Photos: First Look at Hell in a Handbag Productions' MURDER REWROTE

Hell in a Handbag Productions is concluding its 21st season with the world premiere musical parody Murder, ReWrote, playing August 10 – September 16, 2023 at The Den Theatre (Upstairs Mainstage) 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The press opening is Sunday, August 13 at 7 pm.

Murder, ReWrote features book and lyrics by Ed Rutherford, music and lyrics by George Howe, direction by Anthony Whitaker and music direction by Andrew Milliken.

The cast includes ensemble members David Cerda*, Grant Drager*, Ed Jones* and Tyler Anthony Smith* with Mark Bartishell, Britain Gebhardt, Caroline Kidwell, Matt Patrick and Cathy Reyes McNamara. Understudy: Coco Sho-Nell. Swings: Becca Duff and Daniel Hurst.

In the grand Handbag style, this affectionate musical parody of a certain well-known syndicated TV show follows Bessica Feltcher (Britain Gebhardt), a widowed Maine writer of mystery novels who becomes embroiled in murder and mayhem when she, and her nephew Grady (Grant Drager*) visit a faded movie star's mansion. When the star’s extremely annoying daughter, Christina (Tyler Anthony Smith*) is murdered, her “Mommie Dearest,” June Crayfish (David Cerda*), is the prime suspect. It's up to Bessica to find the murderer with the help of the audience, and some modern technology! Murder, ReWrote is stuffed with humor for both the casual Murder, She Wrote viewer and the deep-cut Fletcher fanatic.

The production team includes Rose Johnson (Scenic Design), Madeline FeLauer (Costume Design), Liz Cooper (Lighting Design), Miranda Coble (Sound Design), Jamal Howard (Choreography), Cosmo Kay (Prop Design) Jabberwocky Marionettes (Puppet Design), Sydney Genco* (Make-Up Design), Keith Ryan* (Wig Design), Erik Tylkowski (Production Manager), Taylor Stageberg (Stage Manager) and Brayden Gibson (Assistant Stage Manager).

*Denotes Handbag Ensemble Member

About the Artists     

Ed Rutherford (Book & Lyrics) recently co-wrote the musical Mary Rose (Jeff Nomination, Outstanding New Work), as well as writing Nightmares & Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier and his stage adaptation of the Peter S. Beagle fantasy novel The Last Unicorn. As the Producing Artistic Director of Black Button Eyes Productions, directing projects include Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Whisper House, Ghost Quartet (Jeff Nomination: Best Director of a Musical), Evil Dead the Musical (Jeff Nomination: Best Director of a Musical), Nevermore, Shockheaded Peter, Amour, Goblin Market and Coraline. He is an artistic associate with Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where projects have included directing The Liar, Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Durang’s Beyond Therapy. Directing with Brown Paper Box Co: The Baltimore Waltz. As an actor, he's performed with Drury Lane Oakbrook, Porchlight, Theater Wit and many others. A graduate of Northwestern's theater program, he also completed his MBA at Kellogg.

George Howe (Music & Lyrics) is a Jeff Citation winner for his musicals Queen Lucia (2006) and Northanger Abbey (2017), for which he wrote the music and lyrics. He is the composer/lyricist of many TYA musicals which have all premiered at Lifeline Theatre and have subsequently been performed across the country and internationally. They include Mr. Popper's Penguins, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, The Emperor's Groovy New Threads, Somebody Loves You, Mister Hatch and five musicals based on the Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type series of books. His musical Arnie the Doughnut was performed at the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). His latest musical, Loki at the End of the World, a rock musical based on Norse mythology, premiered this past spring at the Chicago College of Performing Arts.

Anthony Whitaker (Director) is thrilled to be working with Hell in a Handbag for the first time after having been in the audience for years. They most recently appeared in Krugozor (Theatre Evolve), Cabaret (Metropolis Performing Arts Center) as Herr Schultz and La Cage Aux Folles with Ginger Minj (Music Theater Works). They are the Co-Artistic Director the New American Folk Theatre (newamericanfolktheatre.org), where they wrote and/or performed in productions of Two from the Trailer Court, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Dark of the Moon, Trash, Hot Pink, My Life Is A Country Song and directed the Jeff Award-nominated The Summer of Daisy Fay, written by Ed Howard and based on a novel by Fannie Flagg. Some of their favorite Chicago performances include Whoop Dee Doo (Royal George Theatre), A Funny Thing Happened... (Porchlight), Hands On A Hardbody (Refuge Theatre), and Shockheaded Peter" (Black Button Eyes). In addition to performing, Anthony teaches music and theatre in various Chicago area schools. Anthony recently completed filming Shape Notes, soon to be released.

Andrew Milliken (Music Director) has been working as an MD/Pianist in the Chicagoland area since 2016, and working with Hell in a Handbag almost as long. Some of his favorite productions with Handbag include Bewildered, Poseidon! An Upside Down Musical and The Facts of Life: Satan's School for Girls, for which he also composed the music. Other favorite productions in and around Chicago include Pippin (Mercury Theater), Avenue Q (Metropolis) and Ruthless (Steel Beam Theater). 

About Hell in a Handbag Productions

Hell in a Handbag is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music and homage. Handbag is a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit. For additional information, visit handbagproductions.org.

Tickets are now on sale at bit.ly/MurderReWrote and handbagproductions.org.

Photo Credit: Rick Aguilar

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.