Westport Country Playhouse Presents Reading of MIRACLE ON SOUTH DIVISION STREET

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of "Miracle on South Division Street," a comedy about family, faith, and adjusting to life's surprises, by Tom Dudzick, on Monday, February 24, at 7 p.m. Co-curators and co-directors of the Script in Hand Series are Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist, and Mark Shanahan, director, actor, and playwright.

Tickets to Script in Hand Playreadings are $20 each. Memberships for the Script in Hand Series are $125 each, and include tickets for all five readings.

"Mark Shanahan and I wanted to start the New Year and our partnership with this wonderfully sweet comedy which is filled with laughter while also providing a moving tale about the resilience of family and the stories that come down to us through generations," said Keefe.

Set in a working class neighborhood in Buffalo, NY, "Miracle on South Division Street" is about the Nowaks, a Polish Catholic family consisting of matriarch Clara, son Jimmy, and daughters Ruth and Beverly. They always thought they were special, ever since Clara's father, an immigrant from war-torn Poland, had a miraculous vision in his barbershop in 1942. But 65 years later, Clara's youngest has stopped going to church, her son is dating a Jewish girl, and a deathbed confession causes a family legend to unravel with unexpected results.

The cast includes Alison Cimmet as Beverly (Westport Country Playhouse's "Romeo and Juliet," "She Loves Me"; Broadway's "She Loves Me," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," "Bonnie and Clyde"); Pamela Dunlap as Clara (Westport Country Playhouse's "Love and Money," "Absence of a Cello"; veteran of 40-plus years in theater, film, and TV, with recurring roles on "Mad Men," "Three's Company"); Patrick Halley as Jimmy (New York's "The Misanthrope," "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"; regional theater's "Of Mice and Men," "Peter and the Starcatcher"); and Amelia Pedlow as Ruth (Off-Broadway's Intelligence, "The Metromaniacs," "Tis Pity She's a Whore," "Pride and Prejudice"; TV's "The Good Wife," "Blue Bloods," "Shades of Blue," "The Blacklist").

Stage directions will be read by Alexandra Rapapport. Stage manager is Page Tazewell.

Playwright Tom Dudzick's other works include "Over the Tavern Trilogy," a semi-fictional trio of comedies based on his early family years in Buffalo, NY; "Greetings!"; "Hail, Mary"; "Don't Talk to the Actors"; and "Christmas over the Tavern." More information at tomdudzick.com.

Co-curator/co-director Anne Keefe is the associate artist at Westport Country Playhouse. She has directed nearly 50 Script in Hand readings. She served as artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse with Joanne Woodward in 2008, and as associate artistic director from 2000-2006, also with Ms. Woodward.

Co-curator/co-director Mark Shanahan appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in "Around the World in 80 Days," "Tryst," "Sedition," "David Copperfield," "Journey's End," and over 20 Script in Hand playreadings. He has directed Playhouse Script in Hand readings of "Butterflies Are Free," with Blythe Danner and Jonathan Groff, and "The Greatest Gift" by Weston playwright David Wiltse. New York stage includes "The 39 Steps," "Small World," "Checkers," "Tryst," "The Shaughraun," "As Bees in Honey Drown," and "The Internationalist." His directorial work has been seen at Alley Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Virginia Stage, Hudson Stage, Theatre Square, The White Heron, Fulton Opera House, Mile Square Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Merrimack Rep, Hangar Theatre, The Cape Playhouse, and many more. He is the author of the Off--Broadway and regional hit comedy, "The Dingdong," and his holiday adaptations, "A Merry Little Christmas Carol" and "A Sherlock Carol." He is a graduate of Brown University (BA) and Fordham University (MA, faculty). www.mark-shanahan.net

All dates, titles, and artists subject to change.

The Script in Hand Playreading Series will continue on Mondays at 7 p.m. on March 23, April 27, November 16, and December 14; titles to be announced.

The Script in Hand Playreading Series is sponsored by Marc and Michele Flaster with support from the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), and on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).

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