Roberta Maxwell

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

A thread for all things Robert Maxwell, the actress who played Jack's mother in the film Brokeback Mountain.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/theater/reviews/14rich.html
From NYT THEATER REVIEW | 'RICHARD III'

The Villain Everyone Loves to Hate
By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Published: November 14, 2007



Roberta Maxwell plays Queen Margaret.


http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/11/13/arts/20071114_richard_4.html

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/theater/16simo.html

Sifting the Dustbin of Literary History (Mint Condition)
By ROBERT SIMONSON
Published: September 16, 2007



Lisa Bostnar, left, and Roberta Maxwell in "The Madras House" by Harley Granville-Barker (2007).


http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/09/15/theater/20070916_MINT_SLIDESHOW_3.html

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

http://www.mckellen.com/stage/00139c.htm

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE
Written by Joseph Kesselring
Directed by Alan Gray
Ian McKellen in the role of Mortimer Brewster
Arts Theatre, Ipswich, Suffolk
12 March 1963 - 23 March 1963


(Ian McKellan on the left, of course; can you see Roberta Maxwell on the right?)

CAST
Abby Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . Doreen Andrews
The Rev. Dr. Harper . . . . . . . . . . . . David Tudor Jones
Teddy Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . Gawn Grainger
Officer Brophy . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Winnera
Officer Klein . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald MaKechnie
Martha Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . Josie Kidd
Elaine Harper . . . . . . . . . . . . Roberta Maxwell
Mortimer Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian McKellen
Mr Gibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen MacDonald
Jonathan Brewster . . . . . . . . . . . . Brendan Barry
Dr. Einstein . . . . . . . . . . . . Roger Hammond
Officer O'Hara . . . . . . . . . . . . Douglas Ditta
Lieutenant Rooney . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen MacDonald
Mr Witherspoon . . . . . . . . . . . . Colin Kaye

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Quite a cast!

http://www.stephencollins.com/himself/wtown3sis.html

"The Three Sisters" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival


From the left: John Heard, Rob Lowe, Roberta Maxwell, Kate Burton, Amy Irving, Stephen Collins, and Christopher Walken.

From Stephen Collins Online:

"This was taken in rehearsals for 'The Three Sisters" at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. It was the last production of Chekhov directed by Williamstown founder Nikos Psacharapoulos before his death in 1988. Walken played Vershinin and was astonishing. Amy Irving played Masha, Roberta Maxwell was Olga, and Kate Burton was Irina. Heard played Masha's Latin-teaching husband, Kulygin, and Rob Lowe was Tusenbach. I played the sisters' brother, Andrei. It was the second time I played the part, the first having been in another all-star production in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the late 70's. I didn't understand Andrei when I played him at Brooklyn (where the three sisters were Ellen Burstyn, Rosemary Harris, and Tovah Feldshuh), but, ten years later, I better understood Andrei's sense of personal failure and his sadness. It's one of the better performances I feel I've given on stage. I didn't want to do the part again, but Nikos twisted my arm, and, as usual, he was right. He had astonishing insight into what roles were right for certain actors at certain times in their lives. I miss him terribly."

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

http://cafeawards.blogspot.com/

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks for enlightening us, John, to Roberta's interesting career!

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Thanks for enlightening us, John, to Roberta's interesting career!

Thank you, Lee!

I love the Mint Theater (very small in Midtown Manhattan, on 43rd Street)--it always produces extremely obscure gems, some forgotten hits, sometimes a century old, with authors like J. B. Priestley, J. M. Barrie, Harley Granville-Barker, and D.H. Lawrence. In 2007, I saw one called "Return of the Prodigal" by St. John Hankin--I thought it was terrific. BUT--I forgot to see one of the other productions that same year--starring with our Roberta Maxwell!--all I can say, is:

DUH!

Oh well, next time....
 

[Brown Eyes]

Yes!  Thanks for all of this John!  I feel like there's so much more to learn about her long and accomplished career.



This pic from the banner was associated with her role as Hero in the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing in 1969.

Here's the funny blurb she included with her photo shown here!
And, the link includes lots more info about the performance and other cast members.
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/abj76/PG/works/much_ado_about_nothing_69.shtml

Hero  --   Roberta Maxwell ROBERTA MAXWELL is a versatile actress with impressive credits in the classical and contemporary repertory in London, Canada, and the United States. Miss Maxwell came to New York with the Broadway hit The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and then joined the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis appearing in Sargeant Musgrave's Dance, Merton of the Movies, Little Murders, and two plays which later toured Los Angeles and New York, The House of Atreus and Arturo Ui. A native of Canada, Miss Maxwell was a member of the Stratford Festival Company where her roles included Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Anne in Richard III, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Anne in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She spent three years in England working in repertory and on British television networks and made her West End debut in A Majority of One, with Robert Morley and Molly Picon. She is also interested in unicorns.
 

[shortfiction]

I'm coming in here rather late..........

If you folks haven't seen Maxwell in the Canadian film Last Night, do check it out.  She has a small but strong role as the mother of a man who has chosen not to spend his final hours on Earth with his immediate family.  Her delivery, tone, gestures, and expressions are perfectly chosen, just as they were in BBM. 

[southendmd]

Here she is with Kim Basinger in a TV show called "The Mermaid Chair":