Nixon Cesar Joins World Premiere  Of Paul Calderon's MASTER OF THE CROSSROADS

Actor Nixon Cesar has joined the cast of the world premiere production of Paul Calderon's play, Master of The Crossroads which will open at The Bridge Theater next month for a limited run.

Written and directed by Calderon, Master of the Crossroads is a drama focusing on a southern family in crisis.

When fraternal twin brothers and army veterans Cornbread and Jim Bo return home to Louisiana following tours of duty in Afghanistan, the strain of past family strife combined with the dramatic effects of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), threatens to tear apart the fragile threads that barely hold the family together.

Cesar plays the role of Cornbread, while his sibling Jim Bo is played by British born actor Obi Abili (Off Broadway's The Emperor Jones). The cast is completed by Sarah Kate Jackson as Yolanda, Cornbread's wife.

An alumni of Brooklyn College's MFA programme, Cesar made his Off Broadway debut over a decade ago, under the direction of Woodie King Jr in playwright David Heron's romantic comedy Love and Marriage and New York City at The Billie Holiday Theatre. He earned excellent reviews for his touching portrait of an unemployed Jamaican banker who arrives in New York City to marry an American citizen in the hopes of getting his green card, and a new lease on life.

The role earned him an Audelco Award nomination for Excellence in Black Theater and would take him to the National Black Theater Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina and subsequently to Toronto, Canada where the show again played to critical and commercial acclaim.

Several other high profile productions followed, including an ensemble role in The Public Theater production of Mother Courage, in which he appeared opposite Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.

After taking several years off during which he focused on his growing family, Cesar returned to the stage in 2017 in the National Black Theater production of Nambi Kelly's Blood directed by Elizabeth Van Dyke and also featuring Roscoe Orman.

More recently, he reunited with his Love and Marriage and New York City collaborator David Heron, to play the lead role in the staged reading of the playwright's controversial legal drama Against His Will at The Billie Holiday Theater, opposite Tony Award nominee Pascale Armand. That was followed by a much heralded performance in Edgar Nkosi White's one man play The Birds of Baghdad, produced by Woodie King Jr at the Castillo Theater as part of the Ntozake Shange Playreading series in November.

Cesar, who is of Haitian ancestry, says he is especially pleased to be working with Calderon, an acclaimed actor, playwright and producer who is a founding member of the LAByrinth Theater Company and whose film credits include The Firm, Pulp Fiction and King of New York.

"The truth is that I'm feeling very blessed at this particular moment," he says, "Because I really do believe that my career is being given a second wind after my initial early success. I feel honored and fortunate to be part of Paul's very important play, which has some truly profound things to say about love, loss, family and mental illness. It will, I believe have a powerful and lasting effect on all audiences who come to see it."

Master of The Crossroads is a production of The Primitive Grace Theater.

It opens at The Bridge Theater on January 16 and will run through February 9.

The Bridge Theater is located at 244 West 54th Street.

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