Geva's 43rd Season to Continue with MIRACLE ON SOUTH DIVISION STREET

A family comedy by the playwright of Over the Tavern continues the 2015-2016 ESL Wilson Stage Series as Geva Theatre Center presents Miracle on South Division Street by Tom Dudzick and directed by Pamela Hunt in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from January 12 through February 7.

According to Nowak family legend, there was a miracle on South Division Street sixty years ago when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in the family's barbershop on Buffalo's East Side. Since then, the neighborhood has looked upon the Nowak's 20-foot commemorative shrine as a beacon of hope and faith amidst the urban rubble. But now, the family's faith is shaken when a deathbed confession threatens to change everything. A heartfelt and hilarious family comedy from the author of Over the Tavern.

Dubbed "Buffalo's working-class P.G. Wodehouse" by the Buffalo News, Tom Dudzick is the playwright of the the Over the Tavern Trilogy, a semi-fictional trio of comedies based on his early life in Buffalo. The first of the trilogy, Over the Tavern, was produced by Geva in 2011 and has broken box office records all over the country and in Ireland. Hail Mary was Dudzick's next play and premiered at Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre and was followed by Don't Talk to the Actors, which received both East and West coast premieres. Miracle on South Division Street premiered at the Penguin Repertory Theatre in 2009 and ran Off-Broadway in 2012.

Toni DiBuono (Broadway productions of The Boys from Syracuse, Wonderful Town and original cast member of Forbidden Broadway) returns to Geva following last season's production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. In Miracle on South Division Street, Ms. DiBuono plays Clara, the Nowak family matriarch. Making their Geva Theatre Center debuts are Laura Gragtmans (New York productions of White Embers, October in the Chair and Other Fragile Things) as Ruth; Katharine McLeod (New York productions of The Religion Thing, Persuasion, Wonder of the World and Dear Harvey) as Beverly and Colin Ryan (Broadway's Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land) as Jimmy.

Miracle on South Division Street is directed by Pamela Hunt (Geva productions of Radio Gals and Five Guys Named Moe). The design team includes Bill Clarke (scenic design), Amanda Doherty (costume design), Derek Madonia (lighting design) and Dan Roach (sound design).

The 2015-2016 Wilson Stage Series is sponsored by ESL Federal Credit Union. Miracle on South Division Street is produced with support from Lead Co-Producer First Niagara; Co-Producers MVP Health Care and Tasteful Connections Catering; and Media Sponsors Legends 102.7 and News10NBC.

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