Gaslight Stages Regional Premiere of Ludwig's BASKERVILLE, 3/31

The regional premiere of Ken Ludwig's comedic take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of The Baskerville - Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery - continues the 16th anniversary season of Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre as the company's 74th show debuts March 31, running through April 9.

Baskerville opened January 16, 2015, at Arena Stage's Kreeger Theatre in Washington D.C, subsequently moving on to the McCarter Theatre Center's Matthews Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey on March 13, 2015.

Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo, Crazy For You) is an internationally-acclaimed playwright whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages. He has had six shows on Broadway and six in the West End. The two-time Tony Award-winning playwright brings to life Arthur Conan Doyle's classic The Hound of the Baskervilles in this new adaptation.

Ludwig's updated version stretches the genres of comedy and mystery by taking a story that plays out on a large scale - in railway stations, on the Devonshire moors, on London streets and in baronial mansions - and creates it with five actors playing more than 40 roles.

Holmes and Watson make appearances in four novels and fifty-six short stories, and audiences have treasured them for so long because they know them so well, Ludwig maintains: "There is something romantic at the heart of Sherlock Holmes that touches all of us," says Ludwig. "But there is also something dark and dangerous about Holmes, and we admire him for the courage with which he fights his demons."

"Holmes and Watson have been a staple of our culture since the 1890s, but they have recently re-entered our world in a more contemporary, muscular fashion, and this is evident in Ludwig's adaption," says Greg Frey, artistic director of the Gaslight Dinner Theatre. "The setting is still in that time period but we have a more dimensional view of the happenings of the day."

Filled with special effects, period costumes and a ton of sound effects, Baskerville is sure to please theater lovers of any age, says Frey.

The cast includes Gaslight favorites Jenny Norris Light (I Do! I Do!, Seussical, Oklahoma, The Andrews Brothers, All Shook Up) and Curtis LeMoine-Reed (The Andrews Brothers, A Christmas Story, All Shook Up, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Spamalot) along with newcomer Brett Cantrell (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, It's A Wonderful Life, Arsenic and Old Lace, Alone Together, Funny Valentines): Evan Williams (Little Shop of Horrors, Oliver, The Rocky Horror Show, The Spitfire Grill, Reckless) and Nick Fair (All Shook Up, Shrek, The Fantasticks, Into the Woods, A Christmas Carol).

Gaslight Dinner Theatre now features new menu options by The Front Porch of Dickson with master chef Jamie Protich, and luncheon and dinner buffets begin one hour before show time. Ticket price includes buffet, desserts, beverage and show. Gratuity not included.

Performances of Baskerville will include Thursday and Friday matinees at 12 noon with show at 1 p.m. and Friday and Saturday evening performance begin with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and show at 7:30 p.m. Advance reservations are required. Tickets range from $18 to $40. For reservations, call the box office (Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) at (615) 740-5600 or go online at www.gaslightdinnertheatre.org. The show's running time is approximately 90 minutes.

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