Everett Quinton Stars in Penguin Rep's DROP DEAD PERFECT, Beginning Tonight Off-Broadway

The Peccadillo Theater Company presents Penguin Rep's production of DROP DEAD PERFECT, a new comedy starring the legendary Everett Quinton at the Theatre at St. Clements (423 W 46th St - between 9th and 10th Avenue) beginning tonight, July 15th, with opening set for Sunday, July 20th at 7PM.

Written by Erasmus Finn and directed by Joe Brancato, DROP DEAD PERFECT is laced with double-entendres and allusions to 1950s television and Hollywood melodramas. With adult language and situations, this outlandish production is recommended for adults only--particularly those with a slightly twisted sense of humor.

DROP DEAD PERFECT follows Idris Seabright, played by Quinton, a wealthy, eccentric mistress of a Key West cottage that runs her estate with a zany flair. When her beloved ward Vivien decides to abandon the Florida Keys to pursue art in Greenwich Village, and Idris' lawyer becomes alarmingly interested in her investments, Idris' life begins its outrageous downward spiral. After she receives a visit from a mysterious stranger who bears an undeniable resemblance to her long-lost love, her life erupts into over-the-top comic mayhem. The running time for this comedy is 90 minutes with no intermission.

Director and Penguin Rep founder Joe Brancato describes DROP DEAD PERFECT as "a madcap romp that celebrates and satirizes movie melodramas, with a nod to both Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Burnett."

Jason Cruz, Jason Edward Cook, and Michael Keyloun join Obie and Drama Desk Award winner, the legendary Ridiculous Theatrical Company veteran Everett Quinton in DROP DEAD PERFECT.

Sets are by James J. Fenton, with lighting by Ed McCarthy, costumes by Charlotte Palmer-Lane, and sound by William Neal.

DROP DEAD PERFECT will run from today, July 15th - August 10th. The playing schedule is as follows: Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8PM, with matinees on Saturday at 3PM and Sunday at 3PM. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling 845-786-2873 or by visiting www.dropdeadperfect.com.

THE ARTISTS:

Everett Quinton is the recipient of Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Charles Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep. He was a long time member of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company where he was an actor, director and costume designer and also appeared in over 75 productions including Galas, The Artificial Jungle, Camille, and Love's Tangled Web. He recently directed the revival of Charles Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep, and before that appeared as Duncan and Hecate in The Shelter Group's production of MacBeth and Felipe Ossa's Sabrina La Caprichiosa at Dixon Place. Other credits include Bennett in Travesties at McCarter Theater Center; O, Dad, Poor Dad at CSU Summer Stages; Twelfth Night at The Arizona Theater Company; Shakespeare in Hollywood (Helen Hayes Award) at Arena Stage in D.C; Women Beware Women; (Callaway & Off Broadway Alliance Awards) The Witch Of Edmonton at Redbull Theater; The National Tour of Cinderella with Eartha Kitt (Carbonelle Award); The Etiquette Of Death at LaMama; Tennessee William's And Now the Cat's with Jeweled Claws at The William's Festival in Provincetown, and as part of LaMama's 50th Anniversary Season. Everett also appeared in his own one-person show, Bitch Slapped By God, at London's Drill Hall; Twisted Olivia at The Zachary Scott Theater in Austin; (Austin Critic's Table Award) the Empty Space in Seattle; Phreadre at Theater for the New City, and received the Off Broadway Alliance "Legend of Off Broadway Honor" and Actors' Equity Association's Callaway Award for his portrayal of Fabritzio in Red Bull Theater's production of Thomas Middleton's Women Beware Women.

Jason Edward Cook's theatre credits include Grinch at the Old Globe. Other regional credits include: With Glee, Big River, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, Academy, High School Musical 2, Hello, Dolly!, Oliver!, A Little Night Music, Beauty and the Beast, Grand Hotel, The Producers, All Shook Up, and the national tour of Stephen Schwartz' Captain Louie. Film credits include Hits and Rising Stars.

Jason Cruz's theatre credits include The Tempest and Jesus Hopped the "A" Train. His new film Here You Go that he co-wrote produced and in which he stars has screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival and SoHo International Film Festival (where it was nominated for Best Showcase Short).

Michael Keyloun starred in Around the World in 80 Days at Penguin Rep. Regionally; he has worked across the country, at the Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Long Wharf, Goodspeed, St. Louis Rep, Denver Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and La Jolla Playhouse.

DROP DEAD PERFECT is novelist-turned-playwright Erasmus Fenn's first dramatic work. He credits "an overexposure to early television sitcoms and Alfred Hitchcock's Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Tell on TV, as well as the tales (his) father told him about his early years lawyering in south Florida", as inspirations for the play.

Joe Brancato's (Director) Off Broadway credits include The Devil's Music: The Life & Blues of Bessie Smith (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Off Bway Alliance & Audelco Award nominee), which he also staged at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Cleveland Play House and Hartford Stage; Tom Dudzick's Miracle on South Division Street (St. Luke's Theatre); Fall to Earth and Freed (Audelco Award nominee) at 59E59; Tryst (Outer Critics nomination for Best Play) at the Promenade Theatre and Irish Repertory Theatre; Cobb (Drama Desk winner) produced by Kevin Spacey in NYC and LA; From Door To Door at the Westside Theatre; and One Shot, One Kill at Primary Stages. As founding artistic director of Penguin Rep he has directed nearly 150 productions including premieres by Arthur Laurents, Lanie Robertson, William Mastrosimone, James Sherman, Steven Dietz, Richard Vetere, Allan Knee and Tom Dudzick.

ABOUT PENGUIN REP: Under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Brancato and Andrew Horn, Penguin Rep Theatre has grown in 35 years from a summer theatre in a converted 1880's hay barn to become one of the Hudson Valley's most influential nonprofit cultural institutions. Founded in 1977 by Mr. Brancato and trustee Francine Newman-McCarthy, Penguin now reaches tens of thousands of theatergoers, students, and artists each year at its home theatre in Stony Point, in New York City and beyond - with plays and productions premiered by Penguin moving to Off Broadway and to stages across the country and around the world. Hailed by The New York Times as "the gutsiest little theatre" and by The Journal News for its "wondrous productions", Penguin Rep is Rockland's only professional theatre employing members of Actors' Equity Association. Penguin Rep Theatre gratefully acknowledges general operating support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a public agency celebrating 60 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties, The Shubert Foundation, and the Cory and Bob Donnalley Charitable Foundation.

ABOUT THE PECCADILLO THEATER COMPANY: Founded in 1994, The Peccadillo Theater Company is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 arts organization dedicated to the rediscovery of classic American theater, particularly those works which, despite their obvious literary and theatrical value, are not regularly revived. Beginning with Eugene O'Neill (generally considered the starting point of modern American theater), Peccadillo concentrates on the era of the so-called well-made play, a period of sparkling wit and sophistication in comedy as well as deepening realism in the drama. The mission of The Peccadillo Theater Company is to restore these buried gems to their rightful owner- you, the American theatergoer.

Pictured: Everett Quinton (as Idris Seabright). Photo by John Quilty.

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