Cincinnati Playhouse Stages SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB, Now thru 10/4

The world's most famous fictional sleuth adds a novel chapter to his repertoire with playwright Jeffrey Hatcher's electrifying new whodunit SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB, which opens the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's 55th season. The play is an inventive mash-up of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic characters and the Robert Louis Stevenson short story "The Suicide Club," providing a clever, intricately woven new mystery for Holmes to deduce. SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB runs today, Sept. 6 through Oct. 4 in the Robert S. Marx Theatre.

Sherlock Holmes has never shied away from danger, but his latest adventure may be his most treacherous ever. The members of London's Suicide Club play a harrowing game of Russian roulette to determine their role as victim or executioner. When the brilliant sleuth finds himself entangled in their secretive web, his own life hangs in the balance ... and it's not clear whether he wants to be saved.

Playhouse Associate Artist KJ Sanchez, who is directing SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB, is excited that Hatcher's play offers a fresh view. "First, this is Sherlock in 1914, which means he's 60," she explains. "This is a very different Sherlock from any of the movies or television shows. Because of his age and experiences, he's smarter, quirkier, suffers fools less and is hitting that familiar wall of 'is this all there is?' He's solved all there is to solve, and if he doesn't get a great case soon, he might find good use for the suicide club. Needless to say, he does find a great case and that's our play."

More than a century after his creation, Sherlock Holmes' popular appeal remains overwhelmingly contemporary, as evidenced by current movie and television adaptations starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Jonny Lee Miller and Ian McKellen.

The world premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher's SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB was commissioned and produced by the Arizona Theatre Company in 2011. The Playhouse production marks the eighth time a Hatcher play has been performed here.

The well-respected and prolific Steubenville, Ohio, native was the fifth winner of the Playhouse's Lois and Richard Rosenthal New Play Prize for Scotland Road, which premiered in 1993. Other Hatcher shows at the Playhouse include Ella (2008, with Rob Ruggiero, Dyke Garrison and Danny Holgate), Murderers (2007) and The Turn of the Screw (1997).

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB is sponsored by The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation. Barbara and Bill Weyand are the show's design sponsors, and Huntington Bank is the artist sponsor for Sherlock Holmes.

Steven Hauck makes his Playhouse debut as Sherlock Holmes. Additional cast members include Douglas Rees as Dr. John H. Watson, Joel Reuben Ganz as Mr. Williams/Mr. Roundy, Tonya Beckman as Club Secretary, Cary Donaldson as Prince Nikita Starloff, John Feltch as Mr. Richards/Mycroft Holmes, Aaron Christensen as Mr. George/Inspector Micklewhite, Jonathan Gillard Daly as Mr. Henry/A.C. Crosse, Dale Hodges as Mrs. Hudson/Lucy O'Malley and Jenny Mercein as Christiane de LaBegassier. The creative team includes set designer Wilson Chin, costume designer Matthew J. LeFebvre, lighting designer Thomas C. Hase, sound designer/composer Matthew M. Nielson and projection designer Alex Koch. Jenifer Morrow is the production stage manager; Andrea L. Shell is the second stage manager.

Ticket prices for SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB start at $30. Prices are subject to change, and patrons are encouraged to buy early for the best seats at the best prices. Teen and student tickets are $30 each. The show is recommended for ages 12 and up.

New for the 2014-15 season is Sunday College Night, with tickets to all 7 p.m. Sunday performances (not including A Christmas Carol) priced at just $10 with a valid student ID. Student tickets are just $15 on the day of the show for all other performances.

Previews are at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6; 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9; and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10. The official opening night is Thursday, Sept. 11, 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.

Free post-show Meet the Artists programs that allow audiences to interact with cast members and others associated with the production will be offered at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17; 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28; and 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB will be audio described for those with visual impairments at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, and signed for persons with hearing impairments at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. The Playhouse is fully accessible. Audio enhancement receivers, large print programs and complete wheelchair access are available.

Tickets to SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB 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 Telecommunications Device for the Deaf accessibility.

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