| Ron Canada, Marcia Cross, and Bryan Batt star in the Off-Broadway world premiere of Pay the Writer | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 10:12 am EDT 07/20/23 | |
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| PAY THE WRITER STARRING RON CANADA, MARCIA CROSS, AND BRYAN BATT OPENS AUGUST 21, 2023 AT THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A NEW PLAY BY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR TAWNI O'DELL DIRECTED BY KAREN CARPENTER PREVIEWS BEGIN AUGUST 13, 2023 WITH A BENEFIT PERFORMANCE FOR THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA Pay the Writer is not a production of Signature Theatre Pay the Writer, the world premiere of a new comedy-drama by New York Times Bestselling Author Tawni O'Dell (Back Roads) and starring Ron Canada (Network, Wedding Crashers, "The West Wing"), Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Marcia Cross ("Desperate Housewives," "Melrose Place"), and Bryan Batt ("Mad Men," 12 Years a Slave, Jeffrey), will open August 21, 2023 Off-Broadway at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The seven-week limited engagement is directed by Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss, and What I Wore). Tickets are on sale at https://offbroadway.venuetix.com/ Pay the Writer debuts on August 13, 2023 with a special benefit performance for the Writers Guild of America. Focusing on the complicated relationship between a legendary literary agent and his best friend-turned-most-successful client, Pay the Writer explores how an artist's life is controlled by their calling and talent. Bruston Fischer (Bryan Batt) is a young gay man suffering from social persecution while trying to make it in publishing when he first meets Cyrus Holt (Ron Canada) some 40 years earlier. Cyrus is a gifted Black writer trying to get his talent noticed in a world that wants to ignore his existence. Through their unique friendship, the pair find literary success and the most stable relationship either will ever have. Yet when talent, business and love intertwine, missteps occur and, inevitably regrets often follow. Triumph and loss become blurred as we sort through the challenges of the human condition. Pay The Writer is a heartrending and funny exploration of personal and artistic legacy while navigating life's final chapter. The production also features Steven Hauck (Broadway: The Velocity of Autumn, Irena's Vow) as Jean Luc, Miles G. Jackson (Broadway: Chicken & Biscuits, TV: "Hunters," "The Last O.G.") as Young Bruston/Taz, Garrett Turner (Broadway: TINA — The Tina Turner Musical, Thoughts of a Colored Man) as Young Cyrus, Danielle J. Summons (Off-Broadway: Baby) as Gigi, and Stephen Payne (Broadway: Of Mice And Men, Superior Donuts, August: Osage County) as Homeless Man. Scenic design is by Tony Award winner David Gallo (The Drowsy Chaperone, Jitney, Radio Golf), costume design is by Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard (The Rocky Horror Show, The Who's Tommy), lighting design is by Tony Award winner Christopher Akerlind (Indecent, The Light in the Piazza), and sound design and production management are by Bill Toles (Off-Broadway's The Rat Trap, Sowa's Red Gravy). Props are by Yuki Nakamura (The Producers China Tour, Off-Broadway's La Bohème, A Small Oak Tree Runs Red). Casting is by Robin Carus. General management is by Aaron Grant Theatrical. Pay the Writer is produced by Tony Award-nominated producers Alexander "Sandy" Marshall (Hangmen, American Buffalo), Mitchell Maxwell (Dinner with Friends, Jeffrey, Damn Yankees), and Giles Cole (After All These Years, The Art of Concealment, The Dover Road). # # # BIOGRAPHIES Ron Canada (Cyrus Holt) has worked for more than 40 years in theatre, film, and television. He starred in Network (Broadway), In Old Age (NYTW), Zooman and the Sign (Audelco Nomination, Signature Theatre), Fences, Macbeth, Othello, The Whipping Man, The Boys Next Door, Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting, and Miss Julie. Film work includes An American President, Cinderella Man, Ted 2, The Discovery (with Robert Redford, 2017 Sundance Film Festival), The Empty Man, Crown Heights, and Bully. He also received the Dallas Film Critics Award for Lone Star (Director: John Sayles). Television audiences are familiar with his performances in "The West Wing," "Jack Ryan," "The Orville," and "House of Cards." Marcia Cross (Lana Holt) is widely known for her role as Bree Van de Kamp on the hit ABC series "Desperate Housewives," for which she received three Golden Globe nominations and a Primetime Emmy nomination. