Previews will begin for the New York premiere of the new drama on May 13 toward a June opening for a run through Aug. 7.
Doug Hughes (Frozen) is now slated to direct the new work by the playwright of Chinese Friends. Paris Letter was postponed from Boston's Huntington Theatre last season and underwent a New York City reading last December.
The Boston stage — which also presented Baitz's Ten Unknowns in spring 2002 following its debut at Lincoln Center — commissioned the new work, which centers on a Wall Street hotshot whose past catches up with him and threatens both his personal and professional lives. The drama was developed at California's Ojai Playwrights Conference.
The work was thought to be headed for Broadway under the auspices of Elizabeth McCann, Scott Rudin and Hal Luftig. The world premiere of The Paris Letter is slated to play in California at the new Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City, Dec. 5, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005.
Baitz's one-act Show People was performed as part of a Mike Nichols produced benefit called Short Talks on the Universe in November 2002. He also penned the adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler used in the 2001 Broadway revival. His Ten Unknowns was produced by Lincoln Center Theatre, who have also presented the scribe's A Fair Country and The Substance of Fire. Other works include Mizlansky/Zilinsky or 'Schmucks,' Three Hotels and The Film Society. Ron Rifkin (Cabaret, "Alias") — a constant star of Baitz works — starred in the reading with Kate Nelligan (An American Daughter) and Richard Easton (The Invention of Love, Henry IV). Jonathan Kent (Man of La Mancha directed the reading.
The Laura Pels is currently home to Stephen Dietz's Fiction through Sept. 12. Matthew Broderick (The Producers) will then star in a revival of Larry Shue's comedy The Foreigner at the space, Oct. 15, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005. The next work slated at the venue is the world premiere of Stephen Belber's For Reele. Michael Mayer's staging of the New York debut of Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade is also expected to play at the space in the coming year.
The Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre is located at 111 West 46th Street . For more information, call Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300 or go online to www.roundabouttheatre.org.
