Abingdon Gala Honors V and Mary Beth Peil

Pictured Above: Bonnie Milligan, Jeannette Bayardelle, Carolee Carmello. Photo Credit: Contributed.

Newsroom Post: NEW YORK, NEW YORK

 

New York, NY – Abingdon Theatre Company, Chad Austin, Producing Artistic Director is thrilled to announce the performers joining the celebration to honor Tony & Obie Award winner V (formerly Eve Ensler) and Obie Award winner & Tony Award nominee Mary Beth Peil at their 31st Anniversary Gala. The event will be held on Monday, October 23, 2023 at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street). The evening will include cocktails, dinner, and a live performance.

Set to celebrate Abingdon Theatre Company’s 31 years Off-Broadway will be Tony Award Winner Bonnie Milligan (Kimberly Akimbo); Tony Award Nominees Jeannette Bayardelle (Girl from the North Country) and Carolee Carmello (1776); Drama Desk Award Winners Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton, In the Heights) and Samantha Pauly (Six); with Maria Bilbao (Sweeny Todd), Kennedy Caughell (Paradise Square), Kara Lindsay (Newsies), Amy Hargreaves (Showtime’s Homeland), Shereen Pimentel (West Side Story) and Carrie St. Louis (Kinky Boots).

The Broadway stars will be joining the previously announced Christine Ebersole, Laura Benanti, Kate Baldwin, L Morgan Lee, Mary Testa, Bianca Marroquín, Lesli Margherita, Scarlett Strallen, Dee Roscioli, and Ilda Mason; along with Michelle Williams and Rosario Dawson to honor V (formerly Eve Ensler) and Mary Beth Peil. The evening will be directed by Chad Austin with musical direction by Robbie Cowan.

Pictured Above: V (formerly Eve Ensler) and Mary Beth Peil. Photo Credit: Brigitte Lacombe

V (formerly Eve Ensler) is the Tony award-winning playwright, author, and activist. Her many plays include The Vagina Monologues, the Obie award-winning, Olivier-nominated theatrical phenomenon translated into 48 languages and performed in 140 countries. She is the author of numerous books, including the recently released bestseller, Reckoning, heralded by the Washington Post as “gutting and gorgeous.” Other best-selling books include The Apology, translated into 20 languages, In the Body of the World, and The New York Times bestseller, I Am an Emotional Creature. She starred on Broadway in The Good Body and, most recently Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in the critically acclaimed In the Body of the World. She helped create The New York Times Critic’s Pick, That Kindness: Nurses in Their Own Words, presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music in collaboration with theaters across the US, as a tribute to nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. V is currently writing the book and co-writing lyrics for a musical WILD with award-winning pop composer Justin Tranter and Tony Award winner Diane Paulus. Her film credits include The Vagina Monologues (HBO), What I Want My Words to Do to You (Executive Producer, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award, PBS), Mad Max: Fury Road (Consultant), and City of Joy documentary (Netflix). She is the founder of V-Day, the 25-year-old global activist movement which has raised over 120 million dollars to end violence against women, gender-expansive people, girls, and the planet—and founder of One Billion Rising, the largest global mass action to end gender-based violence in over 200 countries, as well as a co-founder of the City of Joy. V was named one of Newsweek’s “150 Women Who Changed the World,” TIME’s “Feminist of the Year,” and The Guardian’s “100 Most Influential Women.” She writes regularly for The Guardian.

Mary Beth Peil is an Obie Award-winning, two-time Tony Award-nominated actress and singer known for her work on Broadway, television, and film. A winner of Metropolitan National Auditions, she sang leading roles with Metropolitan National Company, NY City Opera, and Young Concert Artists, among many others. She originated the role of Alma in Lee Hoiby’s operatic adaptation of Summer and Smoke which was featured on PBS Great Performances. On Broadway, Peil has received Tony nominations for The King and I as Mrs. Anna opposite Yul Brynner and for originating her role in Anastasia as Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Additional Broadway credits include Sunday in the Park with George, Nine, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Follies, The Visit, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She is a member of Atlantic Theatre Ensemble and has performed with many NYC Off-Broadway companies in addition to prominent Regional Companies. She is also known for her television roles on “The Good Wife” and “Dawson’s Creek” and has appeared in films Flags of Our Fathers, Odd Couple 2, Stepford Wives 2, and Mirrors, as well as several independent films.