Susan Louise O'Connor and More Join Cast of Abingdon's BODEGA BAY, Now thru 2/17

Abingdon Theatre Company - which has produced more than 78 new American plays in its 20-year history - continues its 2012-2013 Season with the world premiere of BODEGA BAY by Elisabeth Karlin (THE MOONCALF), set to begin previews tonight, January 25, prior to its official press opening February 3, at the Abingdon Theatre Company's Dorothy Strelsin Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Sturgis Warner, who recently helmed Najla Said's PALESTINE, directs. Performances run through February 17.

In BODEGA BAY, nobody notices or remembers Louise Finch (Susan Louise O'Connor). With her life in shambles, this shy and awkward soul who has never ventured beyond Staten Island, sets out into the dangerous unknown to find the mother who left her and her troubled brother years earlier. It is a strange and zany odyssey that hurls Louise across a country populated by the peculiar and turns this insignificant spectator into an active participant in a chaotic world.

The ensemble of BODEGA BAY includes Susan Louise O'Connor (BLITHE SPIRIT, NEVER SWIM ALONE) as Louise, with Peter Brouwer (LOST ON THE Natchez Trace), Brian McManamon, Gerardo Rodriguez, Nancy Rodriguez, and OBIE Award-winner Rae C Wright (Taylor Mac's THE LILY'S REVENGE, THE BREAKS with Deb Margolin).

BODEGA BAY features set design by Andrew Lu; lighting design by Matthew McCarthy; costume design by Isabel Rubio; and sound design by David Margolin Lawson. Craig Rosenthal is Production Stage Manager; NJ Agwuna is Assistant Stage Manager.

Elisabeth Karlin returns to the Abingdon Theatre Company where her play THE MOONCALF was produced, and then represented in The Best Stage Scenes of 2001 (Smith and Kraus). She is a two-time winner of the Jerry Kaufman Award in Playwriting, honored in 2012 for BODEGA BAY, and previously for WILD MEN OF THE WOODS, a play also selected for The Lark's Playwrights Week. LUCY'S LAST DATE was produced at The Third Street Theatre in Los Angeles. Ms. Karlin also writes about the cinema for film journals and is currently a popular contributor to the blog "Alfred Hitchcock Geek," known among film scholars and movie buffs as "The best Hitchcock blog on the internet." An inlet of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of northern California, Bodega Bay was the setting for the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film "The Birds." In homage to the location, Ms. Karlin's script features nearly 200 Hitchcock references.

Sturgis Warner is a freelance director as well as Artistic Director of Twilight Theatre Company. A long time actor, he works with many playwrights developing new work. For Abingdon, Karlin's THE MOONCALF, as well as SWIMMING WITH STURGEON by Ezra Goldstein. For Twilight, Najla Said's PALESTINE, Ted LoRusso's FIRST DAY. Other directing: The Kitchen (Ithaca,), Adirondack Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, New Jersey Rep, Mile Square Theatre, and Encore Theatre (San Francisco), among others. He is a member of New York Theatre Workshop's "Usual Suspects"; is on the Artistic Cabinet of The Lark Play Development Center; and is active with INTAR. He is also currently working on his solo play, FISHING FOR ALASKA.

Abingdon Theatre Company's upcoming 20th season also includes Robert Brustein's THE LAST WILL, directed by Austin Pendleton (April 5-May 5, 2013); and Michael Bonnabel's THE GOOD BOY, directed by Darin Anthony (April 26-May 19, 2013). Dorothy Streslin productions are Equity Approved Showcases.

BODEGA BAY runs tonight, January 25-February 17: Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 2pm (with the following exception: Sunday, February 3 at 5pm) at Abingdon Theatre Company (312 West 36th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Tickets are $25. For tickets, call 212-868-2055 or visit www.abingdontheatre.org.

Peter Brouwer has worked with Abingdon Theatre Company since its beginning, as an actor, production manager, set builder, and benefit auctioneer. He has performed in Hail to the Chef, Jan Buttram's Lost on the Natchez Trace and Glory Girls, Barton Bishop's God's Daughter, and John Epperson's My Deah.

Brian McManamon received a New York Innovative Theatre Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance in It or Her, part of the soloNOVA Arts Festival. Brian was most recently seen in The Clearing, produced by Axial Theatre and directed by Josh Hecht. He has played leading roles at regional theaters around the country. MFA from Yale School of Drama. www.BrianMcManamon.com.

Susan Louise O'Connor:Blithe Spirit on Broadway (Theatre World Award, Dorothy Loudon Fellowship, Outer Critics Circle Nom.). Other theatre credits include productions with: Rattlestick Theatre, Urban Stages, Huntington Theatre, Premiere Stages, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, St. Louis Rep., Barrington Stage, Collaboration Town, Portland Stage, Packawallop, La MaMa, Flux Ensemble, Zootopia, and Resonance Ensemble.

Gerardo Rodriguez: Theatre: Elemeno Pea (Humana Festival - ATL); Dramatis Personae (Playwrights Realm), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Mixed Blood Theatre), American Jornalero (Working Theater), Kingdom (Old Globe), The Leak (INTAR), Milk-N-Honey (Lightbox Theatre), Kingdom (NYMF, Public Theater/QTP), The Cherry Orchard (Atlantic Theater Company), and many more..

Nancy Rodriguez is excited to be making her Abingdon Theatre Company debut with one of her favorite directors, Sturgis Warner. Broadway: Cymbeline (Lincoln Center). Other Theater: Last of Bernarda (Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre), HELP! (Schoolhouse Theater), Animus, Tetralogy (INTAR), Donna Morelli (New York Stage and Film), Charlotte's Web (Two River Theater), Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare Theater), and many more.

Rae C Wright was the understudy for Hannah Pitt in the Signature Theatre production of Angels in America. She is the recipient of an OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence in the Theatre for her work with the NY Street Theatre Caravan. She is author of Vicki Weaver & I... (a comedy about hate), The Moon in Vain, (a 'fifth act' to The Seagull), Animal Instincts! Tales of Flesh and Tales of Blood, and the most recently produced She's Just Away!, a comedy about grieving (seen at the Puffin Cultural Forum in October).

An Equity approved Showcase. All actors appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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