The playwright was speaking at a recent press event for Tony nominees. The Tony nomination for Best Play is Lindsay-Abaire's first.

Stars "Cynthia Nixon and John Slattery have kids the same age as the boy in the play," he continued. "Once we were up and running, you sort of forgot about that for a while. Then, when I'd revisit it, with friends or relatives who were experiencing the play for the first time, it would remind me how scary the stuff was that I wrote about."

Lindsay-Abaire wrote the drama after fellow playwright Marsha Norman—who was his teacher at Juilliard—told him to write a play about something that frightened him. A father, Lindsay-Abaire began shaping a story about a husband and wife who lose their only child in a freak car accident.

According to the writer, other parents who attended performances at Manhattan Theatre Club's Biltmore Theatre approached him after seeing the play. Some had come to the production on purpose, having heard about the subject matter. Others stumbled upon it by accident.

"It really affected parents more than anything," he said.