Aniston's co-star Rosie Perez, who is a board member of the event's charity, Working Playground, which raises funds to give New York school children an arts education, says that Aniston "was as sweet as pie".

Describing Jennifer's stage performance, Perez said: "She's got chops. She said she had performed Off-Broadway. She's really, really good."

Aniston reportedly brought a chef's jacket along to the initial cast meeting on Sunday night as her inspiration.

Other actors taking part in the Broadway extravaganza included Anna Paquin, Kieran Culkin, Julianna Margulies, Sam Rockwell, Liev Schreiber and Fisher Stevens.

Aniston's performance was greeted with rapturous applause from the audience and a glowing review in the New York Post describing Aniston's performance as "a hit debut on Broadway".