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Photo by Don Kellogg

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage

Ken Davenport seemingly does it all - he writes, directs and produces.  On stage we call something similar to that that a triple threat. His latest work is centered around Miss Abigail, a self-help dating guru - a throw-back to more genteel times in the modern age of on-line hookups, J-dates, gay-dates, speed-dates, sexing.   She's a champion of old time values and is hell-bent on sharing her experience with each and every audience that comes to see her in a little cabaret theatre downstairs in Time Square (interrupted only by the urgent phone calls of her "secret" celebrity clients).

The show isn't so much a performance, but rather structured more like a seminar - the audience is there to participate in a lecture being given by Miss Abigail and her adorable, able-bodied, and endlessly energetic assistant, Paco.   House lights up, hands up, quizzes, polls, hand-outs, and shout-outs abound.  You may even be called on stage during one of Paco's breaks backstage (beware, he's the jealous type!).  Eve Plum (aka Jan Brady) makes her off-Broadway debut in the title role and never fails to command the stage.  Her assistant, Paco (Manuel Herrera) ads just the right mix of shy and innocent vs hunky and sexy.  The duo energetically move the story forward with each passing topic of discussion.

Married couples, couples on a date, and singles of all types and all ages will enjoy the light-hearted and time tested advice Miss Abigail dishes out with aplomb.  Grab a cocktail and take it to your seat.  Don't be shy - learn how to kiss, go up and take a quiz, answer a question, or even read a line from one of the many experts' books Miss Abigail draws from.  A chance to perform on stage should never be passed up - especially with Miss Abigail and her adorable assistant.  You may even learn a thing or two in the process.  Who knows, maybe you'll even get a date with someone there before the evening is done.