'Rum & Coke' with Carmen Peláez Premieres Off-Bway Feb.1

Abingdon Theatre Company will present the Off-Broadway premiere of the critically acclaimed one-woman show Rum & Coke, featuring Carmen Pelaez, February 1 - March 2, 2008 in the June Havoc Theatre. Previews begin February 1st and the production will have its official opening on Wednesday, February 13, 2008.

"Pain is funny in this bracing one-woman show, as Camila plunges headlong into her family history during a trip to Havana via Miami. A ferociously comic look at life seen through a Cuban lens, this is a journey that is a hilariously poignant memoir," explain press notes.

Carmen Palaez was born in Miami to Cuban Parents. Grand-niece to the revered painter, Amelia Pelaez and radio star Ernesto Galindo, she began writing this piece soon after graduating from the American Academy for the Dramatic Arts in New York. She has been featured in W Magazine and was the first PS NBC performer to sign to a talent contract with NBC through 2000-2001. A featured contributor on several episodes for both seasons of the critically acclaimed Nightline/PBS show LIFE 360, she also completed writing work for a film being produced by Emilio Estefan Jr. She was featured in A Very Serious Person by Charles Busch and Carl Andress, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

Director Carl Andress most recently directed Die! Mommie! Die! at New World Stages, and the New York premiere of Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo's musical A Wonderful Life for the Actors' Fund of America, starring Brian Stokes Mitchell, Judy Kuhn, David Hyde Pierce and Phylicia Rashad at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway. He directed Charles Busch's award-winning Shanghai Moon at New York's famed Drama Dept., starring Mr. Busch and B.D. Wong as well as its earlier workshop incarnation at the Theater for the New City. He debuted off-Broadway directing and co-starring in Queen Amarantha at the WPA Theatre and appeared in the world premiere of Die! Mommie! Die! sat the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles.  He is a graduate of New Hampshire's Department of Theatre and Dance.

Set Design is by Ken Larson, Costume Design is by Jessica Jahn, Lighting Design is by Matthew McCarthy, Video Design is by Chris Kateff, Matt O'Hare is the Sound Designer and Ian Grunes is the Production Manager.

Performances of Rum & Coke are Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30, Saturday at 2:00 and Sunday at 3:00 in the June Havoc Theatre at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st Floor (between 8th and 9th Avenues) The production continues until March 2, 2008.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by calling SmartTix at 212.868.4444 or by logging on to  www.smarttix.com