Marcia Cross, Bryan Batt and Ron Canada will star in the world premiere of the play Pay the Writer, with the first performance set as a benefit for the Writers Guild.
The comedy-drama, written by novelist Tawni O’Dell (Back Roads) will play Off-Broadway at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater at the Pershing Square Signature Center for a seven-week engagement starting Aug. 13. Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss, and What I Wore) directs.
The story of Pay the Writer follows a well-known literary agent Bruston Fischer (played by Batt) and his complicated relationship with his best friend, Cyrus Holt (played by Canada) who is also his most successful client, as well as Holt’s ex-wife Lana, played by Cross.
The production describes the play saying: “Bruston Fischer is a young gay man suffering from social persecution while trying to make it in publishing when he first meets Cyrus Holt some 40 years earlier.
The comedy-drama, written by novelist Tawni O’Dell (Back Roads) will play Off-Broadway at the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater at the Pershing Square Signature Center for a seven-week engagement starting Aug. 13. Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss, and What I Wore) directs.
The story of Pay the Writer follows a well-known literary agent Bruston Fischer (played by Batt) and his complicated relationship with his best friend, Cyrus Holt (played by Canada) who is also his most successful client, as well as Holt’s ex-wife Lana, played by Cross.
The production describes the play saying: “Bruston Fischer is a young gay man suffering from social persecution while trying to make it in publishing when he first meets Cyrus Holt some 40 years earlier.
- 7/19/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the first time in the 2018-2019 Broadway season, and announced the first round of Tony Awards eligibility rulings. Seven productions were discussed at this meeting: “The Boys in the Band,” “Straight White Men,” “Head Over Heels,” “Gettin’ the Band Back Together,” “Pretty Woman,” “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” and “The Nap.”
The Tonys committee made the following determinations:
“The Boys in the Band” will be considered a revival per the “classic” rule and eligible for Best Play Revival.
Jim Parsons will be eligible for Lead Actor in a Play for “The Boys in the Band.”
Julian Crouch (scenic designer) and Andrew Lazarow (projection designer) will be considered jointly eligible for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for “Head Over Heels.”
Mitchell Jarvis will be eligible for Lead Actor in a Musical for “Gettin’ the Band Back Together.”
Samantha Barks and Andy Karl will be eligible for...
The Tonys committee made the following determinations:
“The Boys in the Band” will be considered a revival per the “classic” rule and eligible for Best Play Revival.
Jim Parsons will be eligible for Lead Actor in a Play for “The Boys in the Band.”
Julian Crouch (scenic designer) and Andrew Lazarow (projection designer) will be considered jointly eligible for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for “Head Over Heels.”
Mitchell Jarvis will be eligible for Lead Actor in a Musical for “Gettin’ the Band Back Together.”
Samantha Barks and Andy Karl will be eligible for...
- 10/22/2018
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
In “Straight White Men,” Young Jean Lee’s cutting but deeply humane satire about straight white male privilege and pain, Armie Hammer, Josh Charles and, in an especially heart-wrenching performance, Paul Schneider play three brothers with mid-life issues. In director Anna D. Shapiro’s super-smart production, the bros are first observed as they go through the family Christmas rituals with their widowed father Ed (Stephen Payne), who’s in on all the goofy jokes.
Actually, it takes a while to get to this opening scene. In a head-scratching pre-curtain turn, preceded by a few minutes of assaulting rap music, two weirdly costumed interlocutors of indeterminate gender, played by Kate Bornstein and Ty Defoe, pointedly let the audience know that they, the so-called Persons in Charge, are the real persons in charge. The men in her play, Young Jean Lee is determined to show us, are her puppets and playthings.
Once...
Actually, it takes a while to get to this opening scene. In a head-scratching pre-curtain turn, preceded by a few minutes of assaulting rap music, two weirdly costumed interlocutors of indeterminate gender, played by Kate Bornstein and Ty Defoe, pointedly let the audience know that they, the so-called Persons in Charge, are the real persons in charge. The men in her play, Young Jean Lee is determined to show us, are her puppets and playthings.
Once...
- 7/24/2018
- by Marilyn Stasio
- Variety Film + TV
Armie Hammer, Josh Charles and Paul Schneider, names and faces well-known to film and TV audiences, make self-assured Broadway debuts in Straight White Men. No sarcasm about artistic stretches or the lack thereof necessary.
Young Jean Lee’s delicate balance of a play, directed by Anna D. Shapiro with a more sensitive understanding of character than pace, brings together three adult brothers and their widowed dad over a Christmas holiday that will see laughter and tears.
And if there’s anything straight white men can’t handle, it’s tears, especially from other straight white men.
At least that’s the suggestion from the playwright’s outside-looking-in vantage. The first Asian-American female playwright to be produced on Broadway, Young Jean Lee confronts the controversial idea of writing what you aren’t from the very start of Straight White Men.
We meet the guys of the title following a brief direct-to-audience...
Young Jean Lee’s delicate balance of a play, directed by Anna D. Shapiro with a more sensitive understanding of character than pace, brings together three adult brothers and their widowed dad over a Christmas holiday that will see laughter and tears.
And if there’s anything straight white men can’t handle, it’s tears, especially from other straight white men.
At least that’s the suggestion from the playwright’s outside-looking-in vantage. The first Asian-American female playwright to be produced on Broadway, Young Jean Lee confronts the controversial idea of writing what you aren’t from the very start of Straight White Men.
We meet the guys of the title following a brief direct-to-audience...
- 7/24/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Broadway’s Pretty Woman: The Musical showed other summer newcomers how it’s done. Though it performed only two previews during the season’s Week 8, the show with the big title recognition grossed $328,854, 96% of its potential, with admission of 2,336 at 100% of capacity. Average ticket price was a solid $141.
