Jonathan Kent (Man of La Mancha) is slated to direct the new work by the playwright of Chinese Friends, which 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 will reach Broadway under the auspices of Elizabeth McCann, Scott Rudin and Hal Luftig.
The play will represent the first time an original, full-length Baitz play has played Broadway. 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. The playwright 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). Kent directed.