Oscar-nominated Broadway vet Rosie Perez will join previously announced stars David Hyde Pierce and Michael Chernus in Manhattan Theatre Club’s forthcoming world premiere production of Molly Smith Metzler’s Close Up Space. The limited engagement will begin previews on December 1 and open on December 19, directed by Leigh Silverman.
Completing the cast alongside Perez, Pierce and Chernus are Jessica DiGiovanni in her off-Broadway debut and Colby Minifie (The Pillowman, Landscape of the Body).
In Close Up Space, Pierce plays Paul Barrow, an obsessive book editor on a major deadline. With an assistant (Chernus) who’s been camping in the office, a famous author (Perez) threatening to bail on him and an intern (DiGiovanni) who is no help at all, Paul has just about had it! But when his fiery daughter (Minifie) shows up and lambasts him in Russian, Paul faces a glaring personal error that can’t be corrected with red ink.
Perez has appeared on Broadway in The Ritz, Reckless and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune. An Oscar nominee for Fearless, she has appeared onscreen in Human Nature, Riding in Cars with Boys, Do the Right Thing, Night on Earth, White Men Can’t Jump, Untamed Heart, It Could Happen to You, A Brother’s Kiss, King of the Jungle, Somebody to Love, The 24-Hour Woman, Pineapple Express and The Take. As a director, she helmed the documentary Yo Soy Boricua Pa’Que Tu Lo Sepas!, which celebrates Puerto Rican pride.
The creative team for Close Up Space includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Emily Rebholz (costume design), Matthew Frey (lighting design), and Jill BC Du Boff (sound design).