the Tony.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:00pm

Theatrely:

Rachel McAdams Triumphs in MARY JANE — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/rachel-mcadams-triumphs-in-mary-jane-review

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:37pm

Will Mary Jane be classified as new or revival?  I thought new.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:45pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Looks like Sarah Paulson now has some real competition for the Tony."

i see why you say that but i find that so hard to believe- McAdams is very good, dont get me wrong, but its a solid debut, not the "best of the season" performance.... tbd

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 12:12am

New York Amsterdam News

‘Mary Jane’ is touching, moving, theater

https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2024/04/24/mary-jane-is-touching-moving-theater/

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 1:02am

A Tony race between Rachel McAdams & Sarah Paulson. A gift!

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 5:23pm

3 stars from NY Post:

‘Mary Jane’ review: Rachel McAdams is a strong mom in teary Broadway play

https://nypost.com/2024/04/24/entertainment/mary-jane-review-rachel-mcadams-is-a-strong-mom-in-teary-broadway-play/

"The depth that McAdams gives Mary Jane, in the most natural way, is her positivity. In the film “The Notebook,” in the TV series “Slings & Arrows” and even as the Plastic villain in the movie “Mean Girls,” the actress has always had a je ne sais quoi that goes beyond openness and vulnerability. She emanates a light from within.

And when it shines, not on a romance or teen comedy, but a relatable mother’s helplessness, we’re shattered."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 5:25pm

Hollywood Reporter

‘Mary Jane’ Theater Review: Rachel McAdams Makes a Moving Broadway Debut in Amy Herzog’s Portrait of Motherhood Under Duress

The actress plays a single mother navigating an unforgiving healthcare system while caring for her sick child.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/mary-jane-review-rachel-mcadams-broadway-debut-1235879665/

"It’s as if these actors are also buoying McAdams, who makes her Broadway debut here. She takes cues from these women, modulating the pitch of her performance to keep in tune, and only occasionally falls into the dramatic traps of Hollywood stars taking the stage. Overall, it’s a searching and poignant turn, finding and offering us different versions of Mary Jane."

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 1:18pm

Broadway’s ‘Mary Jane’ Starring Rachel McAdams Gets Two-Week Extension

Now through Sunday, June 16.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/25/24 at 4:28pm

MemorableUserName said: "Broadway’s ‘Mary Jane’ Starring Rachel McAdams Gets Two-Week Extension

Now through Sunday, June 16."

Surprising that they'd close the day of the Tony Awards.