Baitz's Letter to Debut at Kirk Douglas in CA

Jon Robin Baitz's The Paris Letter, rumored for a Broadway bow, will premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California. The show, directed by Jonathan Kent, will begin previews on December 5, 2004 and run through January 2, 2005.

The Paris Letter centers on Sandy Sonenberg, a man who by pure willpower, and the guidance of a psychiatrist who specializes in gay conversion, has become a successful Wall Street powerhouse with a devoted wife. But the long suppression of his true self eventually leads to a risky involvement with a young entrepreneur and to personal and financial ruin. "It's about sex, power and money," Baitz told Broadway.com.

The Paris Letter was scheduled to have its world premiere at Boston's Huntington Theatre Company in October 2003 with Ron Rifkin and Kate Nelligan starring. However, it was knocked off the season lineup when the theater's mounting of Butley, originally planned for the winter, was moved up to accommodate star Nathan Lane's return to The Producers. Although Rifkin has always been attached to the piece, no casting has been confirmed for the mounting at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

This is the inaugural season of the 300-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre, part of the Center Theatre Group which also operates the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre. The season will also include Charles L. Mee's A Perfect Wedding, Nancy Keystone's Apollo - Part 1: Lebensraum, Chay Yew's A Distant Shore, Charlayne Woodard's Flight and Doug Cooney and David O's musical The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip.