HOLMES AND WATSON Are On The Case At Stage West

Sherlock Holmes is dead-he died in a struggle with his nemesis, Professor Moriarty, as both went over the edge of the cliff at Reichenbach Falls. Or did he? The plot is definitely about to thicken, as Stage West presents the regional premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher's Holmes and Watson, in a 5-week regional premiere run at Stage West beginning Thursday, May 30.

Three years after the disappearance of Holmes, his loyal assistant Dr. John Watson has been summoned by a Dr. Evans to a remote island asylum (on a dark and stormy night, of course!) to investigate three inmates, all of whom claim to be the great detective. It's not Watson's first investigation of this sort, Holmes's body never having been found, but all previous claimants have turned out to be imposters. Will the same prove true here, or has the real Holmes actually been found, alive? Watson is about to be drawn into a web of intrigue and murder, and the audience will be carried right along with him in this supremely entertaining and surprising mystery.

Talking Broadway called it "Smashing. Full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat."

Jeffrey Hatcher's Broadway credits include: Never Gonna Dance (book). Off-Broadway credits include: Three Viewings and A Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club; The Government Inspector at Red Bull Theater; Scotland Road and The Turn Of The Screw at Primary Stages; Lucky Duck (book w/ Bill Russell) at the New Victory Theater; Tuesdays With Morrie (w/ Mitch Albom) at the Minetta Lane Theatre; Murder By Poe and A Connecticut Yankee At King Arthur's Court at The Acting Company; Ten Chimneys at Peccadillo Theater Company; NEDDY at American Place; and Fellow Travelers at Manhattan Punchline. Other theatre credits include: Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Mercy of a Storm, Smash, Armadale, Korczak's Children, Work Song, To Fool The Eye, Sherlock Holmes and The Suicide Club, Jeffrey Hatcher's Hamlet, The Scarecrow and His Servant, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Critic, and others at the Guthrie, The Old Globe, Yale Rep, the Geffen, Seattle Rep, Huntington Theatre Company, the Shakespeare Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose Rep, the Empty Space, Indiana Rep, Children's Theatre Company, History Theatre, Madison Rep, Intiman Theatre, Illusion Theater, Denver Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, City Theater, Studio Arena, and dozens more in the US and abroad. FILM/TV: "Stage Beauty," "Casanova," "The Duchess," "Mr. Holmes," "The Good Liar," "Columbo," "Murder at the Cannes Film Festival," and "The Mentalist." Grants/Awards: NEA, TCG, Lila Wallace Fund, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Frankel Award, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Barrymore Award (Best New Play), and the 2013 Ivey Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member and/or alumnus of the Playwrights' Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild, and New Dramatists.

Holmes and Watson will be directed by WingSpan Theatre Company founder and Producing Artistic Director Susan Sargeant. The cast features Managing Director Mark Shum, most recently seen in Stage West's Everybody, as Dr. Watson, Ashley Wood, whose many Stage West credits include multiple roles in Intimate Exchanges, as Dr. Evans, Catherine D. DuBord, last at Stage West as Suzanne in Don't Dress for Dinner, as Matron, and Jim Jorgensen, seen as Jake in How is it That We Live, or Shakey Jake + Alice at Undermain, as Orderly. The three Holmeses will be played by Richard Stubblefield (Holmes 1), seen as Vershinin in Three Sisters at Stolen Shakespeare Guild, Robert Gemaehlich (Holmes 2), who appeared as Dr. Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest at Encounters Theatre (NYC), and Steve Robert Pounds (Holmes 3), seen as Kevin in Haunted for Our Productions Theatre Company.

Set design is by Lauren A. Wheat, with lighting design by Bryan Stevenson, costume design by Aaron Patrick DeClerk and Jeremy M. Bernardoni, sound design by Lowell Sargeant, and props/set decor by Lynn Lovett.

Holmes and Watson will preview Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 and Friday, May 31 at 8:00, and will run through Sunday, June 30. Performance times will be Thursday evenings at 7:30, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00, with Sunday matinees at 3:00. Ticket prices range from $31 to $35, with discounts for the preview performance, and for students, seniors, and military. Food service is available 90 minutes prior to performances (reservations are advised). Reservations and information are available through the Box Office (817-784-9378), or on the website, www.stagewest.org.

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