In one of her music classes, she met
Nancy Ford, and the two forged a friendship that eventually led to a number of professional collaborations as the first female composer-lyricist team in
Off-Broadway and
Broadway New York theater. Their first work,
For Reasons of Royalty, was produced at DePauw University and their musical
Rendezvous was done at Boston University. Their first professional New York production was
Now Is The Time For All Good Men (1967), a highly political piece about Cryer's pacifist brother, who spent time as a teacher in a conservative mid-western high school, that was panned by the critics. Using the pseudonym Sally Niven (Niven is her mother's maiden name), Cryer played the leading role in
Now Is the Time... opposite her real-life husband, David. Dagne Crane had originally been cast in the part, but left shortly before the opening to become a regular on the soap opera
As the World Turns. The duo then mounted
The Last Sweet Days of Isaac – with
Austin Pendleton and Fredricka Weber – in 1970 at the off-Broadway Eastside Playhouse. A robust rock musical about a young musician who feels himself to be on the verge of death and so begins living life to the fullest, the musical received critical acclaim, and went on to win the
Obie,
Drama Desk, and
Outer Critics Circle Awards. From there they moved to
Broadway in 1973 with the musical
Shelter at the
John Golden Theatre directed by Austin Pendleton.
Marcia Rodd was nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role. Years later, the play was revived in an off-Broadway production in 1997 at the York Theatre, and a concert production at 54 Below in 2017, starring Cryer's son, Jon Cryer. Cryer and Ford's most notable success was ''
I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road'' (1978), based on Cryer's life experiences. She not only co-wrote the piece, but performed in it as well. Despite a cool reception from the critics, the show began to find an audience via word-of-mouth, and producer
Joseph Papp moved it from his
Public Theater in lower
Manhattan to the
Circle in the Square Theatre. where it ran from 12/14/1978 to 3/15/1981. The musical earned a Grammy nomination for the album, and traveled to locations around the world, performing for a year in Los Angeles and a year in Chicago, where it won the Joseph Jefferson Award, known as the
Jeff Award for Best Musical in 1980. Cryer and Ford's collaboration continued on other works. The musical
Einstein and the Roosevelts premiered at
DePauw University in October 2008. Cryer appeared in the 1987 film
Hiding Out as the aunt of her real-life son, Jon Cryer. Cryer's additional work as a performer included roles on Broadway in
Little Me (1962),
110 in the Shade (1963) and
1776 (1969). Recently, she appeared in two episodes of the Broadway Podcast Network's anthology
Around the Sun audio drama (written by Brad Forenza) as part of 2024's Season 4:
Artists Within––a metaphysical odyssey set amid the cosmos that features writer-performers in leading roles. ==Personal life==