Jan Maxwell Appears on XM's Downstage Center Friday November 7

The American Theatre Wing and XM Satellite Radio proudly present an interview with Tony Nominee Jan Maxwell, currently appearing on Broadway's To Be or Not To Be, on their weekly theatrical interview show, "Downstage Center," on XM's On Broadway (XM Channel 28).

Maxwell will appear as the special guest on Friday, November 7 at 6 p.m. The show will repeat on Saturday, November 8 at noon, Sunday, November 9 at 7 p.m., and Wednesday, November 12 at midnight (all times eastern; transmission is simultaneous across the country). The program becomes available as streaming audio and podcast from www.americantheatrewing.org and iTunes beginning Monday afternoon, November 10.

Two-time Tony nominee Jan Maxwell talks about whether she's been influenced by Carole Lombard and Anne Bancroft, her film predecessors as the leading ladies of To Be or Not To Be, as well as the difficulty of working in a new play when the author was on the other side of the ocean. She also relates a tale of how she managed her first visit to New York under the guise of a youth mission trip; her multiple experiences coming into shows with relatively little preparation, including A Doll's House and The Dinner Party, and Neil Simon's withering assessment of her work at an early preview of the latter; literally getting lost backstage at City Center while running between the theatres for Alan Ayckbourn's House and Garden; why she thinks she's being typecast as a child tormentor in such shows as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Coram Boy; her deep affinity for the work of playwright Howard Barker, and why we shouldn't expect to see her collaborating with her brother, noted downtown theatre artist Richard Maxwell, anytime soon.

Jan Maxwell currently appears in Broadway's To Be or Not To Be. Other Broadway credits include: Coram Boy (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Drama Desk Award, Tony nomination), Sixteen Wounded (Drama Desk nomination), A Doll's House, The Sound of Music, The Dinner Party, Dancing At Lughnasa, and City of Angels. Off Broadway credits include: Scenes From An Execution (Potomac Theatre Project), Substitution, Entertaining Mr. Sloane (Drama Desk nomination), The Bald Soprano (Atlantic Theatre), Opening Doors (Carnegie Hall), A Bad Friend (Lincoln Center), My Old Lady (Lortel Award, Drama Desk nomination), House and Garden (MTC). Maxwell has also appeared on TV's "Law & Order" and "AIDS - Changing the Rules" (PBS).

Each new "Downstage Center" is regularly broadcast at 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays at noon, Sundays at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays at 12 a.m. (all times EST). Following the initial run on XM, each program is made available for free, on-demand, internationally as both streaming audio and podcast on ATW's Web site, www.americantheatrewing.org.

Photo: Jan Maxwell by Walter McBride