Roberts after a preview performance
MLM/Fame
"I'm so excited," Oprah Winfrey exclaimed on her way into the theater, the Associated Press reports, while Susan Sarandon called Roberts "gorgeous and confident." Tim Robbins told the New York Daily News, "I think she did great."
Also in the audience: James Gandolfini, Diane Sawyer, Dave Matthews, Rosie Perez, Marcia Gay Harden, Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and baseball legend Cal Ripken, Jr.
"I'm very happy," Roberts said at a post-show party at the restaurant Cipriani on 42nd St. "I think it went really well, but I don't want to use the word relieved."
Critics were unimpressed by the play, which is about a dysfunctional family, but many said Roberts is the sole reason to see the show – even if her movie-star wattage doesn't necessarily translate to the stage.
The New York Times called her performance "stiff with self-consciousness," but admitted she's "so deeply disturbingly beautiful that you don't want to let her out of your sight."
