PERFECT CRIME Off-Broadway to Celebrate 36th Anniversary in April

The longest running play in NYC history, Perfect Crime will celebrate its 36th Anniversary on Monday, April 18th in the Anne Bernstein Theater at The Theater Center Theater Center (210 West 50th Street, 4th floor). To celebrate the 36th anniversary, (performance # 14,281), complimentary champagne will be served to the audience in the lobby just before the show and during intermission.

The murder mystery written by the late Warren Manzi and produced by Armand Michael Hyatt, has the distinction of being the only show (on or Off-Broadway) that has run in New York City during the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s and now the 20s. The 'urban legend' has managed to withstand the test of time - evolving with the changing styles, technology, culture, audiences, and various crises around it.

Perfect Crime began its run in a very different New York City:

· The average monthly rent in NYC was $395 per month

· Gas cost 95 cents per gallon

· One dozen eggs cost just 65 cents.

· The NYC subway cost $1, and you used tokens - there were no metro cards or OMNY payments.

· The best-selling car in the US was a Ford Escort, costing $6,895 and the average cost of a new car was $10,3055.

· The average college tuition for a private four-year college was $7,116.00

· A first-class stamp cost 22 cents.

· Minimum wage was $3.95/hour.

· The internet was in its infancy: there were 30,000 hosts on the internet worldwide - now there are 5.16 billion.

· Currently 85% of Americans own a cell phone - in 1987 it was .00009%

· Aretha Franklin made history as the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

· Ronald Reagan was president, and he went to Berlin and made his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech

· The population of the US was 242,288,918 - now 336,000,000

· The population of the world increased by almost 3 billion, from 5 billion to 8 billion.

· The population of the US was 242,288,918. Now it's 336,000,000.

· Whitney Houston released "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).

· The best-selling video game was Zelda II.

· Full House and The Simpsons aired their first episodes, Married with Children and 21 Jump Street were top tv shows, and Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Platoon and Beverly Hills Cop II were the top grossing movies

PERFECT CRIME was written by Warren Manzi and produced by Armand Hyatt and features Catherine Russell, who was recently featured by the Associated Press as "The Off-Broadway force of nature." She has starred in the show since its first performance and has never taken a sick day or a vacation day in the past 35 years! It's a feat that has landed her in the Guinness Book of World Records. Russell's incredible streak has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, The Today Show, Good Morning America and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Daily News and numerous other media outlets including The Associated Press and People, which dubbed her "The Cal Ripken of Broadway."

The perfect show for CSI and Law & Order fans, Perfect Crime tells the story of brilliant but money hungry psychiatrist and suspected cold-blooded killer Margaret Brent, her wealthy husband, deranged patient, and the handsome detective who's falling in love with her while trying to solve the crime.

The cast of Perfect Crime also features Michael Halling, David Butler, Charles Geyer, and Patrick Robustelli (a well-known Broadway restaurant owner in an on-video cameo). Perfect Crime was directed by the late Jeffrey Hyatt.

Tickets for Perfect Crime are available by calling the box office at (212) 921-7862 or online. Student rush tickets ($26) are also available by calling or visiting the box office.

The Theater Center is located at 210 West 50th Street at Broadway.