Previews Begin for Wit, Starring Cynthia Nixon

Tony and Emmy-winning actress Cynthia Nixon is back on the Broadway stage, headlining Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of Wit. Previews of the first Broadway production of Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play begin January 5 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Directed by MTC Artistic Director Lynne Meadow, Wit is set to officially open on January 26.

Wit revolves around brilliant and exacting poetry professor Vivian Bearing (Nixon) as she undergoes experimental treatment for stage-four cancer. A scholar who devoted her life to academia, she must now face the irony and injustice of becoming the subject of research. The role was orignated by Kathleen Chalfant, who won acclaim for her performance in MCC Theater’s 1998 off-Broadway premiere production, directed by the late Derek Anson Jones. Emma Thompson starred as Bearing in the Emmy-winning 2001 HBO film adaptation. 

Nixon won a Best Actress Tony Award in 2006 for MTC’s production of Rabbit Hole and earned Emmy Awards for Sex and the City and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She is currently featured on Showtime’s The Big C. Joining Nixon are Pun Bandu as Technician, Suzanne Bertish as E.M. Ashford, Michael Countryman as Harvey Kelekian/Mr. Bearing, Jessica Dickey as Technician, Chiké Johnson as Technician, Greg Keller as Jason Posner, Carra Patterson as Susie Monahan and Zachary Spicer as Technician.

The production features scenic design by Santo Loquasto, costume design by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski and sound design by Jill BC Du Boff. Tickets are on sale now for performances through March 11.