The Tiffany Theater, Los Angeles - 1994

Upon receiving a call from her leukemia-stricken sister after not speaking with her for two decades, a devil-may-care single mother packs up her two sons--one, a rebellious teen who has spent time in a mental institution--and heads to Florida to reunite with her ailing sibling and their bedridden father. The women's differences in philosophy immediately spark a wrenching confrontation, but help arrives from the most unexpected of sources--the delinquent teen, whose reluctance to accept the family he never knew ultimately melts away when he discovers his aunt's true spirit.

Jean played opposite Mary Steenburgen in this acclaimed drama by Scott McPherson.

"Smart is vibrant and funny as the confused, brassy blonde single mom struggling to be civil to one son on leave from a mental institution, and another who's so internalized that he reads Isaac Asimov at Disney World. Smart's less sentimental role is delivered beautifully, with perfect comic timing in both her bottled hysteria at dealing with her son's behavioral problems and her struggle to absorb her sister's grace in facing the responsibilities of true adulthood." -- LA Times

"Smart, continuing her distinguished work on L.A. stages, is terrific here. She brings to her character an in-your-face energy and dynamism that enriches the dark comedic tone of the play. As in her other theater roles, notably in Christopher Durang's Laughing Wild, She rips open the excruciating suffering of her character with brilliant results." -- Hoyt Hilsman, Variety