Six-time Emmy winner Jean Smart (Hacks, Designing Women), as previously reported, will return to Broadway for the first time in over two decades this summer in the world premiere of Jamie Wax's Call Me Izzy.
Directed by Sarna Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George), the 12-week limited engagement will begin previews May 24 at Studio 54 prior to an official opening June 12. Performances of the solo show will continue through August 17. Tickets are now on sale at CallMeIzzyPlay.com.
The newly announced creative team includes scenic designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams (McNeal, My Fair Lady), lighting designer Donald Holder (South Pacific, The Lion King), costume designer Tom Broecker (Little Shop of Horrors, Saturday Night Live), and sound designer Beth Lake (McNeal, Uncle Vanya). Casting is by Caparelliotis Casting's David Caparelliotis and Joseph Gery. The technical supervisor is Juniper Street Productions with general management by Live Wire Theatrical and production stage management by Howard Tilkin.
Call Me Izzy is described as a darkly comedic story about
one woman in rural Louisiana who has a secret that is both her greatest
gift and her only way out.
The forthcoming engagement will mark Smart's first Broadway appearance in 25 years. She was last seen in a Tony-nominated performance opposite Nathan Lane in the 2000 revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner, which was directed by Jerry Zaks. Smart's other Broadway credit: playing Marlene in the 1981 Pam Gems play Piaf. Her Off-Broadway credits include Fit to Be Tied, The End of the Day, and Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.
Smart has earned three Emmy Awards for her performance in the HBO Max series Hacks, where she plays a fictional comedian named Deborah Vance who hires a young writer to help revive her career. She made history with her 2021 Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks, joining Betty White as the only other actor to complete the comedy trifecta of having an Emmy in the comedy lead, supporting, and guest categories. That win earned her admittance to an elite group of actors who have swept all five major TV awards in a single TV season: Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics' Choice Awards, and Television Critics Association. The fourth season of Hacks will premiere in 2025 on MAX.
Some of Smart's notable film credits include The Accountant, Garden State, The Brady Bunch Movie, Sweet Home Alabama, A Simple Favor, Guinevere, The Kid, Hope Springs, I Heart Huckabees, Flashpoint, Bringing Down the House, and Youth in Revolt. Her television credits also include Legion; Dirty John; 24; Watchmen; Fargo; Samantha, Who?; Style and Substance; High Society; Designing Women; The District; Harry’s Law; as well as a two-time Emmy-winning guest appearance on Frasier.
Smart was recently seen alongside Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon and in the coming-of-age dark comedy Wildflower. She is set to star in and executive produce the independent feature Miss Macy.
Louisiana native Wax began performing stand-up comedy at 14. While working the comedy circuit, he developed his acclaimed solo shows. As a playwright, he collaborated with composer Paul Taranto to create the musical Evangeline; the duo later received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for their musical Passages. Wax also played Puck in two separate productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; portrayed wine expert Charles Thompson in Wine Lovers; and contributed as a creative consultant and cast member for Soul Doctor during its pre-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop. Beyond the stage, Wax is an Emmy-winning journalist, serving as a contributing correspondent for CBS News for over a decade.
Smart has been a part of several developmental readings of Call Me Izzy.
Robert Ahrens produces Call Me Izzy with P3 Productions/Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez, and Fiona Howe Rudin. Though Roundabout Theatre Company owns Studio 54, Call Me Izzy is not a Roundabout production.
