Bruce Willis Producing New Billy the Kid Play MUST Off-Broadway

Bruce Willis (Moonlighting, Die Hard, Misery on Broadway) and The Burgess Group have announced the limited engagement Off-Broadway run of MUST, a compelling new play about Billy the Kid and Pat Garret written by Charles Cissel and directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman, October 30th - November 19th at The Theater at St. Clements (423 W 46th St).

Mr. Fred Zollo (Tony-award winning producer of Once, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Private Lives, Angels in America) assisted in the development of the production, and calls Mr. Cissel is "a striking new voice in the American Theater." The official opening night will be on Monday, November 6th. Visit www.musttheplay.com for more about the show.

In the New Mexican desert, on the night before his murder, Billy the Kid is restless and alone. As he reflects on the relationships that have informed his life, he conjures his mother, his lover, Sheriff Pat Garrett and the man he thinks might be his father. Through memories, visions and feverish dreams, he confronts each of them. As he gains real insight into their lives and struggles, he discovers how he went from being a normal kid in New York City to being the notorious gunfighter Billy The Kid. At sunrise, he MUST face Garrett with this newfound understanding of life, purpose and infamy.

"I'm quite excited to get behind Cissel's new play MUST," says Mr. Willis. "It looks at Billy the Kid through a unique eye. It's a character study, with the exhilarating landscape of New Mexico as a backdrop."

Director Gabriel Vega Weissman elaborates that "MUST is a play about human nature, mortality, fate and purpose. I think Charles has written a play that speaks to some of our deepest fears. He navigates this story of Billy the Kid one of American history's most notorious figures, with gestures to Cormac McCarthy, playwrights such as Shepard, Beckett and Lorca and the feeling of a classic western like High Noon or The Searchers. The play is matched with an extraordinary cast and design team. We can't wait to bring it to New York audiences."

The cast of MUST features Brendan Dooling (TV's The Carrie Diaries) as Billy The Kid, John Clarence Stewart (TV's Gotham & Netflix's Luke Cage), Meredith Antoian (Here We Wait), Mark Elliot Wilson (We Need To Talk About Kevin) and Sally Ann Triplett (Finding Neverland, The Last Ship, Carrie on Broadway). Casting is by Chad Eric Murnane, CSA.

Charles Cissel (Playwright) has had six plays produced in New York City: WALLOP, Organic Shrapnel, God Steeling, Home Sweet Home/Crack, Rosa Rugosa/Touch Me and Splatter. As an actor he has been in three Tennessee Williams, three Greek Tragedies, two Albees, one Odets, one O'Neill and one Shakespeare.

Gabriel Vega Weissman (Director) is a Brooklyn based director and playwright. He has directed and developed work with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Bucks County Playhouse, Hangar Theatre, National Black Theatre, NYMF, University of Scranton, New York City Children's Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe among others. Associate directing credits include Broadway productions of Long Day's Journey Into Night, China Doll, and The Winslow Boy. He is an alum of the Drama League Director's Project, Lincoln Center Directors Lab and Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellowship. Gabriel has written several plays with Brian Reno, including their collection of shorts, Loose Canon, which premiered at the Scranton Shakespeare Festival and played sold out runs at the New York City International Fringe Festival and SoHo Playhouse. Loose Canon won the Fringe Festival's TheatreMania Audience Choice Favorite Award is now licensed by Dramatists Play Service.

MUST features scenic design by Alexander Woodward, lighting design by Zach Blane, costume design by Brooke Cohen Brown and sound design by Emma Wilk.

Bruce Willis (Producer) has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994 Palme D'Or winner at Cannes), the philandering contractor in Robert Benton's "Nobody's Fool", the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys", the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison's "In Country", the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan's Oscar-nominated "The Sixth Sense" (for which he won the People's Choice Award) and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the "Die Hard" pentalogy. Following studies at Montclair State College's prestigious theater program, the New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television commercials, before landing the leading role in Sam Shepard's 1984 stage drama "Fool for Love", a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway. Willis next won international stardom and several acting awards, including Emmy and Golden Globe honors, for his starring role as private eye David Addison on the hit television series "Moonlighting," winning the role over 3,000 other contenders. At the same time, he made his motion picture debut opposite Kim Basinger in Blake Edwards' romantic comedy "Blind Date." In 1988, he originated the role of John McClane in the blockbuster film, "Die Hard", one of the highest-grossing releases of that year. He later reprised the character in four sequels: "Die Hard: Die Harder (1990)", "Die Hard: With A Vengeance" (1995's global box-office champ), "Live Free, Die Hard" (one of the box-office hits of summer 2007) and "A Good Day To Die Hard" (2013). His wide array of film roles includes collaborations with such respected filmmakers as Michael Bay (Armageddon), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable), Alan Rudolph (Mortal Thoughts, Breakfast of Champions), Walter Hill(Last Man Standing), Robert Benton (Billy Bathgate, Nobody's Fool), Rob Reiner (The Story of Us), Edward Zwick (The Siege), Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), Barry Levinson(Bandits, What Just Happened), Robert Zemeckis (Death Becomes Her) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Grind House). Other motion picture credits include "Red", "The Jackal", "Mercury Rising", "Hart's War", "The Whole Nine Yards" (and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards), "The Kid", "Tears of the Sun", "Hostage", "16 Blocks", "Alpha Dog", "Lucky Number Slevin" and "Perfect Stranger". He also voiced the character of the wise-cracking infant, Mikey, in "Look Who's Talking" and "Look Who's Talking Too" as well as the lead characters RJ & Spike in the animated hit features "Over the Hedge" and "Rugrats Go Wild!" In 2012, Willis successfully added to his credits, two critically acclaimed films: director Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom", for which Willis and the film received Independent Film Award nominations, and director Rian Johnson's sci-fi thriller "Looper", co-starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. Most Recently, he appeared on Broadway in Stephen King's Misery.

Performances of MUST are from October 30th through November 19th. Opening night is Monday, November 6th at 7PM. Tickets are $45 to $65. View full performance schedule and purchase tickets at web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/979546.