ODE TO THE WASP WOMAN Opens Off-Broadway in November

Forwood C. Wiser presents Sean Young (Blade Runner, Fatal Instinct) in Ode To The Wasp Woman, a new play by Rider McDowell (The Mercy Man, Wimbledon). The limited 13-week Off-Broadway engagement will play October 30, 2023 through January 31, 2023, at The Actors Temple Theatre (339 W. 47th St, NYC). Opening night is Thursday, November 9 at 7:30PM. Tickets are now on sale at Telecharge.com.

Ode To The Wasp Woman chronicles the last 48 hours in the lives of four 1950's B movie stars; Susan Cabot, leading lady of the Roger Corman’s cult classic The Wasp Woman; George Reeves, the man who brought Superman to life on TV screens across America; Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer of the beloved “Our Gang” comedies; B-movie queen Barbara Payton. The desperate and sensational events that lead to the demise of these four fallen stars are told in four one acts with music, a veritable homage to film noir and true crime.

Rider McDowell directs Sean Young as Susan Cabot, leading a company of actors, To be announced, portraying George 'Superman' Reeves, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, and B-movie queen Barbara Payton.

“I wrote Ode To The Wasp Woman as a paen to my boyhood TV heroes of the the 1960's and 70's,” says Rider McDowell. " When I learned on the same rainy day in 1970 that Superman and Alfalfa were both dead, it shocked me. Fold in the deaths of ‘Wasp Woman’ Susan Cabot and Barbara ‘I am not ashamed’ Payton, actresses I admired, and the grim picture was complete. Ode To The Wasp Woman reveals the who, what, where, if not the 'why,' of the deaths of these fallen stars."  

“I'm ecstatic about coming to New York and working onstage,” says Sean Young. “This is something I’ve wanted to do since graduating from Interlohen Arts Academy. I can’t wait to start rehearsal. The play is a sly cautionary tale about ambitious people who work in Hollywood, become desperate, and how show business chews them up. I'm looking forward to purging my own personal experience of being eaten alive in Hollywood.”

Ode To The Wasp Woman features a scenic design by Josh Iacovelli, lighting design by Maarten Cornelis, Sean Young’s costumes designed by Montgomery Frazier, and sound design by Bob' The Hammer' Franco. Matthew Palmer is production stage manager. Casting is by Amy Gossels. Adam Smith Jr. is Co-Producer.

Ode To The Wasp Woman was originally developed in a 2017 workshop staging titled Fringe Deaths.