Palm Beach Dramaworks Offers Live 'Radio Broadcast' of DOUBLE INDEMNITY Tonight

Murder! Duplicity! Revenge! It all happens at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre tonight, February 24, when Palm Beach Dramaworks presents a recreation of the Lux Radio Theatre's 1950 broadcast of James M. Cain's Double Indemnity. Proceeds from this one-night only event, which includes a dessert reception following the 7:30 performance, benefit PBD's Theatre Guild. 1940s attire optional!

The original radio broadcast featured the two stars of the classic 1944 film recreating their screen roles: Barbara Stanwyck as femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson, who loathes her husband and wants him dead; and Fred MacMurray as insurance salesman Walter Neff, her partner in crime. PBD's presentation is a treat for local audiences, as it features staff members who are rarely, if ever, seen onstage. Managing Director Sue Ellen Beryl, whose last stage appearance was in 2002, portrays Phyllis, and Producing Artistic Director William Hayes, who last trod the boards in 2006, plays Walter. The cast also includes Company Manager Nanique Gheridian (who will be seen as well in Les Liaisons Dangereuses) and, making their PBD acting debuts, Resident Director J. Barry Lewis and Associate Managing Director Lara Wagener.

Part of the fun of for audiences who attended live radio broadcasts was the chance to see the clever, low-tech sound effects created right in front of them: anything from the mixing of a drink, to the opening of a door, to the rhythms of a moving train. That, too, will be part of PBD's production.

Double Indemnity first appeared in 1936 as an eight-part serial in Liberty magazine. In 1943, it was one of a trio of short novels by Cain included in a book called Three of a Kind. Paramount Pictures bought the rights to the story, and the movie went on to become not just a film noir masterpiece, but one of the greatest films of all time. Directed by Billy Wilder, with a screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, Double Indemnity, as the Lux radio announcer explains, is "a drama of intense emotion, between two people whose infatuation leads them to murder and revenge." The film was adapted as a radio play four times between 1945 and 1950; Stanwyck and MacMurray appeared together in the first and last versions.

Palm Beach Dramaworks is a non-profit, professional theatre and is a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the South Florida Theatre League, Florida Professional Theatres Association, and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.

Tickets for this special event are priced at $75.00 for Guild members, and $150.00 for non-Guild members. For reservations and/or to join the Guild, contact the box office at (561) 514-4042 ext. 2, or call Leslie Mandell at (561) 514-4042 ext. 106.

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