Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to Present DOUBLE INDEMNITY, 4/20-5/18

Mystery, lust, intrigue and murder take center stage in the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's DOUBLE INDEMNITY, which runs April 20 through May 18 in the Robert S. Marx Theatre.

In 1930s Los Angeles, disillusioned insurance agent Walter Huff finds temptation too hard to resist when he meets beautiful and seductive Phyllis Nirlinger, the wife of a wealthy client. After realizing that she wants to get rid of her husband, Huff decides to help her plan the "perfect crime." Accident insurance pays double indemnity on railroad mishaps, so they plot to get him on and off a train without arousing suspicion. But will they get away with their perfect crime?

James M. Cain, who also wrote The Postman Always Rings Twice and MildrEd Pierce, drew his inspiration for DOUBLE INDEMNITY from the sensational 1927 New York murder trial of Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray, who both went to the electric chair for killing Snyder's husband. DOUBLE INDEMNITY was first published as an eight-part serial in Liberty Magazine in 1936, at the heart of the Great Depression, before becoming one of the most famed crime novels in American fiction. The film adaptation, directed by Billy Wilder, premiered in 1944, and garnered seven Academy Award nominations. In 1992, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. DOUBLE INDEMNITY is widely credited with helping to propel the American film industry's explosive film noir movement in the 1940s and 1950s.

Michael Evan Haney will direct DOUBLE INDEMNITY. According to Haney, "When I first read the play I was surprised to find that the plot, though similar in its major points, was very different from the movie. David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright adapted this play from the novel by Cain, not from the Paramount screenplay. Cain's novel is a concise and brilliant exploration of the power of sex and greed - always great subject matter for the theatre. I hope our audiences find this play exciting, sexy, enlightening and even a bit troubling."

The cast forDOUBLE INDEMNITY features David Christopher Wells (The Understudy) as Walter Huff, Gardner Reed as Phyllis Nirlinger, Michael Sean McGuinness as Barton Keyes, Terah Herman as Nettie/Nurse, Joy Famer-Clary (Blackbird/A Christmas Carol) as Lola Nirlinger, Kevin Cutts (Over the Tavern) as Herbert Nirlinger and Eddie Boroevich as Nino Sachetti/Jackson/Norton.

The design team for DOUBLE INDEMNITY includes Set Designer Paul Shortt, Costume Designer David Kay Mickelsen, Lighting Designer James Sale and Sound Designer/Composer Matthew M. Nielson. The Production Stage Manager is Jenifer Morrow and the Second Stage Manager is Andrea L. Shell.

Prices for DOUBLE INDEMNITY range from $30 - $70, depending on day and seat location, and are subject to change. Student and teen price is $25. Tickets are just $30 for the preview performances at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 20; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 21; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 23; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24. Some restrictions apply. The official opening night is Thursday, April 25 at 8 p.m.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets to DOUBLE INDEMNITY are on sale now. For more information, call The Playhouse box office at 513-421-3888 (toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800-582-3208) or visit www.cincyplay.com. Call 513-345-2248 for TDD accessibility.

The Playhouse is fully accessible. Audio enhancement receivers, large print programs and complete wheelchair access are available.

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