Northlight Theatre to Present THE MOUSETRAP, 11/7-12/14

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, directed by Jonathan Berry. The production will run at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie, from November 7 - December 14, 2014. The press opening is Friday, November 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm.

On a snowy night at Monkswell Manor, newlyweds Mollie and Giles welcome a group of strangers to their guest house, only to discover news of a murderer in their midst! A police investigation reveals the sordid details of each guest's mysterious past, but not soon enough to stop the killer from striking again. Agatha Christie's masterful whodunit weaves an intricate plot filled with nerve-rattling suspense, all leading up to the ultimate final twist!

Renowned mystery writer Agatha Christie is not only the best-selling author of all time, but The Mousetrap is the world's longest-running play, now at 62 years on London's West End.

Artistic Director BJ Jones comments, "In recent years Northlight has found much success pairing established work with emerging artists, and Jonathan Berry is certainly one of Chicago's most exciting young auteurs. With The Mousetrap, he will bring a fresh vision to a treasured classic."

The cast of The Mousetrap includes Greg Matthew Anderson (Det. Sgt. Trotter), Patrick Clear (Major Metcalf), Joey deBettencourt (Christopher Wren), Joe Dempsey (Mr. Paravincini), Laura T. Fisher (Mrs. Boyle), Keith Neagle (Giles Ralston), Lindsey Pearlman (Miss Casewell) and Cora Vander Broek (Mollie Ralston).

The creative team includes Jack Magaw (scenic), Izumi Inaba (costumes), Lee Keenan (lighting), Rick Sims (sound) and Eva Breneman (dialect coach). Laura D. Glenn is the stage manager.

JONATHAN BERRY (Director) Steep Theatre, Artistic Associate, productions include: If There is I Haven't Found It Yet, The Knowledge, Festen, Moment, The Hollow Lands, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Griffin Theatre, Artistic Associate: Golden Boy, The Burnt Part Boys, Spring Awakening, Punk Rock (Jeff award - Director, Ensemble) Port, On the Shore of the Wide World, Company, Picnic, Time and the Conways (Jeff nomination - Director, Ensemble), Dead End, The Hostage, and Journey's End. Steppenwolf: A Separate Peace and the world premiere of Gary. Goodman: The World of Extreme Happiness and The Solid Sand Below. Roundabout (NY): Suicide, Incorporated. Other work includes Gift: Othello, Dirty, and Suicide, Incorporated; Chicago Dramatists: I am Going to Change the World; RedTwist: Look Back in Anger, Reverb; Remy Bumppo: The Marriage of Figaro; Theatre Mir: The Sea and Caucasian Chalk Circle; Lifeline: The Piano Tuner (After Dark award - Best Production). He pursued his MFA in directing from Northwestern University. He has taught at University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Act One Studios, Columbia College, and The School at Steppenwolf.

AGATHA CHRISTIE (Playwright) (1890-1976) is the author not only of The Mousetrap, the longest running stage production in history but also Witness for the Prosecution and And Then There Were None to name but a few of her greatest stage successes. Her novels have sold more than 2 billion copies around the world, and she is only outsold by the Bible and Shakespeare. Born in 1890, in Torquay, Devon, England, to an American father and English mother, she wrote her first play Black Coffee (the only play in which she chose to feature Poirot) in 1930 having been disappointed by the way The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had been adapted into Alibi in 1928. She adapted her bestselling novel And Then There Were None for stage in 1943, giving it a different ending, followed by, in quick succession, Appointment with Death (1945), Murder on the Nile (1946) and The Hollow (1951). With The Mousetrap (1952), Witness for the Prosecution (1953), and Spider's Web (1954), she became the only female playwright to have three plays running in the West End at the same time. Later plays include Towards Zero (1956) co-adapted with Gerald Verner, Verdict (1958) possibly her most unusual play, Go Back for Murder (1960), and Rule of Three (1962) a series of three one act plays. After a hugely successful career and a wonderful life, Ms. Christie died peacefully in 1976.

GREG MATTHEW ANDERSON (Det. Sgt. Trotter) returns to Northlight where he last appeared in Sense and Sensibility. He is an Artistic Associate at Remy Bumppo, where credits include Power, The Best Man, The Philadelphia Story, Bronte, On the Verge, The Marriage of Figaro, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Night and Day, The Importance of Being Earnest, Chesapeake (Jeff nomination), You Never Can Tell, Northanger Abbey, and An Inspector Calls. He has appeared onstage at the Goodman (Rock 'N Roll, the commercial production Immediate Family), Court (Arcadia), American Theater Company (Sons of the Prophet, Oklahoma!), and IO (A Moment Alone). Television: Chicago Fire (NBC), Betrayal (ABC), The Playboy Club (NBC), Underemployed (MTV), The Chicago Code (Fox), Detroit 187 (ABC), and the pilot Matadors (ABC/Sony). Film: Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Middle Distance, and the Chicago indie Older Children. Greg is a graduate of Duke University's Department of Theater Studies.

PATRICK CLEAR (Major Metcalf) returns to Northlight where he has been seen in The Miser, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Pride and Prejudice. He has appeared in more than 60 productions in the Chicago area, most recently in Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare), Port Authority (Writers), Meet Vera Stark and Teddy Ferrara (Goodman), The March (Steppenwolf) and Seascape(Remy Bumppo). His regional credits include appearances at Asolo Repertory, Indiana Repertory, Cleveland Playhouse, Maltz Jupiter, Arena Stage, Guthrie, American Shakespeare, Centerstage, Huntington, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. He appeared on Broadway in Noises Off and Hollywood Arms. Film and television credits include The Dark Knight, Boss, The Untouchables, and Early Edition.

