Marcia Cross, Bryan Batt, Ron Canada to Star in ‘Pay The Writer,’ With Benefit Night for WGA (Exclusive)
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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.
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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. 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.”
Fifty percent of all ticket sales from the August 13 performance, which will also include a reception, will go to the WGA, according to the production. Producer Sandy Marshall said the company is showing support for the writers because “without their members there would be no stories to experience and no escape from the difficulties of the human experience that are often cast upon us. Simply, the artist must support the art.” (Actors in stage productions are covered under Actors’ Equity and are not impacted by the SAG-AFTRA strike).
The play marks Cross’s return to the stage, after appearing as Bree Van de Kamp in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Cross is a graduate of The Juilliard School and began her career in theater at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Hartford Stage Company and The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Recently Cross has appeared in the Fox television series Monarch and Netflix’s You.
Batt is well-known for his portrayal of Salvatore Romano on AMC’s Mad Men. He has previously appeared on Broadway in La Cage aux Folles, Beauty and The Beast and Sunset Boulevard and on stage in Paul Runick’s Jeffrey. He also appeared in films including 12 Years a Slave, American Reject and Spike Lee’s Tales From the Hood 2.
Canada has previously starred in Network on Broadway, as well as Off-Broadway in In Old Age and Zooman and the Sign. His film work has included An American President, Cinderella Man and more.
The production also features Steven Hauck (The Velocity of Autumn), Miles G. Jackson (Chicken & Biscuits), Garrett Turner (TINA — The Tina Turner Musical) as Danielle J. Summons (Baby) and Stephen Payne (Superior Donuts).
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