Marsha Mason and More Star in DEATHTRAP at Bucks County Playhouse, Running Now thru 7/13

Bucks County Playhouse has announced Marsha Mason has joined the cast of its new production of Ira Levin's Deathtrap, directed by Evan Cabnet. Mason, who is currently directing the Playhouse production of Neil Simon's Chapter Two that begins performances tonight, will play the role of the mysterious Helga Ten Dorp. The comedy thriller begins performances tonight, June 19.

Suspense master Ira Levin ("Rosemary's Baby") spun the best thriller and horror themes into one of the most successful plays in Broadway history. The plot thickens when the young writer of a brilliant new thriller is lured into the home of a famed playwright with writer's block. With twists and turns aplenty until the curtain falls, DEATHTRAP will thrill, scare and delight you.

The production will run through July 13 at the Bucks County Playhouse (70 South Main Street, New Hope, PA).

MARSHA MASON (Helga): has received Academy Award nominations for her roles in the films The Goodbye Girl, Cinderella Liberty, Only When I Laugh, and Chapter Two. She has also received two Golden Globe Awards for her roles in film. On television, her credits include the wildly popular Frasier, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination, and the biopic Life with Judy Garland. While most well-known for her roles on film, Mason has starred in a number of Broadway productions, including Impressionism (with Jeremy Irons), Steel Magnolias, The Night of the Iguana, The Good Doctor, King Richard III and Cactus Flower, as well as Off-Broadway productions of I Never Sang for My Father, A Feminine Ending, Wintertime, Amazing Grace, and Old Times. Some of Mason's regional credits include starring in All's Well That Ends Well at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, American Conservatory Theatre's A Doll's House, You Can't Take it With You, The Crucible, Cyrano de Bergerac, Hecuba for Chicago Shakespeare Co and last summer starring in Charles Busch's Tale of the Allergist's Wife here at the BCP. Internationally, she has performed in Prisoner of Second Avenue in London. Mason has written her memoir, Journey: A Personal Odyssey. After having and running a farm in New Mexico for 20 years, Marsha recently moved back East and this past Broadway season was proud to have been selected as a part of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee.

The Bucks County Playhouse, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is committed to providing the finest in theatrical entertainment for visitors and residents of New Hope and the Bucks County area. The mission of the Bucks County Playhouse is to present first class professional entertainment and regain the Playhouse's historic place in the national theatrical landscape; and to stimulate, support, inspire and celebrate the performing arts in New Hope and Bucks County via our involvement with community programs, partnerships and arts education.

Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a gristmill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, with a veritable who's who of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Rob Reiner, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Mike Nichols, Liza Minnelli and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010.

Terrence McNally's Mothers and Sons, starring Tyne Daly, received its world premiere at the Bucks County Playhouse and made its leap to Broadway this spring, returning the Playhouse to its roots as an incubator for Broadway (starting with 1951′s The Fourposter starring Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn, Neil Simon's first play Come Blow Your Horn, and Barefoot in the Park starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley).

Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, this beloved theatrical landmark was re-opened and celebrated on July 2, 2012, exactly 73 years and a day from when it originally opened in 1939. The Bucks County Playhouse is located at 70 South Main Street in New Hope, PA.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/bcptheater or www.bcptheater.org.

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