Bern Cohen, Janet Sarno & More to Lead New Federal Theatre's EVERY DAY A VISITOR; Cast Announced

Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre announces the cast for the second play of its ambitious 44th season, Richard Abrons' Every Day A Visitor,which will begin performances November 2nd at The Clurman Theater (at Theater Row) and continuing through December 14th. Opening Night is set for Thursday November 14th.

Margarett Perry directs a cast that includes Bern Cohen, Irma-Estel LaGuerre, George Morfogen, Henry Packer, Joan Porter, Evan Thompson, Raphael Nash Thompson, Teddy Coluca, and Janet Sarno. Every Day A Visitor will have scenic design by David L Arsenault, lighting design by Travis McHale, costume design by Gail Cooper-Hecht, and sound design by Mark Bruckner.

Richard Abrons' Every Day a Visitor is a comedy set in a Jewish home for the aged in the Bronx. The residents are cranky, argumentative about their surroundings and each other. To change their perspective and respect for each other, they each play-act somebody famous. This leads to a renewed vitality, imaginative relationships and plain old-fashioned fun.

Richard Abrons has received productions of his plays in New York and Los Angeles, including The Body Politic (59E59), Three Travelers (Odyssey Theater L.A. and St. Clements - NYC), Whose Family Values (Clurman), Every Day a Visitor (McGinn-Cazale), and The Brothers Berg (Here). He has published more than twenty short stories and won a National Magazine Fiction Award for his story, "Every Day a Visitor." A compilation of his stories, titled Every Day a Visitor and other stories (Nightingale Press) includes the award winning story and "Sleepy," nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He is a retired partner from First Manhattan Co., an investment management firm he helped found in 1964. He is vice chairman and past president of the Henry Street Settlement and a director of The Bronx Children's Museum and Grow NYC. At Grow NYC he established the Plant-a-Lot program, which is responsible for over sixty park/gardens in poor communities and is still going strong. He is president of The Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation, which has given away over a hundred and ten million dollars over the past 30 years. At the Huffington Post he has an established blog that reflects his observations and opinions. At eighty-six, Richard is older than most of his aged characters in Every Day a Visitor. More than he did thirteen years ago, when the play was first produced, he relates to their fears, their fight for recognition and their brave humor despite their physical decline.

Margarett Perry is an award-winning director of new plays. She directed the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Clean Alternativesby Brian Dykstra at 59E59 Theaters that went on to win the Fringe First Award at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Other recent Off-Broadway premieres include Call Me Waldo by Rob Ackerman (The Working Theatre), A Play On Words by Brian Dykstra (59E59), First Prize by Israela Margalit (Kef Productions/ Arclight), Spill The Wine by Brian Dykstra (GayFest NYC) and Mother Tongue by FJ Hartland (GayFest NYC). She collaborated with Richard Abrons on his romantic comedy The Body Politic and directed the sold-out world premiere at 59E59 Theaters. Richard and Margarett are working together on his latest play, In A Dry Season, at the Lark Play Development Center. Perry is a regular at The Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca where she has directed over a dozen productions including world premieres by Rachel Axler, Brian Dykstra, Rob Ackerman and Darian Dauchan as well as classics including Old Times andPrivate Lives and most recently The Motherfucker With The Hat. She is also a regular at the Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, Ohio where she has directed God Of Carnage, Painting Churches, The Retreat From Moscow and most recently the world premiere of Michael Slade's Under A Red Moon. Her HRTC productions have won DayTony Awards for Best Overall Production and Best Ensemble. Other regional credits include Arizona Theatre Company, Carnegie Performing Arts Center, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, The Marsh, Penguin Rep, Texas Shakespeare, Passage Theatre, New Hope PAF, Colonial Theatre, Marilyn Monroe Theatre and the Whitefire Theatre (Los Angeles). Margarett has worked on many solo shows including the extended Off-Broadway run of Brian Dykstra's The Jesus Factor at the Barrow Street Theatre. Other favorites include Lee Blessing's Chesapeake (Kitchen Theatre), Vickie Tanner'sRunning Into Me (Queens Theatre in the Park), Carlo D'Amore's No Parole (Sacramento Theatre Company), Brian Dykstra Cornered & Alone (Triad) Rachel Lampert's The Soup Comes Last (Kitchen) and Darian Dauchan's Entertainer's Eulogy (Playhouse on the Square). Perry was the Producing Artistic Director of Access Theater in NYC for six years where she directed and produced numerous plays and world premieres. She is an Artistic Fellow at The Lark Play Development Center where she has worked with a variety of writers developing new plays. Margarett is a Drama League Directing Fellow alumni and a member of the SDC. www.margarettperry.com

Woodie King Jr. is the Founder and Producing Director of New Federal Theatre. Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre has presented over 250 productions in its 44-year history. Mr. King has produced and directed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in regional theatres, and in universities across the United States. He is the original producer of the ground breaking "choreopoem" For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, (The play was then co-produced by NFT with Joseph Papp's Public Theatre). He also produced What the Wine Sellers Buy, Reggae and The Taking of Miss Janie (Drama Critics Circle Award). His directional credits are extensive and include work in film as well as theater. Mr. King was recently inducted into The Theater Hall of Fame for outstanding contribution to the American Theater.

For more information, visit www.newfederaltheatre.com or call NFT at 212/353-1176.