PAY THE WRITER

By Tawni O’Dell
Starring Ron Canada, Marcia Cross, Bryan Batt
Directed by Karen Carpenter
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street)

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), opened August 21, 2023 Off-Broadway at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The production was directed by Karen Carpenter (Love, Loss, and What I Wore).

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).

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