Olivier Winner Daniel Evans to Helm Rachel Wagstaff & Duncan Abel's SHERLOCK HOLMES; UK Premiere Set for 2017

Producer Antonio R. Marion announced today that Tony nominee and Olivier Award-winner Daniel Evans will direct the Broadway-Bound epic new original stage play, Sherlock Holmes, by British writing team of Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel. The project was originally announced in late 2014.

The design team will feature Tony and Olivier Award-winning Scenic Designer Christopher Oram, along with Tony and Olivier Award-winning Lighting Designer Hugh Vanstone, and six-time Tony Award-winning Costume Designer William Ivey Long. Sherlock Holmes will have its U.K. premiere in the Summer of 2017.

Mr. Evans, fresh off the success of the West End transfer of Showboat, was appointed Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre earlier this year after serving as Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres for nearly seven years. Mr. Evans was last seen on Broadway as Georges Surat in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of Sunday in the Park with George, for which he was nominated for a 2008 Tony for Leading Actor in a Musical.

"We have worked long and hard to assemble a creative team that will not only bring a compelling new edge to the beloved characters of Sherlock Holmes, but will also bring to life a dark, Victorian underworld, where everyone, including Holmes, has something to hide", says producer, Marion. "With one of London's hottest young directors, and a pedigree design team, audiences will experience the thrills and dynamic energies of Sherlock Holmes in a way that has never been rendered on stage."

The character of Sherlock Holmes has appeared in multiple and various incarnations since his original appearance in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 novel, A Study in Scarlet. Conan Doyle went on to feature Sherlock in four novels (including The Hound of the Baskervilles) and in 56 short stories. William Gillette starred in the famous detective's 1899 Broadway debut. Sherlock Holmes was also seen on the New York stage in 1928 at Broadway's Cosmopolitan Theater; in 1929 at the New Amsterdam Theatre; in 1936 at the Theatre Masque; in 1953 at the New Century Theatre; in the 1965 musical Baker Street directed by Harold Prince; in the 1974 Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Broadhurst Theatre; in the 1978 play The Crucifer of Blood featuring Glenn Close at the Helen Hayes Theatre; in the 1980 off-Broadway play The Penultimate Problem of Sherlock Holmes; in the 1982 off-Broadway play Grit in a Sensitive Instrument; in the 1987 off-off-Broadway play Sherlock Holmes and the Hands of Othello; in the 1987 Broadway play Sherlock's Last Case starring Frank Langella at the Nederlander Theatre; and, most recently, in the 2007 off-Broadway play The Blue Carbuncle.

Many stage and screen icons have donned the world famous hat and pipe in various film, television, and radio dramas, including: John Barrymore, John Gielgud, George C. Scott, Roger Moore, Leonard Nimoy, John Cleese, Christopher Plummer, Peter O'Toole, Sir Michael Ciane, Frank Langella, Charlton Heston, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce, Robert Downey, Jr. (the recent Sherlock Holmes film franchise), Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's "Sherlock"), Jonny Lee Miller (CBS' "Elementary"), and Sir Ian McKellen in the 2015 feature film Mr. Holmes.

An official timeline for the production will be announced at a later date. For more information and updates on the production, visit www.holmestheplay.com