Bristol Riverside Theatre to Present DEATHTRAP, Beginning 1/29

Bristol Riverside Theatre opens the New Year with the fun and sinister Deathtrap by Ira Levin, running January 29-February 24. Directed by Richard Edelman, the cast includes BRT favorites Keith Baker, Barbara McCulloh and Jo Twiss, joined by Mordecai Lawner and Robert Ross.

Previews begin Tuesday, January 29 with opening night on Thursday, January 31. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday until February 24. Tickets start at $30, with discounts for students, groups and military personnel. Tickets are available by visitingbrtstage.org or calling the BRT Box Office at 215-785-0100. Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, PA.

To make Sidney's writing slump all the more painful, Clifford, one of his students, has written the perfect suspense play. Out of his desperate desire to once again be the toast of Broadway, Sidney and his wife cook up an almost unthinkable scheme. They'll lure the would-be playwright to their home, kill him, and market the sure-fire script as Sidney's own. But shortly after Clifford arrives, it's clear that things are not what they seem!

Nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play, Deathtrap holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway, enjoying a four-year run with over 1800 performances. Deathtrap also earned a second Edgar Award for playwright Ira Levin. It was adapted into a film starring Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine and Dyan Cannon in 1982.

"This timeless classic - by turns droll and macabre - is sure to delight our audiences, with its edge-of-your-seat plot twists," said BRT's Artistic Director Keith Baker. "In Deathtrap, Levin has taken the basic component of thrillers and horror stories - murder, deceit, innocent dialogue with hidden sinister meanings - and continuously twisted and rearranged the pieces to great theatrical effect."

Richard Edelman (Director) returns to BRT where he last directed The Caine Mutiny Court Martial and Kiss Me Kate. He has had a varied career as a producer, actor and director in theater and opera companies in this country and abroad including the early days of the Living Theatre, Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and the Williamstown Playhouse in Massachusetts. He has often acted in and directed several Shakespeare productions at such venues as the San Diego Shakespeare Festival and London's Mermaid Theater. In a parallel career as an educator, he was the artistic director of the Theater Arts Department at Penn State where he established professional performance programs in acting and directing. An assistant to Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse, he was also a full professor in the theater departments of Amherst College and Boston University and an Adjunct Professor at Harvard. For many years he directed at the renowned Sandglass Puppet Theatre where his productions have won many international awards.

Keith Baker (Sidney Bruhl) has also appeared in BRT productions of A Raw Space, Barrymore, Old Wicked Songs, Defiance,Proof, Hamlet, A Little Night Music, Arsenic and Old Lace, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Elsewhere, recently, he took over the role of Jeeves in the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn musical By Jeeves at the Goodspeed Opera House and appeared on TV in two episodes of Stella for Comedy Central. Baker has been nominated eleven times for the prestigious Carbonell Awards, for which he was twice the recipient for Best Actor. He has directed more than 40 productions for BRT including Chicago (nominated for six Barrymore Awards), The Balkan Women (winner of a Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play), The Dresser (nominated for a Barrymore Award for Best Director of a Play) and Dear World (nominated for three Barrymore Awards). Prior to coming to BRT, Baker was Artistic Director for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the Florida Repertory Theatre.

Mordecai Lawner (Porter Milgram) starred on Broadway in Death of a Salesman and Rags. Off-Broadway he was featured at New York Shakespeare Festival, Ensemble Studio Theater, and Equity Library Theater. In addition to two productions at Walnut Street Theatre, his regional credits include productions at Arena Stage, Hartford Stage and Buffalo Studio Arena. On film and television he was seen in Annie Hall, Ghostbusters II, and All My Children where he had a recurring role. He taught acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse for eight years and at Carnegie Mellon University for five years.

Barbara McCulloh (Myra Bruhl) has appeared on Broadway as Anna in The King and I and as Mrs. Darling in Peter Pan, at Lincoln Center in the world premiere of The House in Town, and on the national tours of Brighton Beach Memoirs, South Pacific, andPeter Pan. Off-Broadway she has performed at Manhattan Theatre Club and Jewish Rep where she won the Outer Circle Critics Award for Kuni Leml. She has appeared at BRT in A Moon for the Misbegotten and 110 in the Shade, earning Barrymore nominations for both, as well as Steel Magnolias, Blithe Spirit, The Skin of Our Teeth, Baby, and The Robber Bridegroom. In addition to her performance inSweet Revenge of Louisa May at Olney Theatre which earned her a Helen Hayes nomination, other regional credits include performances at Studio Arena, Pioneer Theater, Syracuse Stage, and Virginia Stage.

Robert Ross (Clifford Anderson) makes his BRT debut with this production. In addition to appearances at Penguin Repertory and Alley Theatre, he has been a frequent guest at American Repertory Theatre, Collaborative Artists Ensemble and West Coast Ensemble. His film and television credits include Law and Order, Guiding Light, and P.S. I Love You.

Jo Twiss (Helga Ten Dorp) has appeared at BRT in Up, which earned her a BroadwayWorld.com nomination for Best Actress, as well as Steel Magnolias, The Spitfire Grill, Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge, and Always Patsy Cline. Most recently she played in Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Company. She starred in Rabbit Hole at both Pittsburgh Public Theatre and HartFord's Theatre Works and in The Travels of Angelica at Cincinnati in the Park. On Broadway she appeared as Big Mamma in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a role she reprised in St. Louis and Cincinnati where she won an Acclaim Award for her performance.

Deathtrap brings together a creative team of BRT veterans Roman Tatarowicz (set design), Kate Ashton (lighting design), andLinda Bee Stockton (costume design).

The BRT mainstage season continues with the ever-popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance (March 19-April 28), and the classical drama Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee (May 21-June 9).

Since 1986, BRT has brought consistently acclaimed professional theatre to Bucks County and maintained a long-term commitment to finding and developing new plays. The theatre is the recipient of over 66 Barrymore Award nominations for Excellence in Theatre, given annually by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. In addition to its mainstage productions, the theatre serves as a cultural hub for the community, with such programs as children's theatre, community concerts and exhibitions of local visual arts. Currently under the direction of Artistic Director Keith Baker, Founding Director Susan D. Atkinson, and Managing Director, Amy Kaissar, BRT continues its 26th season. For information, visit www.brtstage.org.

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