Katie Holmes toasts Broadway return with star-studded party

Actress Katie Holmes celebrated her return to Broadway on Thursday (29Nov12) by partying with Brooke Shields, Victor Garber and Maggie Grace following the opening night of her new comedy Dead Accounts.

The Hollywood star bounced back from her summer (12) divorce from Tom Cruise with a starring role on the New York stage, and she toasted her latest career move at a star-studded afterparty at Gotham Hall, where fellow guests included actress Lily Rabe and Broadway regular Nathan Lane.

However, Holmes struggled to win over critics with her portrayal of Lorna in the play - many reviews slated playwright Theresa Rebeck's story, which also stars Norbert Leo Butz and Judy Greer, while Holmes herself received a mixed reception from the press.

The Hollywood Reporter praises the actress for bringing "a lovely naturalness" to the part, while the Associated Press' reviewer suggests the former Dawson's Creek star "relies too much on a whiny teenage angst and a guilelessness that worked on TV but lacks nuance onstage", and a writer for the New York Daily News laments, "Unfortunately, Holmes' efforts add up to zilch. The stillborn comedy she's in is so stupefyingly unfocused that it plays like a draft, not a finished work."

Holmes made her Broadway debut in 2008 when she starred in a revival of Arthur Miller drama All My Sons.