Maxwell Caulfield and Nancy Opel Headline Epperson's Southern-Fried My Deah Off-Broadway

By Kenneth Jones
21 Sep 2006

Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Maxwell Caulfield, late of Tryst Off-Broadway, has joined the Abingdon Theatre Company's world premiere of the comedy My Deah by John Epperson, the artist best known as Lypsinka.

Nancy Opel (Urinetown, Fiddler on the Roof) also stars. Previews begin Oct. 13 leading to an Oct. 25 opening.

Mark Waldrop (When Pigs Fly) directs the play, which was seen in a workshop in the Abingdon Theatre Complex's Dorothy Strelsin Theatre. It will play the June Havoc Theatre at Abingdon this time around.

My Deah is billed as a "Southern-fried version of Euripides' Medea." Now a fully staged production, My Deah "features more blood! More laughs! More violence! All in the name of comedy."

In the play, "My Deah Hedgepeth confronts her husband Gator, her friends, the Governor of Mississippi—and carries out her plans for revenge—y'all just might die laughin'!"

Epperson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. As a film actor he appeared in "Witch Hunt," "Wigstock: The Movie," "Angels in America," "Kinsey." As a theatre actor his work includes I Could Go On Lip-Synching!, Now It Can Be Lip-Synched, Lypsinka! A Day In The Life (two Drama Desk nominations), As I Lay Lip-Synching, Lypsinka Must Be Destroyed!, Lypsinka IS Harriet Craig!, Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (2001 Drama Desk nomination, Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award Outstanding Non-Resident Production, L.A. Weekly Theatre Award Best Solo Performance), The Stepmother in New York City Opera's Cinderella at Lincoln Center; and The Passion of the Crawford, a fantasia on the personality of Joan Crawford.

The cast of My Deah also features Peter Brouwer, Lori Gardner, Michael Hunsaker, Geoffrey Molloy, Jay Rogers and Kevin Townley.

The creative team also includes set and lighting designer Mark Simpson, costume designer Ramona Ponce and sound designer Matt Berman.

Performances continue to Nov. 12.

Abingdon Theatre Company is located at 312 West 36th Street.

Performances play Tuesday–Saturday at 7:30 PM; Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 PM. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by calling (212) 868-4444 or online at Smarttix.com.