Jan Maxwell

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Jan Maxwell
File:Jan Maxwell.jpg
Winner for Outstanding Actress in a Play, 2010
Born (1956-11-20) November 20, 1956 (age 67)
Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1994-present
Children 1 son
Awards Five time Tony nominee, Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award

Jan Maxwell (born November 20, 1956) is an American stage and television actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee and two-time Drama Desk Award winner.

Maxwell made her Broadway debut in 1989, as an understudy in the musical City of Angels. She received her first Tony nomination in 2005 for the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Her other nominations were for Coram Boy in 2007, Lend Me a Tenor and The Royal Family both in 2010, and Follies in 2012. Her nominations in two separate categories in 2010, made her only the fourth actress to achieve two nominations in a single year. Her 2012 nomination for "Follies" made her only the second actress to receive a Tony nomination in all four acting categories. Her other Broadway credits include, Dancing at Lughnasa (1992), A Doll's House (1997), The Sound of Music (1998) and The Dinner Party (2001).

Maxwell has appeared in films and television shows such as I Am Michael with James Franco, Neil LaBute's Billy and Billie (2014-15), The Divide (2014), The Good Wife (2014), and Gossip Girl (2009-2011). From 1994-2003, she appeared in four episodes of the NBC drama Law & Order, each time as a different character.

Personal life

She is the daughter of former First District Judge Ralph B. Maxwell (who served in North Dakota from 1967–1978)[1] and Elizabeth Maxwell, a lawyer for the EPA. She attended West Fargo High School, West Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead State University.[2] She has a son, Will Maxwell-Lunney (born 1995).

Career

Maxwell made her Broadway debut as an understudy in the Cy Coleman – David Zippel musical City of Angels in 1989. She eventually took over the dual roles of Carla Haywood and Alaura Kingsley.[3][4]

She appeared in Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa in 1992, which won the Tony Award for Best Play. She replaced original cast member Brid Brennan in the role of Agnes. In 1997, she appeared in A Doll's House opposite Janet McTeer. In 1998, she played Elsa Schraeder in the first Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.[5][6][7] She then starred oppsite John Ritter and Henry Winkler in Neil Simon's The Dinner Party in 2000 and in Sixteen Wounded in 2004 with Judd Hirsch and Martha Plimpton.[8] On television during this time, between 1994 and 2003, she made four guest appearances in the long-running NBC crime drama Law & Order, each time as a different character[9]

In 2005, she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical,[10] for the stage production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the role of Baroness Bomburst.[11] She won the Drama Desk Award for this role.[12] In 2006, she starred in Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane for which she received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress.[13] Also in 2006, she reunited with her Sound of Music co-star Richard Chamberlain in Hawaii Opera Theatre's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I in Honolulu, Hawaii.[14] In 2007, she starred in the Broadway production of Coram Boy,[15] for which she received her second Tony Award nomination, for Best Featured Actress in a Play.[16]

Her off-Broadway and regional credits include performances in The Seagull at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1985,[17] in House & Garden at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2002,[18] in A Bad Friend at the Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center in 2003;[19] and at Carnegie Hall in the Stephen Sondheim concert, Opening Doors in 2004.[20]

In 2008 she appeared Off-Broadway with the Potomac Theatre Project/NYC in Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution and was nominated for a Drama Desk and NYITT award.[21] In 2008, Maxwell appeared on Broadway in the Manhattan Theater Club production of To Be or Not to Be in the role of Maria Tura at the Friedman Theatre.[22]

She appeared as Julie Cavendish in the Broadway revival of The Royal Family at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in late 2009.[23] For this role she won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play.[24] Maxwell starred as Maria in the Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor, which began performances at the Music Box Theatre on March 11, 2010.[25] She won the Outer Critics Circle Award as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for this role.[26] Maxwell received two 2010 Tony Award nominations: one for her leading role in The Royal Family in 2009[27] and another for her featured role in Lend Me a Tenor in 2010.[28] She is only the fourth actress to receive double nominations in a single year.[29][30]

Maxwell played the role of Phyllis Rogers Stone in the Kennedy Center production of the Stephen Sondheim – James Goldman musical Follies, running from May 7, 2011 through June 19, 2011 at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington, DC. Her co-stars were Bernadette Peters, Elaine Paige, Ron Raines and Danny Burstein. She reprised her role in the Broadway limited engagement at the Marquis Theatre, which ran from August 7, 2011 (previews) through January 22, 2012. On October 29, after the Saturday matinee, Maxwell was hit by a minivan, suffering injuries to her arm and leg, fracturing her fibula. She missed the following two shows, but was back on Tuesday.[31] Maxwell received Helen Hayes, Fred Astaire, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for this role. The Tony nomination (her fifth) made her only the second actress to receive nominations in all four acting categories, the first was Angela Lansbury. In 2014, Audra McDonald became the third actress to achieve this. Maxwell reprised her role in this production's transfer to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California from May 3, 2012 through June 9, 2012.[32]

She appeared in the PTP/NYC (The Potomac Theatre Project) Off-Broadway production of the Howard Barker play Victory: Choices in Reaction, in a limited engagement in July 2011.[33] In 2013, Maxwell played the role of Skinner in Howard Barker's The Castle, A Triumph with PTP/NYC at the Atlantic Theatre, Stage 2.[34] She appeared in the Off-Broadway production of the Anthony Giardina play, The City of Conversation at the Lincoln Center Mitzi Newhouse Theater, from May 5, 2014 to July 26, 2014. She was nominated for the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play, the 2015 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play, the 2015 Drama Desk Award, Best Actress in a Play and 2015 Drama League Award, Distinguished Performance Award.[35][36] In an interview with Time Out New York in July 2016, Maxwell announced that she was retiring from theater.[37]

