On Thursdaysbet, Mia Farrow celebrated opening night of “The Roommate,” the new Broadway play in which she is starring opposite Patti LuPone. On Saturday, Farrow was homebound after testing positive for Covid.
The production canceled both of its scheduled Saturday performances. On Sunday, there was another surprise: The show went forward with Marsha Mason in Farrow’s stead. Mason, best known as an actor, is one of the play’s associate directors and had been working with Farrow on her performance.
The play’s producers asked Mason to fill in for Farrow, according to the show’s spokesman, Rick Miramontez. The lead producer, Chris Harper, explained the situation to the audience; the vast majority stayed, and Mason was greeted with a standing ovation when she walked onstage with LuPone. She performed with script in hand, occasionally flubbing a line, but only minimally, given her familiarity with the show and its staging.
Farrow, 79, posted on X Saturday about her “first Covid bout,” but then deleted the post. It is not clear when she will return; Mason, who is 82, is expected to play the role again on Tuesday night.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTMason is a veteran of stage and screen — she has been featured in six Broadway plays, including a 1996 revival of “The Night of the Iguana,” and has been nominated four times for Academy Awards, including for “The Goodbye Girl.” “The Roommate” has an understudy, Carol Halstead, but opted to go with Mason whose name recognition could help stanch cancellations by ticketholders hoping to see Farrow. In the years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, directors have stepped in for absent performers several times on Broadway.
Farrow, LuPone, Mason and the show’s director, Jack O’Brien, all have homes in Western Connecticut and are friendly with one another.
“The Roommate” is a comedic two-character play, written by Jen Silverman, about what happens when an Iowa City woman takes on a boarder from the Bronx who turns out to have a fondness for fraud.
The play, capitalized for $5.5 millionsbet, is among the first in a string of shows this season that are hoping the combination of big name stars and short runs will lead to high ticket demand.