Marsha Mason: Candid Talk On Broadway

By Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine

One of the emerging themes of the current Broadway season is the dominance of talented actresses taking charge of Broadway stages. Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Joan Allen, and perhaps one of the most welcomed Broadway returns of the season: Marsha Mason in Impressionism. A highly regarded actor with extensive film and television credits, Ms. Mason's return to Broadway was welcomed by both critics and audiences alike. We sat down with the star backstage for an exclusive candid conversation about life, art, critics, and her current Broadway role in Impressionism.

Ms. Mason made her Broadway debut in Kurt Vonnegut's lone Broadway play Happy Birthday, Wanda June in 1970, since that time she has earned award nominations and accolades for her work as an actresses. It has been quite a journey that began when she popped out of a jack-in-the-box in Missouri.

“I first discovered acting when I was a freshman in high school. I mean I didn’t know that I wanted to do that until I had the opportunity to sub for somebody in a play in my freshman year in high school and from the moment that I jumped up out of the jack-in-the-box, which was what I was playing, I knew that was what I wanted to do,” smiles Ms. Mason backstage at the Schoenfeld Theatre where she is currently co-starring with Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen in Impressionism.

"It's so beautiful to look at, and its wonderfully acted. We  have a great cast and we all get along.…it's about love and hope, it's witty and smart," she says of Impressionism. It was love at first-reading for Ms. Mason, who knew early on she wanted to be a part of the production.

"I was asked to read the play by Jack O'Brien and I'm a friend of Bill Habers, the lead producer.  I read it and I immediately felt I wanted to be part of the production because the material was so smart…I liked what it was about," Ms. Mason tells Broadway.tv and Broadway Magazine. Though the show received mixed notices overall, the opinion of critics matters very little to Marsha Mason.

"When I was growing up and I was younger in New York, there was a kind of criticism that was constructive where you could sort of learn things from the review…I remember with my ex-husband Neil Simon  he felt the same way, early on he felt that the reviews  helped him to improve as a writer.  But I don"t find that really the focus of the reviews per se. So, I tend not to read those. Also,  I think the papers are losing a certain amount of heavy responsibility because the internet is taking over. So I think that is a little bit more interesting. And finally, why go to work to try to impress four people?" laughs the star.

When she is not acting on screen or stage, she is directing, and when she is not doing that you may find her tending to her gardens in New Mexico. Don't get the wrong idea, gardening is not a mere past-time. Ms. Mason has a working, organic, medicinal herb farm, and a line of products. "I wear a lot of different hats," she says knowingly.

In show business, fame can be fleeting. However, Marsha Mason has shown a path of continued artistic achievement and success. What advice would she share with others interested in pursuing an artistic path?

"You have to have a passion, because it's a crazy business and it's not terribly fair…It does hinge on a lot of personal rejection… You have to learn how to be able to take 'no'…you can't take it too personally," Ms. Mason shares. Showing her characteristic grace and poise, Ms. Mason bids farewell and prepares for another performance.

See the entire video interview with Marsha Mason, right here on Broadway.tv.