JOEY DEBETTENCOURT (Christopher Wren) is returning to his home town and the Chicago stage after spending this last year as the lead in the Broadway First National Tour of Peter and the Starcatcher. Some Chicago credits: Punk Rock (Jeff Award Best Actor) and Flare Path (Griffin), South of Settling (Steppenwolf), Idomeneus (Sideshow), and Cherrywood (Mary-Arrchie). Film: At Any Price (Sony Classic) and World's Worst Musical (Verse Factory). A proud Equity member and ensemble member with Griffin, he is grateful to Jon for believing in him and Julie for supporting him. Joey is represented by Shirley Hamilton (Chicago) and CESD (NY, LA).

JOE DEMPSEY (Mr. Paravincini) is back at Northlight where he acted in Inherit the Wind and All in the Timing. He recently appeared in Native Son at Court and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Drury Lane Oak Brook, for which he received a Jeff Award nomination. He has also worked at Steppenwolf, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Next, Remy Bumppo, Second City, and many others. Regionally, he has worked at Milwaukee Rep, St. Louis Rep, Kansas City Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Centerstage - Baltimore, and City Theatre - Pittsburgh. He is also a proud member of the Neo-Futurists, writing and performing in the late-night signature show Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

LAURA T. FISHER (Mrs. Boyle) is making her Northlight debut. Recently, Laura appeared in Theater Wit's Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England in Chicago and Las Vegas. Laura has performed at many local theatres including Goodman, Court, Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens, and Next, where she is an artistic associate. Laura has received a Joseph Jefferson and an After Dark award for her performance in Famous Door's Early and Often, and Jeff nominations for Famous Door's Remembrance, Hushabye Mountain, and Remy Bumppo's The Secret Rapture. TV/Film work includes Contagion, Jessica, Body(s), and Chicago Fire. Up next is Milwaukee Repertory's Good People.

KEITH NEAGLE (Giles Ralston) is making his Northlight debut, having just worked with Jonathan Berry on Gift's production of Othello. With Pavement Group, Keith has appeared in Harry & the Thief, Breaks & Bikes, Girl You Know It's True, punkplay, Fracture/Mechanics, Arrangements, and Lipstick Traces. Other recent Chicago credits include: Seminar (Haven); Orange Flower Water (Interrobang); understudy for Three Sisters and Samuel J & K (Steppenwolf); Sweet Confinement (SiNNERMAN); Night and Her Stars (Gift); We Live Here and Yes, This Really Happened to Me (Theatre Seven); Sweet Bird of Youth (Artistic Home); The Pigeons (Walkabout); and Everything Freezes: another winter's tale (Sideshow). Keith is a graduate of Texas A&M University and the School at Steppenwolf.

LINDSEY PEARLMAN (Miss Casewell) is returning to Northlight after understudying Sky Girls. She has been seen at A Red Orchid (Trevor), Gift (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot), Chicago Shakespeare (How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back, u/s), Theatre Wit (Two for the Show), Rivendell (Expecting Isabel and Self Defense), Polarity (Never the Bridesmaid - 2013 Jeff Award Recipient/Actress in a Principal Role), and others. In the spring of 2015 she will appear in Love, Loss, and What I Wore at First Folio. Lindsey is a proud graduate of The Second City Conservatory and is an Artistic Associate of Stage Left Theatre.

CORA VANDER BROEK (Mollie Ralston) Previous Northlight credits: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and Pride & Prejudice. Other selected Chicago credits: Hank Williams: Lost Highway (American Blues); Luck of the Irish and Madagascar (Next); All My Sons (TimeLine); Dead Man's Cell Phone (Steppenwolf, u/s with multiple performances); Dead End (Griffin, Jeff Citation nominee - Actress in a Supporting Role), and three productions with Raven including Book of Days (After Dark Award - Actress in a Principal Role), and The Seagull. Recent regional credits: In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Actors Theatre of Louisville and Milwaukee Repertory); Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Doubt, and four seasons in A Christmas Carol (Indiana Repertory) and Heartbreak House (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks). Cora has been featured in the Chicago Tribune as "One of the top five actors to watch." Cora can be seen in the independent feature films Where We Started (recently screened in L.A. and NYC) and in the upcoming Of Minor Prophets and Blur Circle. Cora is a graduate of the School of Steppenwolf.

The Box Office is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, in Skokie. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm, and Saturdays 12:00pm-5:00pm. On performance days, the box office hours are extended through showtime. The Box Office is closed on Sundays, except on performance days when it is open two hours prior to showtime.

Northlight is continuing its popular special event series in conjunction with each production. All events are free for subscribers and ticket holders.

Post-Show discussions with a Northlight facilitator, engaging audiences in a dialogue about the play's themes and the creative process behind live theatre, will be held after the following performances: 11/9 at 2:30, 11/11 at 7:30, 11/12 at 7:30, 11/19 at 1:00, 11/23 at 2:30, 11/26 at 1:00.

Backstage with BJ is a mid-day discussion with Artistic Director BJ Jones, featuring special guest artists, actors, directors and designers, offering behind-the-scenes insight into each production while it is still in rehearsal. Backstage with BJ for The Mousetrap will be held on Friday, October 31 at 12:00pm and will last approximately one hour. Reservations are required, 847.679.9501 x3605 or specialevents@northlight.org.

Community Conversations will be held at local public libraries, featuring scene selections and Q&A with cast members and artists involved with the production. Events will take place Tuesday, November 18 at 3:00pm at Wilmette Public Library; Tuesday, December 2 at 2:00pm at Skokie Public Library; and at Highland Park Public Library, date TBA.

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