17 ORCHARD POINT Closes Off-Broadway Today

The world premiere of 17 Orchard Point, a new play starring Tony Award-winner Michele Pawk, began performances on Friday, April 25 for a limited four-week Off-Broadway run at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) through today, May 24. The show is written by Anton Dudley (Substitution, Getting Home) and Stephanie DiMaggio, and directed by Stella Powell-Jones.

Lydia (Michele Pawk) lives by her motto, "leave your baggage at the door, or it will end up on your face." A decade after fleeing Cleveland for one long night out in Vegas, leaving the family's apartment building under the management of her daughter Vera (Stephanie DiMaggio), Lydia returns to find a lifetime of "baggage" waiting for her inside. With a daughter fueled by faith, a mother driven by delusion, and a family secret that sounds the bell between them, 17 Orchard Point is a firecracker of a dark comedy about two generations of women battling to claim their home and history.

Scenic Design for 17 Orchard Point is by John McDermott. Costume design is by Tilly Grimes. Lighting Design is by Daisy Long. Sound Design is by Elisheba Ittoop. The production is produced by Justin Scribner.

MICHELE PAWK (Lydia) Michele's Broadway credits include: Hairspray, Losing Louie, Mamma Mia, Hollywood Arms (Tony Award), Chicago, Seussical, Cabaret (Drama Desk & Outer Critics' Circle Award nominations), Triumph Of Love, Crazy For You (Drama Desk nomination), Mail. Off-Broadway she appeared in Giant, A Small Fire (Drama Desk & Lucille Lortel nominations), Mahida's Extra Key To Heaven, Flyovers, Prayer For My Enemy, The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs, The Paris Letter (Drama Desk nomination), Reefer Madness, After The Fair, Hello Again, Merrily We Roll Along, jon & jen, A Little Night Music. Regional favorites: Bounce (Helen Hayes nomination), Natural History. Television appearances include: "Law & Order" (7x) and some fabulous shows from the 80's. She can be heard on 14 Original Cast Albums. Michele is a proud faculty member in the Theatre Department at Wagner College.

STEPHANIE DiMAGGIO (Co-Author/Vera). Broadway: A Free Man Of Color (LCT) Off-Broadway: Exile (Cherry Lane), Love's Labor's Lost (NYSF) Regional: All My Sons (Huntington Theatre Co.), Italian American Reconciliation (Long Wharf Theatre) Haroun And The Sea..., Bloody Mary (Williamstown Theater Festival). TV / Film: "The Good Wife," "Person of Interest," "Rubicon," "Cupid," "Law and Order" and the film Generation Um. As a writer, her first play Spearing The Heavens was developed at The Williamstown Theater Festival, and her first co- authored feature film, Smart Girls, is currently in development with Beech Hill Films. BA: Fordham University at Lincoln Center. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program.

ANTON DUDLEY (Author). Anton Dudley's Off-Broadway credits include Substitution (Playwrights Realm featuring Jan Maxwell), Getting Home (Second Stage Theatre Uptown), Slag Heap (Cherry Lane Theater), and Honor and the River (Theater Row). Regional productions include A Dram of Drummhicit [co-written with Arthur Kopit] (LaJolla Playhouse directed by Christopher Ashley), Cold Hard Cash (Williamstown Theater Festival), Honor and the River (Walnut Street Theater & Luna Stage), Davy & Stu (Ensemble Studio Theater), and The Lake's End (Adirondack Theater Festival). His work has been commissioned and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theater Workshop, Signature Theater (directed by Eric Shaeffer), Hangar Theater, Eugene O'Neill Musical Theater Conference (directed by Joe Calarco), City Theater, New York Stage & Film (7 seasons), and MCC Theater, and is published by Sam French, Playscripts, and Vintage. Letters to the End of the World was a Finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Award in LGBT Drama.

STELLA POWELL-JONES (Director).Recent directing credits include plays by Lauren Morelli, Brian Watkins & Marco Ramirez for Lesser America's Just Right Just Now, Will Arbery's Yield Bitch for Communal Spaces Festival, Heidi Schreck's Hello Ms. for F It Club's Spring Fling,Tommy Smith's The True Drug Stories of Jim Simpson for The Flea, Chris Macdonald's The Eye of the Needle at the Bush Theatre, London. Stella has developed work with Playwrights Realm, Red Bull Theatre Co., Williamstown Theatre Festival, Colt Coeur, Renegade Theatre (London, UK) Painted Filly Theatre Co. (Dublin, UK). Upcoming projects include Wet Glitter by Lucile Scott with music by Julia Weldon and Ted Limpert at IRT & The Love of Three Oranges for Williamstown Theater Festival.