Smart move: Role in festival opener
'too good to pass up'

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Soon after she arrived in town to begin rehearsals for Williamstown Theatre Festival's revival of Oscar Wilde's comedy, Lady Windermere's Fan, actress Jean Smart headed north to Bennington, Vt.

There, the summer she was 13, Smart got her first kiss from the boy next door.

"It was very Norman Rock-well," said Smart. "So I made a beeline up there. I couldn't believe it when they said [Bennington] was only 12 miles down the road."

Although she couldn't determine exactly which Main Street house was the one her family had stayed in that summer, the visit took Smart on a trip down memory lane.

Over the course of her career, the Emmy Award-winning actress has acted in numerous productions on stage and screen -- in both television and movies. She recently returned to her role as cartoon character Kim Possible's brain surgeon mom for Disney's Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama.

Recent films include I Heart Huckabees, Sweet Home Alabama, Garden State and Bringing Down the House, in which she plays Steve Martin's estranged wife.

Perhaps best known for her role as Charlene Frazier in television's Designing Women, Smart received Emmys in 2000 and 2001 for her guest role as Lorna Gardner on Frasier. She also received a 2001 nomination for her recurring role on The District, where she played opposite Craig T. Nelson's character, Jack Mannion, as his ex-wife, Detective Sherry Regan.

On stage, Smart starred on Broadway with Nathan Lane, and received a Tony nomination for her part as sexpot actress Lorraine Sheldon in The Man Who Came to Dinner. Also on stage, she starred opposite her husband, actor Richard Gilliland, in It Had to Be You. Previous shows include Fit to Be Tied, Marvin's Room and End of the Day, opposite the festival's artistic director, Roger Rees.

"I've been very fortunate," she said.

Before arriving in town last month, Smart knew of Williamstown Theatre Festival by its reputation.

"They offered me this show and I thought, 'That sounds perfect. That sounds wonderful.' It's a great script, great part, great director, great artistic director, a beautiful time of the year." Smart said.

In Lady Windermere's Fan, Smart plays Mrs. Erlynne, a mysterious woman who appears to have most of the men in London's society wrapped around her finger. Besides being her first Oscar Wilde production, it's a play she had never seen before.

As the story goes, Mrs. Erlynne enters the life of Lady Windermere, a young mother involved with the London society scene, after being away for years in Europe. Mrs. Erlynne comes with a bit of a shady past as far as Victorian times go, and as she gets to know Lady Winder-mere, there are a number of twists and turns along the way.

"There's some rather moving elements to the play, and also some hilarious elements to the play," Smart said.

Besides the fact that Mrs. Erlynne intrigued her, Smart looked forward to the costuming opportunity, from the corsets to the gowns.

"I like doing period pieces," she said. "The last play I did [The Man Who Came to Dinner] was a period piece, but not to the extent of this."

The part also provided a chance for Smart to affect an English accent.

"I wanted to challenge myself that way. It's also an incredible role and to do it with Moises Kaufman directing -- who is an expert on Oscar Wilde -- it was too good to pass up," she said.

The experience of working once more with Rees has been both educational and "incredibly humbling," said Smart.

Although her participation in television and film has been far more lucrative than her theater roles, Smart said nothing is more satisfying than being in front of an audience on stage.

Beside people's immediate reaction, "No one can cut out half your speech or stop you," she said. "It's you and the audience and no one can mess with that."

What's next for Smart? Attracted by "a really good recurring role," she likely will join a one-hour television drama this fall.

"We haven't solidified it yet, but I think I'm going to say yes," said Smart. "It will just be for one year. I never wanted to do one of those shows because the schedule is so horrendous. ... You work minimum 12 hours a day every week, week in and week out and 10 months a year."

In addition, Lifetime television is developing a book for Smart, about a woman who becomes a cat burglar.

Will she return to the festival next summer? "I hope so," Smart said.

Lady Windermere's Fan plays on the Main Stage through July 17. It also stars Isabel Keating as Duchess of Berwick, Adam Rothenberg as Lord Darlington, Sandra Shipley as Lady Jedburgh, Samantha Soule as Lady Winder-mere, Benjamin Walker as Cecil Graham and Chandler Williams as Mr. Dumby.

Tickets are available at the box office and online at www.WTF-estival.org .

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