She is also a voice actress and has read several audio books, including Mary Higgins Clark's Two Little Girls in Blue[38] and No Place Like Home.[39]

References

  1. ↑ "North Dakota Supreme Court, Ralph B. Maxwell biography" ndcourts.com, retrieved May 24, 2010
  2. ↑ Simonson, Robert."Frightener of Tots, Enemy of Mediocrity" (Partial reference)'The New York Times, October 8, 2008
  3. ↑ "'City of Angels' listing Internet Broadway database, retrieved May 24, 2010
  4. ↑ Willis, John. Theatre World 1990-1991, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2000, ISBN 1-55783-126-2, p.39
  5. ↑ [htt[://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=4849 "The Sound of Music', 1998 listing] Internet Broadway Database listing ibdb.com, retrieved May 24, 2010
  6. ↑ Sommer, Elyse."Review, 'The Sound of Music'" curtainup.com, March 13, 1998
  7. ↑ Willis, John. Theatre World, 1997-1998 (Vol. 54), Hal Leonard Corporation, 2001 ISBN 1-55783-409-1, p. 37
  8. ↑ Jan Maxwell Internet Broadway Database listing, ibdb.com, retrieved May 24, 2010
  9. ↑ "Internet Movie Database Listing, Jan Maxwell" imdb.com, retrieved May 24, 2010
  10. ↑ Gans, Andrew; Allen, Morgan; and Simonson, Robert."2004-2005 Tony Nominations Announced; Spamalot Garners 14 Nominations" playbill.com, May 10, 2005
  11. ↑ Gans, Andrew."'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' Flies into Hilton Theatre March 27" playbill.com, March 27, 2005
  12. ↑ "Drama Desk awards" Drama Desk, retrieved May 24, 2010
  13. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio."Jan Maxwell Will Be Entertaining Mr. Sloane While Emery Stays at Abigail’s Party" playbill.com, December 16, 2005
  14. ↑ Hawaii Opera Theatre listing hawaiiopera.org, retrieved May 24, 2010
  15. ↑ Gans, Andrew."Orphans' Tale: Coram Boy Arrives on Broadway April 16" playbill.com, April 16, 2007
  16. ↑ Gans, Andrew."2006-2007 Tony Nominations Announced; Spring Awakening Garners 11 Noms" playbill.com, May 15, 2007
  17. ↑ Gussow, Mel."Theater: 'A Seagull' In Washington"The New York Times, December 17, 1985
  18. ↑ Weber, Bruce."Review:Indoor-Outdoor Living for the Fleet of Foot"The New York Times, May 22, 2002
  19. ↑ Sommer, Elyse."Curtain Up Review" curtainup.com, June 18, 2003
  20. ↑ Gans, Andrew."Song List Announced for Sondheim's Opening Doors Revue" playbill.com, September 29, 2004
  21. ↑ Hetrick, Adam."Maxwell Will Perform Scenes From an Execution for Potomac Theatre Project" playbill.com, June 10, 2008
  22. ↑ Jones, Kenneth."To Be or Not To Be, Dark Showbiz Comedy, Opens on Broadway Oct. 14" playbill.com, October 14, 2008
  23. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "'Royal Family' Ends Its Broadway Reign Dec. 13" Playbill.com, December 13, 2009
  24. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Red, Memphis, Bridge, Fences and La Cage Win Drama Desk Awards" Playbill.com, May 23, 2010
  25. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. Maxwell_and_More_in_Lend_Me_a_Tenor_Broadway_Revival "Maxwell and More in 'Lend Me a Tenor' Broadway Revival" Playbill.com, December 17, 2009
  26. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "60th Annual Outer Critics Circle Awards Presented May 27" Playbill.com, May 27, 2010
  27. ↑ Haun, Harry. "Climbing The Royal Family Tree" Playbill.com, September 26, 2009
  28. ↑ Hetrick, Adam." 'Lend Me a Tenor', with LaPaglia, Shalhoub, Bartha and Maxwell, Returns to Broadway" Playbill.com, March 12, 2010
  29. ↑ Tony Awards, 2010 nominations Tonyawards.com, retrieved May 24, 2010
  30. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio."Twice/Thrice as Nice: Jones, Cork, Maxwell, Scott and More Earn Multiple Nominations" Playbill.com, May 4, 2010
  31. ↑ "'FOLLIES' Star Jan Maxwell Hit by Minivan Misses Weekend Shows broadwayworld.com, October 2011
  32. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Hey, L.A., We're Coming Your Way: 'Follies' Ends Broadway Run Jan. 22" playbill.com, January 22, 2012
  33. ↑ Gates, Anita."Theater Review.Puritan Widow Confronts a Randy, Profane King" The New York Times, July 20, 2011
  34. ↑ Purcell, Carey. "Jan Maxwell and Jennifer Van Dyck to Star in PTP/NYC Season at Atlantic Stage 2" April 30, playbill.com
  35. ↑ " The City of Conversation Listing" lct.org, accessed May 18, 2015
  36. ↑ BWW News Desk. " 'The City Of Conversation', Starring Jan Maxwell, Ends its Twice Extended Run Today" broadwayworld.com, July 26, 2014
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ "Mary Higgins Clark 'Two Little Girls in Blue' audio book listing" SimonAndSchuster.com, retrieved May 25, 2010
  39. ↑ "Listing of Maxwell audio books" AllBookStores.com, retrieved May 25, 2010

External links

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