FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

PRESS CONTACT: Brett Singer (212) 307-7181

Urban Stages (Frances Hill, Artistic Director, Sonia Kozlova, Managing Director)
Directed by Susan Fenichell

By Special Arrangement with Sonny Everett and Ashley Gates

To Present The American Premiere Of

Marion Bridge

A Play by Daniel MacIvor

October 1^st through November 13^th

Opening Set for Thursday, October 6^th

At 259 West 30^th Street (between 7^th and 8^th)

Urban Stages is pleased to announce the first show of their 2005-2006 season with the American premiere of MARION BRIDGE, a play by Daniel MacIvor. Performances will be at 259 West 30^th Street (between 7^th and 8^th) and will begin on Saturday, October 1^st.

MARION BRIDGE is the humorous and touching story of three sisters who return home to care for their Mother. Trapped by life choices and unfulfilled expectations that have left them isolated, the three women search for the courage to create a new family from the remnants of the old.

Daniel MacIvor is one of Canada’s most well-known and respected contemporary playwrights; he is the recipient of The Governor General’s Award, one of Canada’s most prestigious arts honors. His other plays include Never Swim Alone (1998 FringeNYC Award), In On It (OBIE Award, GLAAD Award), and See Bob Run, all of which enjoyed successful runs in New York City. He will have plays produced this season at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio; the Alliance Theatre in Washington, DC; and the Encore Theatre in San Francisco, CA. “Willby Wonderful,” A film he co-wrote and stars in with Sandra Oh, is currently making the rounds of film festivals in the United States and Canada.

Director Susan Fenichell’s credits include The Dead Eye Boy at MCC (starring Lili Taylor), The Faculty Room at the Humana Festival, as well as productions at NYU, ACT and the National Theatre Conservatory. She most recently directed Burn This for the Huntington Theater and John Adams’ opera The Death of Klinghoffer at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

The cast of MARION BRIDGE includes Susan Louise O’Connor (Girls Town, Actors’ Playhouse; Daniel MacIvor’s Never Swim Alone, Soho Playhouse; and Daniel MacIvor’s See Bob Run with the Rattlestick Theatre), Christa Scott-Reed (Burn This, The Signature Theatre; The Bald Soprano, The Atlantic Theater Company and The Voysey Inheritance, The Mint Theater) and Henny Russell (Major Barbara, Roundabout Theatre Co; Boy Gets Girl, Manhattan Theatre Club and Fuddy Meers, Minetta Lane Theatre).

Established in 1983, Urban Stages’ mission is to discover and develop new plays by authors of diverse cultural backgrounds. Urban Stages has had two highly acclaimed commercial transfers, Minor Demons and Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown, which won an Outer Critic’s Circle Award. In 2004, Urban Stages’ critically acclaimed production of The Sweepers transferred up to Capital Rep in Albany where it broke box office records.

The schedule for MARION BRIDGE will be Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets will be $40.00 and may be purchased by calling Smarttix.com at 212-868-4444, or online at www.urbanstages.org. Memberships still available for the three-show 2005-2006 season: Daniel MacIvor’s Marion Bridge, Stanton Wood’s The Snow Queen and Eisa Davis’ Bulrusher.

Marion Bridge

A Play by Daniel MacIvor

At Urban Stages, 259 West 30^th Street (between 7^th and 8^th avenues)

SCHEDULE:

Saturday, October 1^st through Sunday, November 13^th

Opening Night: Thursday, October 6^th

Tuesdays through Saturdays @ 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays @ 2pm

TICKETS: Previews (October 1^st – 5^th), $15; all other performances, $40

Call Smarttix.com at 212-868-4444, or visit www.urbanstages.org

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