SOUTHERN COMFORTS to Play NJ's Bickford Theatre

It's War-Between-The-States once again in the New Jersey Premiere of Kathleen Clark's Off Broadway hit, SOUTHERN COMFORTS, running Thursday, November 20, to Sunday, December 14, at the Bickford Theatre, 6 Normandy Heights Road, in Morristown, NJ.

Bickford Theatre Artistic Director Eric Hafen stages this romantic comedy, set in Morris County, New Jersey, in which two septuagenarians--a feisty, vivacious grandma from Tennessee and an uptight, stubborn Yankee widower--find a second chance at love. When Amanda Cross sweeps into the life of a set-in-his-ways retiree, Gus Klingman, sparks are bound to fly. Through a thunderstorm, baseball game, and church socials, they find each other and fall in love!

This charming, funny, and very romantic romp stars NJ theatre favorites Michele LaRue and Jerry Marino (Broadway's Tony Award-winning A View from the Bridge). A valentine to autumnal romance, SOUTHERN COMFORTS is as refreshing as a cool glass of iced tea on a hot summer's day!

MICHÈLE LARUE (Amanda) has performed in New York City at New Dramatists, The Actors Studio, the Harold Clurman Theatre, Theatre at St. Clements, The Lark Theatre Company, and others. Favorite roles in Manhattan have ranged from Agatha, the free spirit who propels Jennifer Camp's new Key West; to Katherine, who struggles through Robert Anderson's poignant Silent Night, Lonely Night. Off-Off Broadway LaRue created Irene, a bereaved but feisty bag lady, in Michael Bruck's Encounters in Passaic; and, for Equity Library Theatre, Dinah, the bitter indentured servant in A New England Legend (adapted by Estelle Ritchie from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter).

Ms. LaRue tours nationally with several one-woman plays--Eve's Diary (Gayle Stahlhuth's adaptation of several Mark Twain stories): The Yellow Wallpaper; Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Monologue; and Places, Please, Act One. She has played over 200 performances of these productions in 12 states, from Maine to Oklahoma, Minnesota to Virginia.

JERRY MARINO (Gus) is the Founder and past Managing Director of NJ's Alliance Repertory Theatre Company. His professional stage credits include Mr. Lipari in the '98 Tony Award- winning Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge (with Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney), Coach in Hitting for the Cycle at 12 Miles West, and Earl in Adult Fiction at New Jersey Repertory Company. He played Donny in Alliance Rep's inaugural production of American Buffalo, named one of the twelve best productions in NJ in '99. Other company roles include Gaston in Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Fire Capt. Nick in Anne Nelson's tribute to 911, The Guys.

Main Stage Series performances are Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $28 for Morris Museum and Bickford Theatre Guild members, $35 for general public, $30 for senior citizens, $15 for students 18 and under or those with a valid school ID, and $27 for groups of 10 or more.

Cast
Michele LaRue of Secaucus (Amanda) - NJ Regional: Centenary Stage, East Lynne Company, NJ Repertory Company; Other Regional: Lark Theatre Company, Bucks County Playhouse, Fulton Opera House, The Classic Theatre of NY.

Jerry Marino of Montclair (Gus) - Broadway: A View From the Bridge; Off-Broadway: John Housman Theatre, Shakespeare in the Park (NYC), Actor's Studio Theatre; NJ Regional: Alliance Repertory Company, NJ Repertory, 12 Miles West, Hunterdon Hills Playhouse.

Staff
Director: Eric Hafen
Set Designer: John Hobbie of Somerset, NJ
Lighting Designer: Roman Klima of Metuchen, NJ
Costume Designer: Frances Harrison of Summit, NJ
Properties Mistress: Dani Pietrowski of Long Valley, NJ
Sound Designer: Pasquale DeNegri of Wanaque, NJ

The Bickford Theatre (Eric Hafen, Artistic Director) is a professional theatre that produces and presents year-round entertainment, including a Main Stage Series, two Children's Theatre series, and a Jazz Showcase. The theatre is a Senior Member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a not-for-profit organization of 30 professional theatres throughout the state, and works in conjunction with Actors' Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. From its beginnings in 1994 to the present, thousands of theater-goers from across the tri-state area have enjoyed the Bickford Theatre's many entertaining and diversified offerings in theatre, music and dance.

The Bickford Theatre is conveniently located at 6 Normandy Heights Road, in Morristown, New Jersey, within the Morris Museum. Box Office hours for phone sales are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Walk-up hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets for all 2009-2009 Season productions are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 973-971-3706 or visiting the Bickford Theatre at www.bickfordtheatre.org.

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