Smith to Replace Camp in 'Dead Man's Cell Phone'

Playwrights Horizons has announced a cast change for the New York premiere of Dead Man's Cell Phone, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House, Eurydice).  Drama Desk Award winner and Playwrights Horizons alum T. Ryder Smith will assume the role of Gordon (the "dead man" of the title) beginning Tuesday, February 19. 

Smith steps in for cast member Bill Camp, who is currently playing the role in previews.   Camp is leaving the production due to the fact that the production schedule for his upcoming film (Public Enemies, directed by Michael Mann and starring Johnny Depp) has been moved up earlier than originally set.

Dead Man's Cell Phone marks the return to the stage of Tony, Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker (Proof, "Weeds").  Directed by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Bogart (Artistic Director of SITI Company), the production is currently in previews at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

T. Ryder Smith last appeared at Playwrights Horizons in the premiere of David Greenspan's She Stoops to Comedy.  He previously worked with playwright Sarah Ruhl in The Goodman Theatre's production of her epic Passion Play (in which he played Queen Elizabeth, Adolph Hitler and Ronald Reagan).  He shared a 2007 Drama Desk Award as part of the Outstanding Ensemble for the three-actor/fifty-character play Lebensraum, and also earned a 2002 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance in Underneath the Lintel.  Additional New York credits include Thom Pain: Based on Nothing and the world-premiere productions of Richard Foreman's King Cowboy Rufus Rules the Universe and The Gods Are Pounding My Head.

The change in cast won't affect Opening Night, which is still set for Tuesday evening, March 4 at 7PM.  The rest of the cast continue in their roles, including Parker, Drama Desk and Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant, David Aaron Baker, Carla Harting and Kelly Maurer.

"Gordon (T. Ryder Smith) is dead, but his cell phone lives on.  When Jean (Mary-Louise Parker), an empathetic museum worker, answers his ringing phone beside her in a café, she is soon playing unwitting comforter and confessor to the man's grieving friends and family.  Before she knows it, Jean is ensnarled in the underbelly of the dead man's bizarre life.  A wildly imaginative new comedy, Dead Man's Cell Phone is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her assumptions about morality, redemption and the need to connect in a technology-obsessed world," describe press notes.

The production features scenic and costume designs by G.W. Mercier, lighting design by Brian H Scott and soundscape by Darron L West.  Production Stage Manager is Elizabeth Moreau.

The performance schedule for Dead Man's Cell Phone is Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM.  

For subscription and ticket information to all Playwrights Horizons productions, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8 pm daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at www.playwrightshorizons.org

T. Ryder Smith