Cynthia Nixon hasn’t been on stage since 2017 when she and Laura Linney they alternated playing the roles of Regina and Birdie in “Little Foxes.”
She didn’t expect that her comeback could be “The Seven Year Disappear”, by which she would play an artist who also reappears after seven years.
“It was really surprising to me and a strange, eerie echo of the play,” Nixon said. Jordan Seavey’s production runs through March 31 at the New Group, with 4 performances from March 29 to 31 broadcast live.
Nixon is a two-time Tony Award winner, including for “The Little Foxes,” but is widely known for her work on television, including as Miranda Hobbes on “Sex and the City” and on “And Just Like That…” and as Ada Brook in “The Gilded Age.” This summer he plans to start filming the third seasons of the last two series, moving from one to the opposite.
“I can kind of see it being a lot of fun,” she said. After all, she had done something like this before.
“I did it when I was 18, doing two plays on Broadway at the same time,” said Nixon, who bounced between “The Real Thing” and “Hurlyburly,” directed by Mike Nichols, and even did Curtain Calls.
“We can paint crowds,” she said in a video interview, before talking about “Bright Lights,” Taylor Trensch, her “Seven Year Disappear” co-star and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
1
Wearing an apron
At home I spend most of my time within the kitchen. I’m at all times cooking, washing dishes and doing one million things, so it’s great to have a spot to dry my hands. However, on a way more physiological level, I’m a really loose-jointed person, so it is usually good to have support that makes me feel ready to go.
2
Lilies
I like flowers like lilies, hyacinths and gardenias, the really, really spicy, sweet ones. I like lighting candles and having fun with the nice smell.
3
Homemade tea
I even have a special mix, it’s my home mix, the bottom of which is jasmine green. And then I even have this thing from Empire Coffee & Tea, which is all this dried peach and keenness fruit. And then lemongrass, which I also grow and dry across the house.
4
“Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds”
Every moment of the documentary is delightful, shocking and surprising. I loved Carrie Fisher. I loved Debbie Reynolds. Just to watch this mother and daughter, all the pieces they were in American cinema, all the pieces they’re to one another, and the way they’ll each be great in front of the camera and still be naked and revealing.
5
Backgammon
When I used to be in seventh grade, it was the 12 months the King Tut exhibit got here to New York, and tickets were so sold out that you just mainly had to spend the night there to buy a ticket for months. So my friend Charlotte and I waited in line. There was some hippie next to us who taught us how to play backgammon and we played all night until the door opened.
6
“Wait, wait… Don’t tell me!”
No matter what terrible things are happening on this planet, just to have the option to take an hour and laughtry to answer the questions and let yourself be enchanted – it’s a bit of vacation for my psyche.
7
Musical comedy
When my wife and I first met, she was so open and fun that she just went to a musical comedy boot camp. Every time we were within the automobile we thought, “Now you’re going to hear ‘Merrily We Roll Along.’ Let me explain.”
8
Taylor Trensch
I used to be a toddler actor and he was a toddler actor and I feel prefer it’s a really special thing that you just either experience or you do not. I feel such a kinship with him. He was the person I wanted to do it with immediately after reading the play.
9
Blue cheese
Every salad you eat will at all times be enriched with blue cheese. You’re going to eat any piece of apple, would not it’s higher with some blue cheese? Steak with some blue cheese?
10
Emily Dickinson
Just a few years ago I had the chance to play Emily Dickinson in a movie and it was like a dream come true. My mother recorded Julie Harris reading Emily Dickinson’s poems and letters, and her voice is so wonderful. They live in my head. Poetry is great to read in silence, but poetry is so a lot better when spoken aloud. I like “When I died, I heard Fly buzzing.” This one kills me each time. I would like this to be read at my funeral.
