'Gaslight/Angel Street' performance at Attic Playhouse!

Angel Street was written by Patrick Hamilton in 1938 under the title Gas Light, and published in 1939. Gas Light opened in London's West End in December, 1938 with a successful long run starring Gwen Frangcon-Davies, Milton Rosmer and Dennis Arundell.  The play was a unique theatrical offering for its time, that re-invigorated the old form of stage thrillers with psychologically fueled adrenaline.
 
The play was quickly written into a screenplay. Gaslight was filmed in Britain in 1940, directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring a very sinister Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard and Frank Pettingell. It was released in the U.S. as both Gaslight and Angel Street (1940). The film was one of the most highly regarded thrillers ever made in England and was a huge success with audiences in the U.K. and abroad.
 
In the meantime, the play moved to New York. On December 5, 1941-two days before Pearl Harbor-the play opened on Broadway (with the new title, Angel Street). It starred Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn and Leo G Carroll. The box office gradually recovered from the timing of the premiere, and Angel Street became a major success, achieving 1,295 performances over three years (the longest run of a foreign play in Broadway history at the time).
 
In 1944, MGM purchased the film rights to Gaslight. MGM then pulled the 1940 British version of the film from circulation, and reportedly tried (unsuccessfully) to destroy all prints of the film…causing much resentment among British film-makers. The MGM remake of Gaslight starred Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotton. First offered to Hitchcock, the talented George Cukor was ultimately hired to direct this lavish film. It was nominated for a total of seven Academy Awards with two wins: Best Actress (Ingrid Bergman), and Best B/W Art Direction (for the superb set of the recreated Victorian town house). The other five nominations were Best Picture, Best Actor (Charles Boyer), Best Supporting Actress (Angela Lansbury, in her film debut at 17 years old as a tarty housemaid Nancy), Best Original Screenplay (John L. Balderston, Walter Reisch and John Van Druten), and Best B/W Cinematography (Joseph Ruttenberg).
 
Since then, Gaslight / Angel Street has been widely produced on stage and in various TV films, radio plays and spoofs. It has had several Broadway revivals including one in 1948 staring Uta Hagen, José Ferrer, and Richard Whorf. It most recently was revived on the London stage in the summer of 2007 staring the talented Rosamund Pike and Kenneth Cranham at the Old Vic Theatre.
 
The popularity of Gaslight has even coined the phrase- "To gaslight" when someone deliberately tries to drive someone crazy by  confusing them.   

Angel Street (Gaslight) by Patrick Hamilton will run April 11 – May 25, 2008. For tickets or further information please call:  (847) 433-2660

Performances Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.  Please call ahead for specific dates and performance times as dates may vary. (Season & schedule may be subject to change.)

Tickets are $18 with advanced purchase and $20 at door. Special discounts for: Senior Citizens 65+, Students (age 21 & younger), Military Personnel and Groups of 20 or more. General Admission - Reserved seating for groups of 20 or more -Tickets are non-refundable
 

 
Visit the Attic Playhouse website at: atticplayhouse.com

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