American Stage Begins 2013-14 Season with THE BIRDS Tonight

American Stage Theatre Company is excited to announce their 2013-2014 season opening production, THE BIRDS by the acclaimed Irish Playwright Conor McPherson (The Seafarer). Previews are tonight and tomorrow, October 2 & 3. Opening Night is October 4 and the production runs through October 27.

THE BIRDS is based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's legendary film. This suspenseful adaptation by acclaimed Irish playwright Conor McPherson (The Seafarer) is an emotionally stirring thriller that will keep patrons on The Edge of their seat. This production is set in a seaside town where masses of birds have begun to violently attack at high tide, driving two strangers to take refuge in an abandoned cottage. With no electricity and little food, hope wanes...then a mysterious young woman shows up, and the struggle for survival really begins.

Todd Olson*+ is directing and handling the sound design for American Stage Theatre's production of THE BIRDS, which will be performed in two acts with one intermission. Todd Olson*+ is the Artistic Director and in his eleventh season here at American Stage Theatre Company. He is this year's recipient of the Florida Professional Theatre Association's Richard G. Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theatre. Todd has directed over 150 plays, musicals, and operas, including My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, (which he co-created) at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville, and I Left My Heart (also co-created) which he will direct at Milwaukee Rep this summer. For American Stage, Todd has directed over 30 plays, including some which have been recognized by Creative Loafing as "Best of the Bay" Awards for "Top-10 Productions of the Year" and "Best Director," including Stones in His Pockets, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Much Ado About Nothing, Anna in the Tropics, and The Seafarer. Other American Stage favorites include Suddenly Last Summer, Three Days of Rain, The Exonerated (with Sandy Duncan and Antonio Tarver), I Am My Own Wife, Dennis Lehane'sCoronado, Dinner with Friends, This Wonderful Life, August: Osage County, and The Amish Project.

The cast includes Roxanne Fay* (Diane), Richard B. Watson* (Nat), Gretchen Porro (Julia), and Joseph Parra* (Tierney). Both Richard and Joseph will be returning to our mainstage.Richard B. Watson* last worked with Todd Olson in An Ideal Husband and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He was born and raised in Wilmington, NC and now lives in New York City. Recent credits include the role of Cardinal Wolsey in Henry VIII at Pennsylvania Shakespeare, James Lawson in David Mamet's Race at Human Race Theater in Dayton, OH, and originated the role of Long John Silver in the world premier of Treasure Island, A New Musical at Arkansas Rep. New York credits include Devils Disciple at Irish Rep, Serendib at Ensemble Studio Theater, and Venus Flytrap at Active Theater. Film/TV work includes PS, I Love You, "Law & Order CI", "Delocated", Art=(Love)², and a pilot, "Powerless", for FX. He was awarded his M.F.A. from the Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University/Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Joseph Parra* was last seen at American Stage as Dr. Kelekian in Wit, as well as roles inAugust: Osage County, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Sleuth, The Drawer Boy, Little Shop of Horrors, The Taming of the Shrew, Golf with Alan Shepard, Anna in the Tropics, and Much Ado About Nothing. Joseph just finished a very successful run of Heroes with Banyan Theater in Sarasota, Stageworks' 10-minute Playwright Fest, and SATP's Blown By the Wind. Other regional credits include Asolo Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Wayside Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Alhambra Dinner Theatre, Show Palace Dinner Theatre, Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, and others. Movie fans may remember him in "The Godfather", "Zelig", "Wrong is Right", Lovesick", "Eddie and the Cruisers", as well as infomercials for Publix and Remington. TV audiences may remember him as John Thom on "Ryan's Hope".

Roxanne Fay* and Gretchen Porro will both be making their debut on the Mainstage at American Stage. Roxanne is an actor, writer, and former Producing Artistic Director for the Oak Park Festival Theatre in Chicago. She is the first recipient of the Jeff Norton Dream Grant, awarded by Theatre Tampa Bay, to fund the creation and production of her newest play, Upon This Rock, which will premiere locally in 2014. Her recent roles in the Tampa Bay area include Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (Dali Museum and the Studio@620), Much Ado About Nothing (Jobsite), Cabaret, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, An Empty Plate At The Cafe Du Grand Boeuf, and The Wild Party (freeFall), Side Man (Banyan), Death And The Maiden (A Simple Theatre), and My Unspeakable Confessions: Gala Dali Declines To Explain Herself (created for the Dali Museum). Chicago credits includeAs You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV & V, Agnes Of God, and The Elephant Man.Hawaii credits include The Winter's Tale, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To the Forum,and Lost (ABC Television).

