Drury Lane Theatre to Stage DEATHTRAP, 6/9-8/14

Drury Lane Theatre continues its 2016-2017 season with Ira Levin's popular murder mystery, Deathtrap, directed by Artistic Director William Osetek. Deathtrap runs June 9 - August 14, 2016 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The Press Opening is Thursday, June 16 at 8:00 p.m.

A hugely popular stage and screen success and one of the longest running plays on Broadway, Deathtrap offers a skillful blend of gasp-inducing thrills and spontaneous laughter where humor meets homicide. Unknown dramatist Clifford Anderson has sent his new thriller, Deathtrap, to award-winning Broadway author Sidney for comment - or has he? Without a success to his credit for some years, Sidney plots with his reluctant wife Myra how to best plagiarize the new play. When Clifford suddenly turns up looking for feedback, events take a sinister turn in this deadly cat-and-mouse game.

"Considered one of the best-written thrillers of all time, Deathtrap is a masterpiece - a psychological maze that ensnares the characters and audience in its intricate construction," comments Artistic Director William Osetek. "I think we've finally found the ideal moment to share it with our audiences. During what is already certain to be a complicated year in America on a political roller coaster, it seems the perfect opportunity for this thrill ride of pure escapism."

Playwright Ira Levin - who is also known for his novels Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives - received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Deathtrap. The 1978 production was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play and holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway - running for four years with almost 1800 performances. In 1982 it was adapted into a film starring Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine, and Dyan Cannon.

The cast of Deathtrap includes Daniel Cantor (Sidney Bruhl), McKinley Carter (Myra Bruhl), Aaron Latterell (Clifford Anderson), Cindy Gold (Helga ten Dorp) and Marty Lodge (Porter Milgrim).

The creative team includes Jeff Kmiec (Scenic Designer), Sally Dolembo (Costume Designer), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Designer), Ryan Hickey (Sound Designer) and Matt Hawkins (Fight Choreographer). Larry Baker is the Production Stage Manager.

About the Artists

William Osetek (Director) serves as the artistic director of Drury Lane Theatre. He was the recipient of the 2014 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Director of a Musical for Next to Normal (the show also received a Jeff nomination for Best Musical). Other Drury Lane credits include: Young Frankenstein, Spamalot and Thoroughly Modern Millie (each Jeff nominated for Best Direction and Best Production), White Christmas, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Game's Afoot, Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Funny Girl, Mame, The Mousetrap, Of Thee I Sing, The Pirates of Penzance, Camelot, Barefoot in the Park, The King & I and A Christmas Carol. Osetek has a B.A. in Theatre from Loyola University of Chicago and an M.F.A. in Directing from Illinois State University.

Daniel Cantor (Sydney Bruhl) was last seen at Drury Lane in Boeing Boeing. His Chicago credits include Goodman Theater (Rabbit Hole, Chicago Boys, Fish Men), Court Theater (Water by the Spoonful), Victory Gardens (Jacob and Jack, Relatively Close), Chicago Shakespeare (The Comedy of Errors), Silk Road Rising (Paulus), and Next Theater (Return to Haifa). His Off Broadway credits include Promenade Theater (Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight), Minetta Lane (Tuesdays with Morrie), and SoHo Playhouse (Strictly Personal). National production include "Picasso" in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. He has also appeared in regional productions at American Conservatory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Cleveland Play House, Studio Theater, Hartford TheaterWorks, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Barrington Stage Company, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Rep, Worcester Foothills Theater, Mill Mountain Theater, and National Shakespeare Company. TV and film credits include Chicago PD, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI, Conviction, The Sopranos, As the World Turns, Loving, Traveling Without Moving, Asphalt Man (Korea), The Auteur Theory (Showtime), and Alchemy (ABC).

McKinley Carter (Myra Bruhl) returns to Drury Lane, where she was previously seen in A Christmas Carol, The Sound of Music, Ragtime, Something's Afoot, Superman, Tintypes, and Me and My Girl. Other Chicago credits include The Merry Widow and Carousel with Lyric Opera; Road Show, Julius Caesar, and Sunday in the Park with George at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Putting it Together at Porchlight Theatre; John and Jen at Apple Tree Theatre; Turn Of The Century, The Visit, Floyd Collins at the Goodman Theatre; Forbidden Broadway at Royal George Theatre; Winesburg Ohio at Steppenwolf Theatre; Into the Woods at Marriott Theatre; and James Joyce's The Dead, Cymbeline and Pericles at Court Theatre. Outside Chicago she has performed at Rocky Mountain Repertory and Peninsula Players.

Aaron Latterell (Clifford Anderson) is making his Drury Lane debut. Previous work in Chicago includes The Hammer Trinity with The House, Letters Home with The Griffin Theatre, Cyrano De Bergerac at Chicago Shakespeare, Henry IV Part 1 and Loves Labours Lost with The Commission Theatre Co. Recent TV credits include Chicago PD (NBC) and The Girlfriend Experience (STARZ). Aaron received his BFA in acting from The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Cindy Gold (Helga ten Dorp) is making her Drury Lane debut. Her Regional work includes Mothers and Sons, Awake and Sing, Pride and Prejudice, and Jekyll and Hyde at Northlight Theatre, Measure for Measure at Goodman, About Face Theatre's A Kid Like Jake, and In the Garden at Lookingglass Theatre. She also played Jacqueline Prado on the TV series, Empire, directed by Lee Daniels, and Lady-who-stabs-the guy-with-a-fork on Chicago Fire, directed by Joe Chappelle. She played Gertrude Stein in Frank Galati and Stephen Flaherty's Loving Repeating for which she won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a musical. Other credits include Showboat/Lyric Opera, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The National Opera at the Kennedy Center directed by Francesca Zambello, Love, Loss and What I Wore/Broadway in Chicago directed by Karen Carpenter, and Moises Kaufman's 33 Variations workshop with About Face and Tectonic Theatre. She appeared in The Music Man at Glimmerglass Opera Company, both in New York and at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman. She is a Professor of Acting at Northwestern University Department of Theatre.

Marty Lodge (Porter Milgrim, U/S Sydney Bruhl) is making his Chicagoland debut. He spent many years doing theater in Washington DC at places like Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, the Studio Theatre, and over 35 shows at the Round House Theatre, where was an Associate Artist. He has been nominated for 4 Helen Hayes Awards. Around the country, he has worked at the Mark Taper Forum, The Old Globe, The Milwaukee Rep, and The American Repertory Theatre, among many others. He also stood by for Bill Pullman in Oleanna on Broadway. A few years in Los Angeles landed him guest roles on Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Private Practice, Gilmore Girls, and Boston Legal, to name a few.

2016 - 2017 Season and Subscription Information

Drury Lane's 2016 - 2017 season includes the World Premiere musical comedy Hazel, A Maid in America, March 31 - May 29, 2016, followed by Ira Levin's murder mystery Deathtrap, June 9 - August 14, 2016, Smokey Joe's Café, featuring the iconic songwriting of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, September 1 - October 23, 2016, and the feel-good Gershwin musical Crazy For You, November 3, 2016 - January 8, 2017. The season will conclude with a revised version of Saturday Night Fever, based on the popular '70s film with music by The Bee Gees, January 19, 2017 - March 19, 2017.

Subscriptions for the 2016 - 2017 Season are priced from $144.60 to $175.80. Subscribers receive special offers on dining, flexible ticket exchanges and early notification and priority seating for added events and concerts. For more information, visit DruryLaneTheatre.com.

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