Mark Waldrop to Direct Abingdon's CUT THROAT, 10/2-25

Eric Bryant (Room Service), Susan Cella (The Graduate), Adam LeBow (Greenwood), Allen Lewis Rickman (Relatively Speaking), Sarah Sirota (Zuccotti Park), and Melissa Teitel (I Hate Hamlet) co-star. Performances begin October 2.

Abingdon Theatre Company launches its 2015-2016 Season with the world premiere of CUT THROAT by JB Reich, set to begin previews October 2, at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's Dorothy Strelsin Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Official press opening is Sunday, October 11. Mark Waldrop (NEWSical, John Epperson's My Deah, Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends) is set to direct.

Amy and Ben are happily married...until they decide to send their 3-year-old son to preschool. CUT THROAT examines the meaning of children, parenthood, marriage-and New York City private school admissions.

Eric Bryant, Susan Cella, Adam LeBow, Allen Lewis Rickman, Sarah Sirota, and Melissa Teitel co-star in this new play about one New York family's adventures in Pre-K education.

The production features set design by Brian Dudkiewicz; costume design by Orli Nativ; lighting design by Julie Duro; and sound design by Ian Wehrle. Production Stage Manager is Alexis Nalbandian.

Playwright JB Reich received two commissions from the EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project in 1999 and 2000. Area Under the Curve was produced by the Ensemble Studio Theatre in Marathon 2000. The other commissioned full length, Milgram, was workshopped at Brodman Area #25 in 2014. Other plays include Chrissy (Launch Festival '99, Red Line/All Seasons Theater Group) and Runaway Train (Lamia Ink!/La MaMa '96). Many readings and other workshops including DNR, Joe & Sarah, Ersatz Nevada, Train, Sonny Boy (EST Octoberfest, Naked Angels, N.Y. Stage and Film, MCC, New Jersey Rep). He is a playwright member of EST and the EST playwrights unit.

Drama Desk nominee Mark Waldrop returns to Abingdon where he previously directed John Epperson's My Deah, starring Nancy Opel, and Inventing Avi by Robert Cary and Benjamin Feldman. He is the director of the long-running Off-Broadway hit NEWSical The Musical. Other Off-Broadway credits include Til Divorce Do Us Part, When Pigs Fly (Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Direction of a Musical), Pete 'n' Keely, Listen to My Heart, Game Show and Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 (Encores!). He worked with Bea Arthur on her one-woman show Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends, and directed Bette Midler's Divine Miss Millennium Tour and numerous regional productions, including Gypsy starring Betty Buckley (Paper Mill Playhouse), Little Shop of Horrors (Olney Theatre Center), and Into the Woods (Seattle's 5th Avenue).

Actors are members of Actors Equity Association. CUT THROAT is an Equity Approved Showcase. Jan Buttram is Artistic Director of Abingdon Theatre Company, now in its 23rd Season of producing new plays.

Performances of CUT THROAT run October 2-25, 2015: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm: Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 2pm at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's Dorothy Strelsin Theatre (312 West 36th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan). Tickets are $25. For tickets, call Ovationtix at 866-811-4111 or visit www.abingdontheatre.org