“Call Me Izzy”: her words are her blessing and her curse

Jean Smart is a gifted comedienne. She made a name for herself on Designing Women in the late ’80s as office manager Charlene Frazier. Currently, she’s starring in the HBO Max series Hacks as aging stand-up comic Deborah Vance. Before that, she had graced the New York stage in such plays as Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, Piaf, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Now she’s back on the New York stage in a one-woman show, Call Me Izzy, written by Jamie Wax and directed by Sarna Lapine.

Smart gives a full-throated performance as Isabel (who prefers to be called Izzy), a resident of a trailer park in Mansfield, Louisiana in 1989. Izzy has a strong urge to write, but her husband disapproves to the extent that he destroys whatever of her writings he discovers around the house. So she writes late at night in the bathroom, on toilet paper, collecting her writings in a tampon box where she’s sure he’d never look.

Izzy’s few friends encourage her writing, recognizing her talent and urging her to send her work out to be published. One good friend directs her to the local library, where she can read to her heart’s content and write without being disturbed. After another friend sends some of Izzy’s writings to an editor, the editor encourages Izzy to send more so her work can be published. Unfortunately, Izzy’s husband learns that she’s still writing when he told her not to…

Smart, deftly directed by Lapine, fills the stage with not only Izzy but her friends, her supporters, and her husband. Each of the characters she portrays is their own unique self, and Smart, through gestures and vocal intonations, brings them all into focus. She is magnificent in holding the audience’s attention as she single-handedly spins Izzy’s tale into a mesmerizing evening.

The scenic design by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams incorporates small set pieces representing the rooms of Izzy’s trailer, using moving black panels to represent the oppressive closeness of the spaces Izzy inhabits, expressively lit by Donald Holder. Tom Broecker’s costumes reflect the constant drabness of Izzy’s existence, regardless of her emotional state. Suki Tsujimoto’s make-up designs go a long way, especially as the play progresses, toward bringing Izzy’s situation to life.

Call Me Izzy tells a strongly emotional tale of one woman struggling to achieve her own empowerment against fierce opposition. Jean Smart turns in an award-winning performance, one I hope is remembered when next season’s Tony Awards are handed out.  I cannot more strongly recommend seeing Jean Smart at the height of her talent before this show’s limited engagement comes to an end. Do not, do not, miss Call Me Izzy!

Call Me Izzy is presented at Studio 54, 254 West 54th St., in New York, through Aug. 24, 2025. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to callmeizzyplay.com.