Entertaining Mr. Sloane closes today

By Amy Somensky May 21, 2006, 1:06 GMT

In Entertaining Mr. Sloane, a landlady invites an attractive, mischievous and dangerous man back to her house where she and her brother compete for his favors. The stranger\'s past, however, in the form of the siblings\' elderly father, threatens to catch up with him. ...more

New York: The Roundabout's Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane closes today at the Laura Pels Theater. The Scott Ellis directed comedy opened on March 16th.

Originally starring in the production was Alec Baldwin, Jan Maxwell, Chris Carmack and Richard Easton.

Maxwell left the production early. She was quoted in the NY Post as saying that he (Baldwin) "created an unhealthy and oppressive situation [that made her fear for her] physical safety, mental health and artistic integrity." Baldwin countered the alligations to the paper saying that he apologized to Maxwell for some regrettable actions, and that once she had given notice, he asked her not to leave.

A production statement said, "Maxwell gave the production three weeks notice last week. She was asked to reconsider her decision to quit and stay on for the remaining two weeks of the subscription run beyond that, which she declined. After Ms. Maxwell made it clear that she did not want to stay, Roundabout decided for the benefit of the entire Sloane company to let her know that she need not return to the production (of course receiving payment for the notice period of her contract) which she gladly accepted."

In response to the alligations against Baldwin, a Roundabout statement read, "Mr. Baldwin has been totally professional in all dealings with the company and management throughout the engagement of Entertaining Mr. Sloane and we are delighted to have him in the show."

Barbara Sims replaced Maxwell in the production.

In Entertaining Mr. Sloane a landlady invites an attractive, mischievous and dangerous man back to her house where she and her brother compete for his favors. The stranger's past, however, in the form of the siblings' elderly father, threatens to catch up with him.