Gretchen Porro is also making her American Stage debut. Gretchen was last seen as Chris inDancing at Lughnasa at Palm Beach Dramaworks. Other credits include Miss Chasen in Once in a Lifetime (Asolo Rep), Regina in Ghosts (Banyan Theater), Betty Paris in The Crucible (St. Louis Rep and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), and Adele in Jane Eyre (Gorilla Theater). Gretchen earned Sarasota Magazine's Critics Choice for her performances in reason to be pretty and Two Gentlemen of Verona. International credits include The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland; and New York credits include Tabitha in Blind Love (Dalliance Theater Company, where she is a co-founder). Gretchen has her Masters Degree from FSU/Asolo Theater Conservatory as well as her B.F.A. from Webster University.

In addition to Todd Olson's Directing and Sound Design, the Artistic Staff also includes;Jeffrey W. Dean# as Scenic Designer, Jerid Fox as Properties Master, Joseph P. Oshry# as Lighting Designer, Mike and Kathy Buck Designs as Costume Designers, Karla Hartley* andMiriam Rocheford as Production Stage Managers, Timon Brown as Technical Director andLori Shannon as Assistant Lighting Designer.

* = a member of Actors' Equity Association; # = a member of the United Scenic Artists union;
+ = a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: Conor McPherson - McPherson was born in Dublin, the son of a business and accounting teacher, and educated at University College. He is considered one of the best contemporary Irish playwrights. The Seafarer premiered on Broadway in 2007 and earned Tony Award nominations for "Best Play" and "Best Director". The London production that preceded that earned Laurence Olivier and Evening Standard nominations for "Best Play". Other plays include Poor Beast in the Rain, Port Authority, Dublin Carol (premiered on Broadway in 2002), The Weir (premiered on Broadway in 1999), St Nicholas and This Lime Tree Bower. His plays have been performed across the United States, as well as in Ireland, England, Germany, France, Australia, Poland, Italy, Japan, Argentina and Uruguay. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 2006 for Shining City, and was nominated for the 2002 South Bank Show Award for "Best Play" for Port Authority. He received the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for "Best Play", the Evening Standard "Most Promising Playwright", the Critics Circle Award for "Most Promising Playwright", and was a finalist for the Lloyds Bank "Playwright of the Year" Award for The Weir. He was the joint winner of 1997 George Devine Award and the winner of the Meyer Whitworth Award for Saint Nicholas. His last Broadway play was the Tony-nominated A Behanding in Spokane.

ABOUT THE WRITER: DAME Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989) - English author and playwright. Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca (which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941) and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now. The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the latter by Nicolas Roeg. It was in her short stories that she was able to give free rein to the harrowing and terrifying side of her imagination; The Birds, Don't Look Now, The Apple Tree andThe Blue Lenses are exquisitely crafted tales of terror that shocked and surprised her audience in equal measure.

THE BIRDS by the acclaimed Irish Playwright Conor McPherson. Previews are October 2 & 3. Opening Night is October 4 and the production runs through October 27.

Special Performances:
"Pay What You Can" Night - Wednesday, October 2 @ 8pm

Mainstage Lecture Series for THE BIRDS:
September 29 @ 1pm - 2:30pm
Guest Speaker: Joseph Oshry

Performances are Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm. Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 3pm.

2013-2014 Performance Pricing:
$29 Thursday Previews
$39 Wednesday, Thursday Evenings and Saturday and Sunday Matinees
$49 Friday and Saturday Evenings
$59 Opening Night - includes pre-performance reception

Student Advance tickets are $20.
Students Rush tickets are $10, 30 minutes prior to curtain.
Senior Discount - Receive $2 dollars off single tickets.
Active military tickets are FREE with valid military I.D. presented to our box office for serving our country. They will also receive 20% off additional tickets for friends and family. Please contact the box office for further details.
Group Ticket Pricing Packages are also available. For tickets, call the American Stage Box Office at (727) 823-PLAY (7529)

American Stage Theatre Company is located at the Raymond James Theatre, 163 3rd Street North in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

AMERICAN STAGE THEATRE COMPANY is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1977. The company's mission is to create the most satisfying Live Theatre in the Tampa Bay area, accessible to all members of the community. Their vision is to preserve the greatest human stories from our past, while creating the most defining stories and storytelling of our time. American Stage presents its Mainstage Series in its, 182-seat Raymond James Theatre each year.

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