Maxwell Reportedly Leaves 'Mr. Sloane' After Baldwin Feud

The New York Post's Michael Riedel is reporting the departure of Tony Award-nominee Jan Maxwell from the Off-Broadway production of Entertaining Mr. Sloane.

The columnist cites the actress' dissatisfaction with co-star Alec Baldwin as her reason for leaving. He writes, that she "wrote in an e-mail to a friend that Baldwin's frequent temper tantrums - including putting his fist through a wall because the air conditioning wasn't high enough - also caused her to fear for her 'safety, mental health and artistic integrity.'" The bad vibes between the stars reportedly reached a peak when Baldwin changed Maxwell's blocking by holding a door out of which the actress exited so that she was unable to slam it shut.

Barbara Sims is now playing Maxwell's role. In Joe Orton's dark comedy, both she and Baldwin play siblings who each develop feelings for a boarder in their house. Although Baldwin apologized for his outburst with the air conditioner, the door incident compelled Maxwell to leave. Baldwin defended himself against Maxwell's accusations: "He said she never bothered to learn her lines correctly, complained about her role and was 'indifferent at best' to the needs of the rest of the cast," writes Riedel. Maxwell then stated that she did know her lines, but that both actors sometimes made goofs onstage. "That's just live theater," she said.

Entertaining Mr. Sloane, presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company, also stars Richard Easton and Chris Carmack. It runs at the Laura Pels Theatre (111 W. 46th St.) through May 21st. The show opened there on March 16th after beginning previews on February 17th.

Maxwell received a Tony nomination (as well as a Drama Desk) Award for her performance in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and has also been seen on Broadway in Sixteen Wounded, Match, The Dinner Party, The Sound of Music, A Doll's House, Dancing at Lughnasa and City of Angels. Baldwin is also a Tony-nominee for his performance in A Streetcar Named Desire, and other Broadway credits include Twentieth Century, Serious Money and Loot. Film credits include The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, Pearl Harbor, The Aviator and The Cooler, for which he received an Oscar nod.

For more information, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.