Hofsiss, Jack

I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can

One of today's most gifted and brilliant actresses, Jill Clayburgh, brings her special sensitivity to the role of Barbara Gordon, a successful television documentary producer who became hopelessly dependent on tranquilizers. But this is much more than a story of addiction and withdrawal; it is an examination of the success syndrome that affects the lives of people whose career triumphs are achieved at great personal sacrifice. It is the dramatic and suspenseful story of one woman's survival in a battle for her sanity- and her life. In this urgent quest, she must discover her inner strength, independence, and ability to be truly happy.

John Cheever's The Sorrows of Gin (Broadway Theatre Archive)

Sigourney Weaver and Edward Herrmann portray an affluent suburban couple whose empty and gin-fueled lives are observed through the eyes of their neglected, eight-year-old daughter in a teleplay adapted by playwright Wendy Wasserstein from John Cheever's short story. The tension and sadness behind the veneer of upper-class life in Shady Hill are at the heart of this insightful drama.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

It sounds like perfect casting: Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones do one of Tennessee Williams's most powerful works. But this filmed stage play doesn't quite fulfill the promise. Lange certainly has all the right ingredients: the sensual moves, the fluttering neuroses, the scheming-with-a-smile, but it doesn't quite ring true. It's as if the star and her director failed to make the full transition from stage acting to the smaller, more nuanced acting demands of film. Jones is badly miscast as Brick--the character is mopey and riven with insecurities, while Jones's forte is garrulous confidence. It feels like he's acting with a muzzle on. Rip Torn is terrific as Big Daddy (his scenes with Jones are the best in the piece) and the rest of the cast is all up to the game. Tennessee Williams reworked the script for this American Playhouse production, restoring some sexual frankness lost in earlier productions. The piece has some real fireworks, and not just in the places you might expect. Lange and Jones would team up again to better effect in the 1994 drama Blue Sky. --Geof Miller

In a sordid tale of faded dreams and family feuds, Tennessee Williams delivers perhaps his greatest play. Tommy Lee Jones and Jessica Lange star in this award-winning adaptation.

Out of Our Fathers' House (Broadway Theatre Archive)

This play presents the true stories of women who sought independence at any cost. The compelling text is taken entirely from the diaries, journals and letters of the characters portrayed, among them: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the powerful founder of the women's suffrage movement; the famous labor organizer "Mother" Mary Jones; and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, a frontier minister who protected herself by carrying a fully-loaded pistol at all times. Stars two-time Oscar famous labor organizer "Mother" Mary Jones; and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, a frontier minister who protected herself by carrying a fully-loaded pistol at all times. Stars two-time Oscar® - winner Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters) and two-time Emmy® - winner Carol Kane (Taxi).