Photo Flash: WHEN IT HAPPENS TO YOU Opens At The Sheen Center

When It Happens to You, a new play by New York Times best-selling writer Tawni O'Dell (Back Roads, Angels Burning), is now playing at off-Broadway at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC) through November 10. The official opening is Sunday, October 13 at 7:30PM.

It doesn't fade over time. It metastasizes. A sexual assault can last a matter of minutes, but the subsequent disintegration can last a lifetime. This is true for the victim and the family surrounding her. A mother. A brother. Even a pet. Based on her personal experience, Tawni O'Dell's theatrical memoir, When It Happens to You, is about a mother's struggle to help restore a sense of safety and wholeness to her family after her daughter was the victim of a brutal attack. It's a journey that continues to this day, nearly five years since she received that middle of the night phone call every parent dreads.

"The first time I held my daughter after she was born I made a silent promise to her I would always protect her," says Tawni O'Dell. "Then came a night in our future when that promise was shattered. I couldn't protect her from the man who stalked her through the streets of her beloved New York City, broke into her home, and assaulted her," says Tawni O'Dell. "During the next few years, her life fell apart and so did my own as I tried to help her deal with the fallout from this awful crime. As a way to help make sense of what we were going through, I did what writers do: I wrote about it. I didn't know if I would ever share our story with the world, but I'm proud to say my daughter has decided that we should in the hopes that we might be able to help other victims and their families. Rape touches just about every one of us. More women are sexually assaulted in this country than are affected by heart disease and breast cancer combined. To say it is an epidemic, is not hyperbole."

In When It Happens to You, O'Dell is joined on stage by actors E. Clayton Cornelious, Connor Lawrence, and Kelly Swint.

When It Happens to You features a scenic design by Rob Bissinger and Anita LaScala, costume design by David C. Woolard, lighting design by Daisy Long, and sound design by Caroline Eng.

Associate Producers are Joseph Parone, Sandra Maxwell Brooks/Kimberly JaJuan, and Marcia Roberts.

Tawni O'Dell is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels including Back Roads which was an Oprah Winfrey Book Club selection and was recently made into a film with a screenplay adapted by Tawni. She also wrote and co-produced the popular audio drama, Rewrites. Her novels have been published in over 40 countries. Tawni grew up in western Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Northwestern University.

When It Happens to You plays a limited engagement through November 10 off-Broadway at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC) in the Loreto Theater. Tickets are available online at www.WhenItHappensPlay.com, by phone at 212-925-2812, or in-person at The Sheen Center box office.

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