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Cross started her career in theatre at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage Company, and The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Other television credits include the FOX cult classic "Melrose Place," and the critically acclaimed series "Everwood" (WB). Most recently, Cross had recurring roles on the Fox series "Monarch," opposite Anna Friel, and the Netflix psychological thriller smash hit series "You." Bryan Batt (Bruston Fischer) has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Salvatore Romano on AMC's critically acclaimed, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning dramatic series "Mad Men." Batt also received a Drama Desk Award for the role of Darius which he created and performed in the New York, Los Angeles, and film adaptations of Paul Rudnick's ground-breaking comedy Jeffery. Films include the Oscar-winning Best Picture 12 Years a Slave, Garden District (Best Actor in a short film, London International Film Festival), Parkland, American Reject and Spike Lee's Tales From the Hood 2. Upcoming: Lone Star Bull, among others. Broadway credits include La Cage aux Folles, Beauty and The Beast, Sunset Blvd, and many others. Steven Hauck (Jean Luc/Bruston u/s) has appeared on Broadway in The Velocity of Autumn and Irena's Vow. Other New York theatre credits include One Arm (Moisés Kaufman, director), The Screwtape Letters (Westside Theatre), and Crossing Swords (Outstanding Performance Award, New York Musical Theatre Festival). Miles G. Jackson (Young Bruston/Taz) made his Broadway debut in Chicken & Biscuits. He was most recently seen in the final season of "The Other Two" (HBO Max) and is featured in two A24 films: Problemista (opposite Julio Torres) and A Different Man (opposite Sebastian Stan). Jackson is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Garrett Turner (Young Cyrus) starred on Broadway as Ike Turner in TINA — The Tina Turner Musical and as Happiness/Anger/Depression/Love in Thoughts of a Colored Man. He has also appeared in the eponymous role in Bayano for National Black Theatre and as Joe Harper in Acappella The Musical for NYMF. Danielle J. Summons (Gigi). Off-Broadway: Baby (Pam). National Tours: Les Misérables (Eponine/Ensemble), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Janelle). Regional: The Color Purple (Shug Avery) at Signature Theatre - VA, Sister Act (Deloris Van Cartier) at Geva Theatre, Memphis (Felicia Farrell) at Midtown Arts Center. Stephen Payne (Homeless Man). Broadway: Straight White Men, Of Mice and Men, and August: Osage County, all directed by Anna Shapiro; and Superior Donuts, directed by Tina Landau. Off-Broadway: The Bigot at Theatre at St. Clements in the title role; Edward Albee's New York premiere of Me, Myself and I directed by Emily Mann; John Patrick Shanley's New York premiere of Sailor's Song. Tawni O'Dell (Playwright) is the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of six novels including Coal Run, Sister Mine, and Back Roads, which was an Oprah Winfrey Book Club selection and a motion picture adapted by O'Dell. She also wrote and co-produced the popular audio dramas Rewrites and Closing the Distance, the latter will soon be produced Off-Broadway under its new title, Windows. Her work has been translated into more than 15 languages and has been published in over 30 countries. Karen Carpenter (Director) is the director and co-creator of the streaming sensation Period Piece; the co-writer and director of Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman's Life; and director of comedy legend Tom Leopold's musical satire, Kip & Sylvia: Tonight on Deck. She directed the premiere of George Eastman's comedy, Harry Townsend's Last Stand, starring Len Cariou and Craig Bierko (Critic's Pick, The New Yorker). Other Off-Broadway premieres include Delia and Nora Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Drama Desk Award, BWW Audience Favorite, NYT Critic's Pick); Handle With Care (NYT Critic's Pick); Lois Robbins' LOVER (Time Out NY Critics' Pick), Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses; and Witnessed by the World. Karen served as Associate Artistic Director of The Old Globe. David Gallo (Scenic Design) has designed over 30 Broadway shows, garnering him a Tony Award, as well as four additional nominations. His Off-Broadway, regional, and international productions have also earned him virtually every award for which he has been eligible. As production designer for "Sesame Street," he received three Emmy Award nominations and two wins. Gallo's work is included in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian Institution and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. David