She’s played Lady Barbara, Mrs. Warren, Josie Hogan, a Mormon in “Angels in America”, a naïve “Heiress” and a “Doubt”ful nun. Now it’s time for Cherry Jones to take on one of the pillar roles in the American theater: Amanda Wingfield in “The Glass Menagerie”. Tennessee Williams’ durable play about a former Southern belle and her grown but disappointing children opens a new revival tonight on Broadway at the Booth Theater. A transfer from Cambridge’s American Repertory Theater, this “Menagerie” is a limited run only through Jan. 5.

The production costars Celia Keenan-Bolger as the fragile Laura, Zachary Quinto as Tom and Brian J. Smith as the Gentleman Caller that Amanda hopes will take a shine to Laura. John Tiffany (“Once”) directs the drama, which debuted on Broadway in 1945 (and made Laurette Taylor an acting legend) and has now returned six more times since, the most recent being a 2005 mounting with Sarah Paulson (Jones’ real-life ex-partner) as Laura and Jessica Lange as Amanda.

It's been a busy time for author Williams, who died in 1983.  Last season saw a multi-racial spring mounting of "A Streetcar Named Desire", while weeks ago, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", with Scarlett Johansson and Ciaran Hinds, played the Richard Rodgers Theater. Also, this summer brought an extended off-Broadway run (closing this Sunday) of the little known "Two-Character Play".