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    Jean Smart Will Star in a One-Woman Broadway Show

    The new play, “Call Me Izzy,” will begin previews in May and open in June at Studio 54.Jean Smart, a veteran stage and screen actress whose oft-praised comedic chops reached new audiences via the Max series “Hacks,” plans to return to Broadway this spring and summer in a one-woman show.Smart will star in “Call Me Izzy,” a dark comedy about a rural Louisiana woman. The play, which has not been previously staged, is written by Jamie Wax, a CBS News contributor, and is directed by Sarna Lapine, who also directed the last Broadway revival of “Sunday in the Park With George.”Smart, 73, is best known for her prolific work on television; she has won six Emmy Awards, for “Frasier,” “Samantha Who?” and “Hacks,” and has been featured in shows including “Designing Women” and “Mare of Easttown.”She made her Broadway debut in 1981 in the play “Piaf.” She has returned just once since, in a 2000 revival of “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” and was nominated for a Tony Award for that performance.“Call Me Izzy” is scheduled to begin previews on May 24 and to open June 12 for a 12-week run at Studio 54. The play is being produced by Robert Ahrens and P3 Productions (Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez and Fiona Howe Rudin), and is being capitalized for up to $5.4 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. More

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    Jean Smart Wins a Third Emmy for ‘Hacks’

    Jean Smart has just won a third Emmy for her starring turn in the Max series “Hacks,” the gleefully sardonic half-hour sitcom set in the rarefied, ruthless world of stand-up comedy.It is her sixth Emmy overall.“It’s very humbling. It really is. I appreciate this,” Smart said in a low voice, as she accepted the trophy. Then she went in for the punchline. “Because I don’t get enough attention. I’m serious.”Smart beat out a roster of actresses including Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of “Abbott Elementary,” who won the award in the previous Emmy ceremony, in January; and Ayo Edebiri of FX’s “The Bear,” who moved into the lead actress category after winning best supporting actress in January. Also nominated were Selena Gomez, for “Only Murders in the Building,” and the former “S.N.L.” co-stars Maya Rudolph, for “Loot,” and Kristen Wiig, for “Palm Royale.”As Deborah Vance, a celebrated comedian enjoying a late-career triumph, Smart, 72, is able to play smart, sexy, callous, vulnerable and very, very funny. In this latest season, she executes a mercenary plan to achieve something typically denied to women: a host gig on a major late-night show.In May, Smart told The New York Times, “I’ve always been part way to between leading lady and a character actress.” Who could doubt her leading-lady chops now? More