Idle Muse Theatre Company Welcomes New Puppet Designer to THE HOUND OF BASKERVILLES Team

In addition to adapting the script for Idle Muse Theatre Company's upcoming production The Hound of the Baskervilles,Shanghai Low Theatricals will design the puppetry for the production. Althos Low is the pen name for Shanghai Low Theatricals, an adaptation development group based in Chicago. Formed in 2001 as a group of theatre craftspeople adapting literary works for the stage, in 2009 the company expanded into the creation of graphics and visual development. In 2014 the group adapted George Orwell's Animal Farm for Director Hallie Gordon and the Steppenwolf Young Adults Program. For the Baskervillescollaboration, Steve Pickering serves as Adaptor, with input from the company, and House Artists Fred Baxter and Tom Kyzivat provide pre-production concept art. Pickering received a Joseph Jefferson Award for designing the costumes, masks, and puppets for Balliwick Repertory's production of Animal Farm in 1988.

The design team also includes company members Erin Gallagher (Costume Designer and Managing Director), Sara Robinson (Production Stage Manager and Technical Director), Tristan Bandon (Literary Director and Prop Designer), Shellie DiSalvo (Assistant Stage Manager) and Laura Wiley (Lighting, Projection and Set Designer). Wiley received a Best Lighting Design Joseph Jefferson Awards Nomination for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at Idle Muse Theatre Company last season. Guest artists include Robert P. Lloyd (Sound Designer), Libby Beyreis (Violence Designer) and Kathy Logelin (Dialect Coach).

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is newly adapted by Althos Low and directed by IMTC artistic director Evan Jackson. First serialized in the Strand Magazine in 1901-1902 - and perhaps the most beloved of Conan Doyle's crime thrillers - Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson trade the foggy streets of London for the country wilds of Dartmoor to shield the life of a young heir whose family is believed cursed by a murderous hellhound.

The cast of The Hound of the Baskervilles features Idle Muse Theatre Company members Joel Thompson (Sherlock Holmes), Nathan Pease (Dr. John Watson),Brian Bengtson (Dr. James Mortimer), and Elizabeth C. MacDougald (Beryl Stapleton) with guest artists Laura Jones Macknin (Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Frankland),Brendan Hutt (Sir Henry Baskerville), Gary Henderson (Clayton, Selden, Postmaster, Warder), Gary F. Barth (Barrymore), Jean Waller (Mrs. Barrymore), Jon Patrick Penick (Jack Stapleton, Warder), and Patrick Doolin (Lestrade, Perkins).

The Hound of the Baskervilles will run March 5th through April 3rd, 2016 with previews March 3rd and March 4th and will be presented at Edge Theater, a newly-renovated performance venue located at 5451 N Broadway Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

Performance times for The Hound of the Baskervilles are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $15 for students/seniors. Tickets for previews are $10. Every Thursday is Industry Night with $10 tickets for industry members with headshot/resume. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.idlemuse.org or by calling 773-340-9438.

Idle Muse Theatre Company presents The Hound of the Baskervilles, adapted by Althos Low and directed by Evan Jackson, running March 5 - April 3 at Edge Theater at 5451 N. Broadway Ave. Street parking is available at all venues and all venues are handicapped and CTA accessible (Edge Theatre is CTA accessible by Red Line Berwyn/Bryn Mawr stop/ 36 Broadway Bus).

Press opening for the new adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles is Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m. (Previews are Friday, March 3 and March 4 at 8:00 p.m.) Regular performance times are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $20 for regular single tickets, $15 for seniors and students, and $10 for previews. Group rate for 10 or more upon request. Tickets may be purchased at 773-340-9438 or by visiting www.IdleMuse.org.

Idle Muse Theatre is partially supported and funded by a generous grant from The MacArthur Funds for the Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

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