Six-time Emmy winner Jean Smart has spent the past few years on the HBO series Hacks. But that wasn't the only thing she was doing. In between seasons, Smart had been trying to get back to Broadway in Call Me Izzy. As she tells Playbill, "When I read [Call Me Izzy], I just said, 'I have to play this character. I love her so much. I think she's so unique'...I've been trying to make it work for a couple of years. Life kept getting in the way, but we finally found the time, and I convinced my two sons they should spend the summer in New York City."

Call Me Izzy is currently in a limited engagement at Studio 54 through August 17. See Smart, Call Me Izzy playwright Jamie Wax, and director Sarna Lapine discuss the new play in the video above with Playbill's Logan Culwell-Block—and how the character of Izzy was based on Wax's aunt.

The one-person play centers on a woman in rural Louisiana who's trapped in an abusive marriage and finds possible escape through writing poetry. The performance is Smart's first Broadway outing in 25 years, having last been on the boards with a Tony-nominated performance opposite Nathan Lane in a 2000 revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner. She's currently known for starring as Deborah Vance in HBO's Hacks, for which she has won three Emmy Awards. 

On July 8, it was reported Smart is currently recovering from an injury and will be back in the show July 12. Joanna Day is currently playing Izzy in her absence.

The production features scenic design by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, lighting design by Donald Holder, costume design by Tom Broecker, sound design by Beth Lake, wig design by Richard Martin, and original music by T Bone Burnett. Casting is by Caparelliotis Castings' David Caparelliotis and Joseph Gery. Howard Tilkin serves as production stage manager, with Elizabeth Allen as assistant stage manager. Olivia Wilusz is assistant director.

Wax is a comic, solo performer, playwright, journalist, and actor, whose writing credits include the musicals Evangeline and Passages (both written with composer Paul Taranto). The playwright has been developing Call Me Izzy with Smart for several years.

Robert Ahrens is producing with P3 Productions' Ben Holtzman, Sammy Lopez, and Fiona Howe Rudin. Though performing at Studio 54, the play is not a Roundabout Theatre Company production.

Visit CallMeIzzyPlay.com.

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Photos: Opening Night of Call Me Izzy on Broadway Starring Jean Smart

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