THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT Storyteller Weaves Halloween Tales and Local Ghost Stories Tonight

Hershey Area Playhouse is pleased to present Things that Go Bump in the Night, an evening of spooky storytelling featuring college professor, actor and local historian, Dr. Kevin Pry, tonight, October 4, 2014 at 7 p.m.

Dr. Pry is back for the second year to share more tales of creepiness and the macabre from authors including Poe, Lovecraft, and even Shakespeare. In addition, he will weave in new local stories and historic ghostly encounters. Pry will not only tell the tales, but will talk about what makes ghost stories such a lasting part of culture. The special Halloween-themed performance will offer a night of chills and thrills told by a man who brings tales to life with wit, humor, and compassion.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under and are available at www.HersheyAreaPlayhouse.com or by calling the box office at 717.533.8525. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Dr. Kevin Pry is an Associate Professor of English at Lebanon Valley College where he teaches Shakespeare, Theatre Production, Acting, and a freshman First Year Seminar writing classes called "To the Ends of the Earth" about exploration of the North and South Poles, the Northwest Passage, and Mount Everest. He is also the College's "Ghostmaster-General" who conducts a hugely popular annual October tour "The Ghosts of LVC." Dr. Pry is widely known for his storytelling on theatrical, historical, and folkloric subjects, and was featured in the LVC episode of the TV series School Spirits. He is a 1976 LVC graduate who makes his home in Lebanon, PA. A native of Columbus, Ohio, he has lived and worked throughout the U.S.A. and has collected ghost stories across the United Kingdom. His educational background includes a B.A. in History from LVC, an M.A. in British History with a Theatre minor from Penn State in 1980, and a Ph.D. in British/ European History with a Theatre minor in 1984, also from Penn State.

Dr. Pry's past theatrical experience includes serving as resident dramaturg for Theatre Harrisburg (1987-present,) dramaturg for Penn State's University Resident Theatre Company (1987-1991,) and actor and stage manager for the Lebanon Valley Summer Theatre (1973-1981.) He has acted in, directed, stage-managed, or done dramaturgical research for over 260 productions. He is also the Mentoring Chair of the Playwrights' Alliance of Pennsylvania (PAPA), a workshop group for dramatists in the midstate area, for the last three years co-directing and hosting staged readings of four annual collections of the group's plays at LVC and for the Cicada Festival's Churchill New Plays series at Mt. Gretna, PA including It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, A Failure to Communicate, Seven at 7:30, Storm Stories and this year's No! No! No! Six Stories of Rejection, which was also seen at Hershey Area Playhouse. Dr. Pry served as the resident director of LVC's London Study Abroad Program in 1999, and is the Executive Director and dramaturg for the Wig and Buckle Theater Company, LVC's 79-year-old student-run theatre organization. His articles on theatre history have appeared in scholarly journals on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dr. Pry has also performed a one-man show about the 16th century Catholic missionary and champion of indigenous peoples Bartolome de Las Casas, and has for the last 30 years regularly performed his Meet Dr. Luther for audiences around the U.S.A., in which he appears as the celebrated 16th century religious reformer and discusses his life and times with the audience. This is Dr. Pry's second appearance at Hershey Area Playhouse this season, after appearing as "Pop" in the 2014 summer musical production of the musical Gypsy.

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