It's Valentine's week, the perfect time for a visit from Miss Abigail. She is sweeping into town today and encamping in Vogel Hall at the Marcus Center.

You don't know the big A? That is no shame. The central character in "Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage," she is still an emerging star.

But if you have been going to theater in Milwaukee at any time since the early '80s, you know the actress who is playing Abigail on a national tour.

Laurie Birmingham arrived here in 1981 from her Southern California hometown of Santa Monica to attend the old Professional Theatre Training Program at UWM, and she has been a frequent stage presence in Wisconsin since.

The Milwaukee Rep? She was in the cast of the first show the company produced, "Dancing at Lughnasa," after Joseph Hanreddy became its artistic director in the early '90s.

The American Players Theatre in Spring Green? Birmingham spent two seasons in the acting company and a third coaching voice and speech.

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks and First Stage Children's Theater have all employed the actress. So did the old Theater Tesseract and Great American Children's Theatre. She was a part of the nutty madness of "A Cudahy Caroler Christmas" for In Tandem Theatre.

Birmingham occasionally left town to spend time elsewhere. She acted with the Utah Shakespearean Festival and taught at Southern Utah University for a spell, but she always returned to Milwaukee.

Two years ago, the actress permanently moved to New York, and now she is back for four days starring in a small national tour. "Miss Abigail, my character, is a widow who takes a trip to Mexico," Birmingham explained during a recent phone chat.

"She comes across a young man about half her age crying in his chimichanga because his girlfriend has left him." Miss Abigail takes it upon herself to cheer up the fellow, whose name is Paco, and she becomes his romance tutor, drawing on advice to the lovelorn she gleans from old books.

The mentoring has an unexpected effect. Paco falls in love with Miss Abigail, and she is the last to know it.

"It's cougar time," Birmingham said.

"The show is a hoot. I get to do a lot of audience participation. I love that kind of stuff, getting people up on stage." Instruction in successful flirting techniques is among the activities shared with the paying customers.

The single-act performance lasts about 80 minutes.

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