A versatile actress on Broadway and stages literally all over the world, Betsy Aidem recently climbed to the pinnacle of her profession, playing a lead role in a drama on the Great White Way.
Betsy Aidem, featured in "Prayer for the French Republic," on Broadway
Aidem appeared as the present-day matriarch of a French Jewish family in Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic, whose Broadway run ended this past weekend; the drama previously ran off-Broadway. In 2022, the off-Broadway production won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for best new off-Broadway play. Both productions were by Manhattan Theatre Club.
The play follows multiple generations of a French Jewish family from World II to today, with all characters facing the same question, “Are we safe?” Its title refers to a blessing recited in French synagogues for hundreds of years.
In a recent interview, Aidem, who has appeared on New York stages for over 30 years, said that in her career she has done over 90 plays, providing experiences that have taught her “how to be ready for a moment in a play, in a part as beautiful” as her role in Prayer for the French Republic.
“Playing leads,” she added, “expands your toolbox, so to speak. Playing supporting parts expands your listening ability. All these things add up to make you ready when this kind of part comes in front of you.”
Aidem actually consider her portrayal in Harmon’s play to be many parts: a mother, the sister of a “disengaged brother,” the wife of a “wonderful husband,” the daughter of a “difficult father,” a psychiatrist “with a huge staff. It’s like playing more than one part,” she said.
Aidem—who played Lady Bird Johnson opposite Bryan Cranston’s LBJ in All the Way on Broadway in 2014, appeared in the recent Tony Award-winning production of Leopoldstadt. and played many lead roles off-Broadway and in regional theaters—said her role in the MTC play is “everything I’ve dreamed of. The more you do, the more you can do.
“It’s true for any endeavor you have, artistic, business, scientific. The more you keep pulling apart the fabric of something, the more you discover. The challenges are exciting to me, I don’t find them daunting. I find them thrilling.
“I’m very grateful to David Cromer (director of the MTC production), the Manhattan Theatre Club, and Josh Harmon for insisting this part belongs to me. It’s a complete fluke and it’s a great gift,” she added.
Theater critics clearly disagree with her assessment of her landing the lead in Harmon’s play: Her acting in it was highly praised by theater critics for The New York Times, Variety and Observer, among many others.
With the MTC run over, Aidem said she would love to visit her mother in Arizona, relax for a “tiny bit and then get back to work. I hope something exciting comes along.”