Based on the 1990 Julia Roberts & Richard Gere movie and staged at the Nederlander Theater, the musical features direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), an original score by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by the movie’s director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J.F. Lawton. In the Roberts & Gere roles are Samantha Barks and Andy Karl.
In all, the 32 Broadway shows took in $36,855,921, about 87% of potential and a negligible 2% slip from last week. Total attendance of 281,446, about 93% of capacity, was even with Week 7.
Pretty Woman far out-dazzled other recent Broadway arrivals. Head Over Heels, the Arcadian mash-up of mock-...
Based on the 1990 Julia Roberts & Richard Gere movie and staged at the Nederlander Theater, the musical features direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots), an original score by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by the movie’s director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J.F. Lawton. In the Roberts & Gere roles are Samantha Barks and Andy Karl.
In all, the 32 Broadway shows took in $36,855,921, about 87% of potential and a negligible 2% slip from last week. Total attendance of 281,446, about 93% of capacity, was even with Week 7.
Pretty Woman far out-dazzled other recent Broadway arrivals. Head Over Heels, the Arcadian mash-up of mock-...
- 7/23/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
With Bruce Springsteen still on a soon-to-end hiatus, competition from fireworks and two fledgling productions still getting their footing, Broadway box office was down about 11% for the week ending July 8, the 30 shows grossing a total $33,865,380.
Paid attendance of 272,945 put Broadway houses at about 92% of capacity, with an average paid admission of $124.07. That attendance is down about 6% from last week when the Street had 33 shows running.
New(ish) to the line-up, Straight White Men played its first full week of eight previews (compared to last week’s three performances), with the Josh Charles and Armie Hammer starrer taking in $302,222, about 47% of potential. Attendance of 4,139 was closer to the mark, about 89% of the 4,648 capacity. That means average ticket price was $73.02, well below the $149 most ticket buyers could have spent.
The Young Jean Lee-penned play had some cast upheavals in recent weeks, but nothing that would impact the marquee value too much – Hammer,...
Paid attendance of 272,945 put Broadway houses at about 92% of capacity, with an average paid admission of $124.07. That attendance is down about 6% from last week when the Street had 33 shows running.
New(ish) to the line-up, Straight White Men played its first full week of eight previews (compared to last week’s three performances), with the Josh Charles and Armie Hammer starrer taking in $302,222, about 47% of potential. Attendance of 4,139 was closer to the mark, about 89% of the 4,648 capacity. That means average ticket price was $73.02, well below the $149 most ticket buyers could have spent.
The Young Jean Lee-penned play had some cast upheavals in recent weeks, but nothing that would impact the marquee value too much – Hammer,...
- 7/9/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Stars: Dreama Walker, Ann Dowd, Pat Healy, Philip Ettinger, Ashlie Atkinson, Stephen Payne | Written and Directed by Craig Zobel
When you look at the poster for Compliance you will see the bold letters exclaiming that it is “based on true events”, a notion that becomes harder to believe the longer this film lasts. Yet based on true events it is – true events caught on CCTV in a McDonalds restaurant (I use that term loosely) in Mount Washington,Kentucky back in 2004. Yet the story is still very hard to believe. That said, it has plenty of positive things going for it…
Craig Zobel, the director of this film, is someone who I would be lying if I said I was familiar with. He has worked on documentary films and titles unknown to me, and is currently working on a sci-fi number starring Chris Pine and Amanda Seyfried, but I know nothing else of him.
When you look at the poster for Compliance you will see the bold letters exclaiming that it is “based on true events”, a notion that becomes harder to believe the longer this film lasts. Yet based on true events it is – true events caught on CCTV in a McDonalds restaurant (I use that term loosely) in Mount Washington,Kentucky back in 2004. Yet the story is still very hard to believe. That said, it has plenty of positive things going for it…
Craig Zobel, the director of this film, is someone who I would be lying if I said I was familiar with. He has worked on documentary films and titles unknown to me, and is currently working on a sci-fi number starring Chris Pine and Amanda Seyfried, but I know nothing else of him.
- 11/11/2013
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
Chicago – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 10 pairs of run-of-engagement, anytime, guaranteed movie passes up for grabs to the new film “Compliance” starring Ann Dowd! Pick your own showing! These are guaranteed tickets!
In Chicago, “Compliance” opens at Landmark Century Centre Cinema on Aug. 31, 2012. Rated “R” and inspired by true events, the film also stars Pat Healy, Dreama Walker, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, James McCaffrey, Matt Servitto, Ashlie Atkinson, Nikiya Mathis, Ralph Rodriguez, Stephen Payne, Amelia Fowler, John Merolla, Desmin Borges and Matt Skibiak from writer and director Matt Skibiak.
These anytime, guaranteed passes can be used for “Compliance” at Landmark Century Centre Cinema in Chicago for the showing of your choosing during the film’s theatrical run. To win your free movie passes to “Compliance” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology directly below. That’s it! The more social actions you complete,...
In Chicago, “Compliance” opens at Landmark Century Centre Cinema on Aug. 31, 2012. Rated “R” and inspired by true events, the film also stars Pat Healy, Dreama Walker, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, James McCaffrey, Matt Servitto, Ashlie Atkinson, Nikiya Mathis, Ralph Rodriguez, Stephen Payne, Amelia Fowler, John Merolla, Desmin Borges and Matt Skibiak from writer and director Matt Skibiak.
These anytime, guaranteed passes can be used for “Compliance” at Landmark Century Centre Cinema in Chicago for the showing of your choosing during the film’s theatrical run. To win your free movie passes to “Compliance” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology directly below. That’s it! The more social actions you complete,...
- 8/28/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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