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(Mariska's Mommy)
Jayne was anguished with Warner's dropping her, but in light of her situation another offer would come along, and would prove to be her ticket to success. George Axelrod was holding tryouts on Broadway for his new production of Hunter (renamed to Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter). He had originally written the part for Mamie Van Doren who turned it down. Jayne was not thrilled with the prospect of being in New York. She considered it to be "Iceland" as Hollywood was "IT". Her advertisers had to beg her to take the offer.
Jayne immediately fell into the part. Saying of her character Rita Marlowe, "She is brassy and extroverted, refreshing and direct and not entirely oblivious of her bombshell of a body. The role gives me a chance to act on stage the way I would like to behave offstage."
The show opened on October 12, 1955 to rave reviews. About Jayne, not necessarily the play. "Sex on the rocks!" and "Broadway's Biggest Towelful!" and one other tantalizing element that was pointed out by Axelrod himself, that Jayne would never deliver two shows alike.
Meanwhile Jayne launched her round-the-clock, no-holds-barred media onslaught on New York. New York was completely bowled over, and across the country, Hollywood was finally paying attention. Her publicity saturation reached the point where one New York daily posted a bulletin that there would be no more pictures published of Jayne until further notice.
She attended store and restaurant openings, regardless of their size, which would become a Mansfield specialty until the 1960's. She was often paid in several hundred dollars and merchandise, which supplemented her Broadway income. Every appearance she made contributed to the theater's regularly packed houses.