THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS Makes World Premiere Today at Stage Left Studio

Erica Herd and L.E. Swenson's breakout comedic masterpiece, THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS, will have its World Premiere today, June 16th at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street - between Seventh & Eighth Avenues - Sixth Floor) where it will play through Sunday, June 30th with the option to continue through September.

Directed by Cheryl King and technically designed by Alex Chmaj, it's a stunner.

If you are a mother or a daughter, if you know a mother or a daughter, if you have a family, if you know anyone with a family; this is the show for you. It'll change your life.

In this black comedy, Erica, a patient and steadfast woman with an already difficult mother, tries to make sense of a senseless disease - Alzheimer's. As THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS rolls by, the rest of her world threatens to fall apart, and we go along for the ride. It's a surreal and slapstick journey on an emotional rollercoaster, a jazz improvisation about life, death and love. But mostly about love.

THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS is based on a true story; the one about Erica Herd's mother, Katherine Lind, who was considered one of the best actresses working in New York during the 50's, 60's and 70's. Trained at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Goodman Theatre School, The Neighborhood Playhouse and the Herbert Berghof Studios, she was gorgeous, talented and a magnate for the adoring reviews heaped upon her graceful and beguiling head. Off-Broadway, she starred in I Am A Camera, The Diary of Anne Frank, Under Milkwood and The Seven Year Itch. She toured Nationally in A Little Night Music and (with the Helen Hayes Repertory Company) Hamlet and Twelfth Night. Regionally she was in demand; starring in The Corn is Green, The Glass Menagerie, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You like it, Hay Fever, Pygmalion, King of Hearts, Picnic, The Fifth Season, Solid Gold Cadillac andJulius Caesar. Her portrayal of 'Countess Livenbaum' in Anastasia was so well reviewed, the North Jersey Playhouse invited her back the following season to star as "Natalia' in their Mainstage Production of I Am A Camera. Her final performance in New York was in 1975 when she starred as Elizabeth I in Elizabeth the Queen, Maxwell Anderson's theatrical pas de deux of jealousy and power verbally danced by an omniscient queen and her royal favorite, an ambitious handsome general. The reviews were love letters.

Then it all stopped. Replaced by schizophrenia and eventually Alzheimer's disease.

THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS begins on January 2, 2011 when Erica Herd's 14-year-old cat, TULA, has been put to sleep after a valiant struggle with what her veterinarian believes to be lupus. All of TULA'S teeth were extracted, but she was able to enjoy paté almost until the end. TULA is survived by her feline companions, CLEO, MELVILLE and MOUSE, and her human caretakers, Lorin and Erica.

In the midst of numerous trips to the veterinarian and thousands of dollars in veterinary bills, Erica starts getting calls from her mother's landlord in the Bronx where Erica's Mom has been living in the building's basement apartment. Katherine Lind has been on disability for mental illness since 1980. The landlord has instituted an eviction notice. He is the fifth in a long line of landlords and tenants whom Erica's mother has accused of trying to poison her.

Thus continues THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS, 2011, a year that includes Katherine Lind's attempt to set her landlord's apartment on fire, a car crash, a certifiable neurologist at the NYU Medical Center, Dr. Oliver Wolf Sacks, a court hearing at the Brooklyn Office of Temporary And Disability Assistance, Hurricane Irene and the untimely deaths of CLEO (a large mass on her belly), MELVILLE (myocardial infarction) and MOUSE (stomach cancer).

2011 is also the year that marks the first time Erica Herd diapered her mother.

It is also the year that marked the completion of Erica and L. E. Swenson's play, THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS, a celebration of life and the transcendence of suffering that unconditional love offers to those open to its invitation.

Erica's Dad, the great character actor and film star, Richard Herd, says that Katherine Lind was " very gifted and talented and one of the best actresses he ever saw."

So is Erica Herd.

Performances play THE THEATRE at the STAGE LEFT STUDIO is located at 214 West 30 Street - between Seventh & Eighth Avenues - Sixth Floor. Tickets: $20. Reservations at www.stageleftstudio.net.

THE PLAYING SCHEDULE:
Sunday, June 16 at 2:00pm
Wednesday, June 19 at 7:30pm
Thursday, June 20 at 7:30pm
Friday, June 28 at 7:30pm
Saturday, June 29 at 7:30pm
Sunday, June 30 at 5:00pm

ABOUT ERICA HERD (Co-Author/Star): Erica Herd is a born (Jackson Heights, Queens) and bred New York performer. She received her bachelor's degree from Hunter College and was a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship in 1990. She studied improvisation at The Second City in NYC. She has appeared on the New York stage with the sketch comedy group Mini Red Satan to notable reviews as well as providing fun and spooky atmosphere for New York's visitors as a vampiric improv performer at the midtown Jekyll & Hyde Club. She has also performed as a cabaret singer in various city venues. In 2011, she made her opera debut (Haushofmeisterin) in dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's award-winning production ofAriadne auf Naxos. Her comic stylings have also been featured in a commercial for the USA network. Erica's writing credits include a blog under title "Erica K" on opensalon.com, parts of which were cross-published on Salon.com. In addition, her poetry has been published by U.K.-based Little Episodes, appearing in its journal Brainstorms in 2010. In 2012 she published a narrative memoir in Telling Our Stories Press' quarterly Roll, and her poetry appeared in The Awakenings Review.

