Rachel McAdams and the Broadway Cast of Mary Jane Bring a Familiar World to the Stage

Amy Herzog’s Mary Jane begins its limited Broadway run at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on April 2. The play will mark film star Rachel McAdams’ Broadway debut as she leads the cast in the title role, performing alongside April Matthis, Susan Pourfar, Lily Santiago and Brenda Wehle. Ahead of their first performance, McAdams and her castmates, along with director Anne Kauffman, shared with The Broadway Show what audiences can expect from Herzog’s emotional, funny and honest play.

“I just loved the play,” McAdams said, also mentioning her caution before taking on this role as a newcomer to the world of theater. “’You know I haven’t done this,’” she laughs, remembering an early conversation with the casting team. “’Are you sure you want to hire me for this?’” Now just days away from taking the stage, she’s excited to see the audience response. “I think people are gonna think a lot about this show. There’s a spareness to the play, but it’s so full.”

“It’s a story about a single mother with a sick child,” explained Kauffman. “It’s very sneaky—the play—because what it does is it ultimately becomes about something else, but also becomes more about what it is.”

Matthis noted how familiar the play is likely to feel to many, as it’s set in “the world of caring for kids, in particular with disabilities.” Though even for those who do not live in that world on a daily basis, she thinks audiences will be surprised by “how respectful and specific and funny and weird and random and normal this world is.”

“People talk about it as heavy et cetera,” added Wehle. “It’s life. It’s full of joy and it’s full of warmth and it’s just full of heart.”