Stephen Payne Joins Broadway's Straight White Men; Denis Arndt Exits the Production

Stephen Payne has joined the cast of Young Jean Lee's Straight White Men as Ed, replacing Tony nominee Denis Arndt, who has left the production due to "creative differences." This news comes just two weeks after it was announced that Arndt would be replacing Tom Skerritt, who left the show for personal reasons. Anna D. Shapiro directs the production, which is currently in previews at the Hayes Theater with opening night set for July 23.
 

Payne has always been attached to the play as an understudy. His Broadway credits include in Of Mice and Men, Superior Donuts and August: Osage County. His other stage includes Edward Albee’s Me Myself & I at Playwrights Horizons, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Paper Mill Playhouse and the McCarter Theater, John Patrick Stanley's Sailor’s Song at the Public Theater, Wings of Desire at the American Repertory Theater, Bus Stop at the Old Globe, Boy Gets Girl at Seattle Rep. His many film and television appearances include Law & Order: SVU, Girls and Divorce.
 

The cast of Straight White Men also includes Armie Hammer, Josh Charles, Paul Schneider, Kate Bornstein and Ty Defoe.

Straight White Men takes place on Christmas Eve when Ed has gathered his three adult sons, Drew (Hammer), Matt (Schneider) and Jake (Charles), to celebrate with matching pajamas, trash-talking and Chinese takeout. But when a question they can't answer interrupts their holiday cheer, they are forced to confront their own identities.

Straight White Men is scheduled to play a limited engagement through September 9.