Two and a Half Men's Holland Taylor Replaces Mary Louise Wilson in Ripcord Off-Broadway

An off-Broadway switcheroo has gone on at Manhattan Theatre Club! Emmy winner and Tony nominee Holland Taylor will replace the previously announced Mary Louise Wilson in Ripcord. Wilson has withdrawn from the production due to the extension of a book tour. SNL’s Rachel Dratch and Glenn Fitzgerald have also been tapped for the show, which stars Marylouise Burke. Directed by David Hyde Pierce, the new comedy by David Lindsay-Abaire will begin previews on September 29. Opening night is scheduled for October 20 at New York City Center—Stage I.

Taylor is set to take on the role of Abby Binder. She won an Emmy Award for the TV drama The Practice and in recent years garnered four Emmy nominations for Two and a Half Men. Taylor received a Tony nod for Ann, a one-woman show she also wrote. Additional screen credits include Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, To Die For, One Fine Day, The Truman Show, Legally Blonde and Baby Mama.

Dratch will play Colleen Dunne. Probably best known for seven seasons of Saturday Night Live, she most recently appeared in the off-Broadway production of Tail! Spin! and Alex Timbers’ and Michael Friedman’s musical version of Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Delacorte Theatre. She is well known to Lindsay-Abaire having appeared in several of the plays he’s written as part of the 24 Hour Plays project.

Fitzgerald will appear as Benjamin. Stage credits include Hamlet, Ivanov and The Importance of Being Earnest. His multiple screen credits include Flirting with Disaster, The Ice Storm, A Price Above Rubies, The Sixth Sense, Finding Forrester, Dirty Sexy Money, Madam Secretary and Elementary.

A sunny room on an upper floor is prime real estate in the Bristol Place Assisted Living Facility so when the cantankerous Abby (Taylor) is forced to share her quarters with new-arrival Marilyn (Burke), she has no choice but to get rid of the infuriatingly chipper woman by any means necessary. A seemingly harmless bet between the old women quickly escalates into a dangerous game of one-upmanship that reveals not just the tenacity of these worthy opponents, but also deeper truths that each would rather remain hidden.

The production will feature scenic design by Alexander Dodge, lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski, costume design by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, sound design and original music by John Gromada and fight direction by Thomas Schall.

Additional casting will be announced later.