C. Woolard (Costume Design) has designed costumes at most of the major theatres in America as well as for productions all over the world. Broadway: Bronx Bombers, First Date, West Side Story, 33 Variations (Jane Fonda's clothing), Dividing the Estate, The Rocky Horror Show (2001 Tony Award nomination), The Who's Tommy (1993 Tony and Olivier Award nominations), Bells Are Ringing, Wait Until Dark, Horton Foote's The Young Man from Atlanta, Damn Yankees, and A Few Good Men. Christopher Akerlind (Lighting Design) has designed lighting for more than 650 productions. Broadway: Lynn Nottage's Clyde's, Paula Vogel's Indecent (Tony and Drama Desk Awards), Sting's musical The Last Ship, Rocky the Musical (Tony nomination), and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (Tony nomination). Chris is a two-time Tony Award winner, a recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, and the winner of four Drama Desk Awards. Bill Toles (Sound Design/Production Manager) has designed for Off-Broadway and dance, including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Dutchman, Knock Me A Kiss (Audelco Award), Lewberger, and Ayodele Casel's Chasing Magic. Regional: TheatreSquared's The Mountaintop and Detroit '67. Yuki Nakamura (Props) has worked Off-Broadway at La MaMa, Atlantic Theatre Company, and The Duke on 42nd Street, as well as on theme park projects as a show producer for Universal Studios Japan project, Bollywood, and MOTIONGATETM Dubai. Alexander "Sandy" Marshall (Producer). Broadway: Network starring Bryan Cranston, Tony Goldwyn, and Ron Canada, Hangmen (Tony nomination), American Buffalo (Tony nomination), Ohio State Murders, Pictures From Home and Mike Birbiglia:The Old Man & The Pool. Off-Broadway: Morning's at Seven, Sideways, and Two Jews, Talking. London: The Lavender Hill Mob, The Dover Road, The Art of Concealment, And In The End: The Death and Life of John Lennon (writer/director) and, most recently, the critically acclaimed Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis. Sandy is a multiple Emmy Award winner (seven nominations). Mitchell Maxwell (Producer) has produced more than fifty stage productions in the U.S., London, and Asia. Broadway: Dinner with Friends (Pulitzer Prize for Drama), Bells Are Ringing, Blues in the Night, and Damn Yankees starring Jerry Lewis. Off-Broadway: Stomp, Marvin's Room, Jeffrey, Garden of Earthly Delights, Other People's Money, and Two Jews, Talking. His productions have been nominated for multiple Tonys, Oliviers, Drama Desk Awards, and Outer Critics Circle Awards. He is the author of the acclaimed novel Little Did I Know, adapted for the musical stage to debut as the first Broadway-style musical podcast on Apple, where it soared to number three on the charts. In addition, Mitchell has produced seven major motion pictures. Giles Cole (Producer) is the British partner of MarMaxMedia. Cole is a writer/producer who, with Sandy Marshall and their Close Quarter Productions, has produced After All These Years; When Love Grows Old; an acclaimed revival of A. A. Milne's The Dover Road; The Heart of Things; And In The End: The Death and Life of John Lennon; The Art of Concealment; and the recent critically acclaimed Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis. Along with Mitchell Maxwell, they are now mounting larger scale shows in both the UK and the U.S. MarMaxMedia (Producer) is an innovative development company created to produce new theatrical works for the professional stage, keeping the investor at the forefront of each one of their projects. MarMaxMedia has a targeted focus on Broadway, Off-Broadway, West End, and Off-West End productions. Its multiple award-winning partners collectively have more than 100 years of experience producing theatre, film and television. Recent productions include Off-Broadway's Two Jews, Talking starring Hal Linden and Bernie Kopell and London's Shakepeare's Venus and Adonis starring Christopher Hunter. The Pershing Square Signature Center, the permanent home of Signature Theatre, is a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street, Jim Houghton Way, designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature's three distinct playwrights' residencies and foster a cultural community. The Center is a major contribution to New York City's cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a studio theatre, rehearsal studio, a bookstore, and the Signature Café + Bar, open to the public from noon-midnight Tuesdays – Sundays. |
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| Link | https://offbroadway.venuetix.com/ |
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