How To Make An American Family Premieres At Midtown Int'l Theatre Fest 7/15

The Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival has announced that it will present the world premiere of How to Make an American Family, written and performed by Jeff Seabaugh and directed by Samuel Buggeln, as part of its 10th Anniversary Festival. How to Make an American Family will play the following schedule at the Jewel Box Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, Fourth Floor East: Wednesday July 15 at 9:00 PM; Friday July 17 at 6:00 PM; Saturday July 25 at 11:30 AM; Tuesday July 28 at 6:30 PM; Saturday August 1 at 6:30 PM; and Sunday August 2 at 6:00 PM.

Ever feel like you didn't belong-in your own family? How to Make an American Family follows one gay man as he grapples with that very question-while caring for his terminally ill mother, inheriting his developmentally disabled aunt, and finally forming a family of his own through adoption. How to Make an American Family is an outsider's story of finding family against all odds.

Jeff Seabaugh plays over 15 colorful characters-from the Deep South to Manhattan-as he weaves a tale both heartwarming and humorous about the making of another kind of American family.

Told through flashbacks and flashes forward, How to Make an American Family leads Seabaugh back to his childhood home in Arkansas to confront the ghosts of family past while caring for his dying mother. From her he inherits his developmentally disabled aunt, suddenly making him a de-facto parent to a woman 20 years his senior. That experience readies him for the challenge and adventure of adopting three children from the foster care system and finally forming a family of his own.

An actor, director, and playwright, Jeff Seabaugh originally hails from Arkansas, the state that in 2008 approved the Unmarried Couples Adoption Ban. The ban made it illegal for any individuals cohabiting outside of a valid marriage to adopt or provide foster care to minors. While the measure was proposed primarily to prohibit same-sex couples from being adoptive or foster parents, this measure also applies to all otherwise qualified couples who are not legally married. Seabaugh has performed with the National Shakespeare Company, American Globe Theatre, Jean Cocteau Repertory, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has directed off-Broadway and regionally, and was co-founder of the off-off-Broadway company NativeAliens Theatre Collective, where his first play, In My Dreams, premiered.

Director Samuel Buggeln has directed numerous off-Broadway productions including Rum and Vodka and Drama Desk nominated Cressida Among Greeks (Ohio Theatre), Bedbugs!!! (NYMF), Go-Go Kitty, GO! (FringeNYC/Lucille Lortel), Agamemnon vs. Liberace (HERE), and New Day (Theatre for a New City), among others. His regional credits include productions at Capital Rep (Albany), Portland Stage (Portland, ME), Mason Street Warehouse (Saugatuck, MI), and several theatres in Vancouver.

How to Make an American Family plays the following schedule at the Jewel Box Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, Fourth Floor East: Wednesday July 15 at 9:00 PM; Friday July 17 at 6:00 PM; Saturday July 25 at 11:30 AM; Tuesday July 28 at 6:30 PM; Saturday August 1 at 6:30 PM; and Sunday August 2 at 6:00 PM. Tickets are $18 and may be purchased by visiting www.midtownfestival.org or by phoning 866-811-4111. For more information, visit www.midtownfestival.org.