Women Worth Watching!

Marylouise Burke
(The Savannah Disputation, Playwrights Horizons)
True, we might not know the supremely brilliant quirkiness of this veteran actress were it not for her good pal David Lindsay-Abaire, who featured her to sublime effect in such works as Fuddy Meers and Kimberly Akimbo. But she has shown her considerable range in a variety of other people’s projects, including a hysterical turn in the Mark Twain-David Ives comedy Is He Dead?, and most recently, a gorgeous if wordless cameo in John Patrick Shanley’s film version of Doubt. We’re sure her upcoming work as a susceptible Catholic spinster in Evan Smith’s new play will show us yet another facet of her engaging personality.

Sinead Cusack
(The Cherry Orchard/The Winter’s Tale, BAM)
This superlative actress’ rare American appearances are truly to be cherished. A quarter century later, I can still vividly recall her amazing Beatrice opposite Sir Derek Jacobi’s Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing; and her highly differentiated work last year as Eleanor and Esme in Tom Stoppard’s Rock n’ Roll was nothing short of astonishing. So the chance to see her in two different classic roles in repertory — the foolish Ranevskaya in Anton Chekhov’s masterwork and the feisty Paulina in Shakespeare’s tragicomedy — is simply not to be passed up!

Maggie Gyllenhaal
(Uncle Vanya, CSC)

Those naysayers who were quick to condemn Gyllenhaal’s involvement in CSC’s production of Chekhov’s much-produced play as mere stunt casting clearly never saw her superb performance at BAM in Tony Kushner’s complex Homebody/Kabul. Yes, she’s a movie star; but she’s proved herself to be a top-notch actress in everything from indies like Sherrybaby to big-budget fare like The Dark Knight. Tackling Yelena, the bored, sometimes flighty, and ultimately unhappy trophy wife in Vanya, and acting opposite real-life hubby Peter Sarsgaard may prove to be one of her greatest challenges yet.

LaChanze
(Inked Baby, Playwrights Horizons)
To some of her fans, the idea of casting LaChanze in Christine Anderson’s new non-musical play, about a desperate woman trying to have a baby, is nothing short of theatrical heresy. But, this glorious star’s singing voice notwithstanding, it’s her dramatic chops that really made her Tony Award-winning work in The Color Purple and her award-worthy turn in Dessa Rose so compelling. So bring her on, baby!

Cynthia Nixon
(Distracted, Roundabout Theatre/Laura Pels)
Long before she gained international fame as Sex and the City‘s perennially stressed legal eagle Miranda Hobbes, Nixon was mesmerizing theater audiences with her work in The Real Thing, Hurlyburly, and Indiscretions. More recently, she stunned us with her wrenching portrayal of the grief-stricken mother in Rabbit Hole, earning a well-deserved Tony. Now, she’s a mom again — fighting the system and protecting her child — in the New York premiere of Lisa Loomer’s much-talked-about play about Attention Deficit Disorder.

Deirdre O’Connell
(Looking for the Pony, McGinn/Cazale)
This veteran actress’ uncanny ability to fully inhabit whatever character she chooses to take on — from a college professor undergoing a midlife crisis in Manic Flight Reaction to an amnesiac in Fugue — has made her one of the city’s most invaluable resources. So expect another stunning performance as Lauren, a mother battling breast cancer, in this world premiere drama (opposite another of our favorite actresses, J. Smith-Cameron).

Sherie Rene Scott
(Everyday Rapture, Second Stage)
Whether she’s been handed the songs of Jason Robert Brown, Elton John, Alan Menken, or the Who, or the words of John Guare, Scott has managed to make even the weakest material worth listening to and the strongest stuff shine brightly. This time, she’s literally taken matters into her own hands for this one-of-a-kind, autobiographically-inspired theatrical journey (co-authored by Dick Scanlan) that will have audiences laughing and cheering.

Lili Taylor
(Mourning Becomes Electra, The New Group)
Few women have shown Taylor’s fierceness and fearlessness — whether on view in such stage works as Landscape of the Body and Aunt Dan and Lemon or on screen in Who Shot Andy Warhol? or HBO’s Six Feet Under. Those qualities will put her in excellent stead for her role as Christine Mannon in Eugene O’Neill’s take on the greatest of Greek tragedies.

Kathleen Turner
(The Third Story, MCC Theater)
One of the most singular performers of our era, Turner has held her own against some remarkable men, including William Hurt, Michael Douglas, Nicolas Cage, and, of course, Bill Irwin (in Who’s Afraid of Our Virginia Woolf?). Now, she gets to share the stage with author and co-star Charles Busch in this interconnected triptych of tales that debuted last year in La Jolla.