ABOUT L.E. SWENSON (Co-Author): L. E. Swenson received his bachelor's degree in English from S.U.N.Y. Buffalo. He went on to study Theater at the New School for Social Research and received his Masters of Fine Arts in 1999. He has performed in regional theater at Buffalo's Irish Classical Theater and Shakespeare in Delaware Park. He has written, acted, coached and stage managed in the New York area and continues to write and work in New York.

ABOUT Cheryl King (Director): Cheryl King is the creator and producing director of Stage Left Studio, in NYC, was resident acting coach at All My Children from 2007-2010, and is a playwright, director and actor. She first began writing for herself as a mime, in 1979. In 1982 she wrote her first standup comedy routine, and within two months had embarked on her career as a touring comic. She worked in most of the US for the following 13 years - first as an opening act, moving quickly to middle act and for her last five years as a headliner. She moved to NYC in 1989, and wrote her first solo show, "not a nice girl" in 1996. "not a nice girl" was produced in LA, NYC, Chicago and Ft. Collins, CO. She studied acting with Carol Fox Prescott (NYC) and Rod Menzies (LA), playwriting with Jeffrey Sweet (NYC) and improvisation with Gary Austin (NYC) and Michael Gellman (Second City). She began teaching writing workshops in 1999, both in NYC and in Los Angeles, traveling there every six weeks to teach multiple workshops. In NYC, she teaches a weekly writing workshop, which has generated several plays, including Michelle Ramoni's June and Nancy, and Margaret Morrison's Home in Her Heart, which Cheryl also directed. Cheryl created the long-running series Forbidden Kiss LIVE which plays monthly at Stage Left Studio, and for which she regularly writes sketches for herself and other cast members. She wrote the Adventures of Naughty Nurse Elza for Elza Zagreda, portions of which have been performed in Forbidden Kiss LIVE and which will be presented as a full-length show in 2013. She regularly creates new sketches for The Podcasters, an episodic play for herself and TC Corwin, which is performed in Forbidden Kiss and will be presented at Stage Left in 2014. She has served as dramaturge for over 50 actor/playwrights, including award-winning playwright/performers Joe Hutcheson and Frank Blocker. Director/dramaturge credits include: Cyndi Freeman - Inside Cherry Pitz, Beth Bongar - Jews Don't Join the Circus, Anne Wally - Blue Car, River Huston - Sex, Cellulite and Large Farm Equipment, Cheryl Smallman - Dreamless, Susan Rankus - Renaissance, Theresa Gambacorta - Breaking the Glass, The Vegas Project, Marlene Nichols - No Change Given, Joe Hutcheson - Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown, Geography of a Nervous Breakdown, Son of a Hutch, Frank Blocker - Southern Gothic Novel, Stabilized Not Controlled, Taren Sterry - 180 Days, Karen Thibodeau - I Do, I Do, in Delhi, Margaret Morrison - Home in Her Heart, The Loves of Miss Jimmie LeRoy, Elizabeth Claire Taylor - Finding Elizabeth Taylor, Karen Sklaire - Drama at the Point, Erica Herd - The Year of Dead Cats, William LoCasto plays - 4:01, TEST TEST, Podcasters, The Adventures of Naughty Nurse Elza.

ABOUT ALEX CHNAJ (Technical Director/Designer): Whether it's unique narratives, props, sets, special effects, or even entire worlds, ALEX CHMAJ loves to create content. From 2004-2009, Chmaj helped organize numerous interfaith charity events and concerts around the greater eastside area of Seattle, Washington. Energized by the possibilities of digital technology, Alex Chmaj moved to New York City in 2009 to work as a freelance multimedia designer under the tutelage of 21st Century Art's Frank Coleman. Over the last 8 years, he's acquired working experience in: film and theatrical production from start to finish, street performance, live jazz and punk rock, and more software, carpentry, and tech experience than he has time to list. His most notable award at this juncture is the 2010 United Solo Festival's "Best Multimedia Performance" for the show "Tenderpits". He is currently at work on numerous projects with other film and theatre contacts throughout NYC, and is always on the lookout for more.

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