Pop superstar and acclaimed actress DEBORAH HARRY plays the leading role of the mysterious General in a staged reading of NANCY AND NICOLE, a comic thriller by TOM SIME. The play, presented by The Modern Stage, launches “Oh. Nine. A Play Reading Series” at the Bleecker Street Theatre, 45 Bleecker Street in the NoHo area of New York City’s East Village, on Monday, Feb. 9 at 8 pm.

Deborah plays an enigmatic foreign General encountered by a pair of hapless smugglers stranded far from home. The guys aren’t sure if the General is friend or foe, but she’s their only hope of escape. The playwright describes this suspenseful comedy as “the adventures of two straight guys in a gender-bent world.”

NANCY AND NICOLE will be the first of nine plays by Modern Stage founder TOM SIME scheduled for the series, which marks his debut as Writer in Residence at the theater. The readings will be performed Monday nights at 8 p.m. starting Feb. 9 and ending March 30, with no performance on March 16.

Admission to the readings is a $10 suggested donation. Each reading is followed by a free reception. No reservations are needed or taken; admission is first-come, first-serve, pay at the door. The readings will be performed in the theater’s downstairs space.

The theater, also the venue of the hit comedy Sleepwalk With Me, is located at the corner of Bleecker and Lafayette, a block north of Houston Street and just down the street from the Public Theater. Nearby subway stations include Broadway-Lafayette for the B-D-F-V lines and Bleecker Street on the 6.

Coincidentally, the theater is also less than a block away from 315 Bowery, former location of the late, hallowed nightclub CBGB, where Ms. Harry’s massively popular, influential and still-thriving band Blondie gained early fame.

For more information, call the theater at 212 260 8250 or email modernstagenyc@yahoo.com. On the web: www.themodernstage.com