LA Theatre Works Brings IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT to Harris Center Tonight

L.A. Theatre Works brings their riveting stage adaptation of this classic American film dealing with racial prejudice to Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom. The play demonstrates the slow evolution of attitudes, but leaves the characters, and America, with a long way to go. This presentation is a special event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In 1967, one year before the Martin Luther King, Jr assassination, Sidney Poitier played Virgil Tibbs in the film adaptation of John Ball's In the Heat of the Night directed by Norman Jewison. The big-screen version crossed fraught political lines, marking one of the first times in a motion picture an African American man reacted to - rather than accepted - provocation from a white man. The film won five Academy Awards and spawned a hugely popular television series. In the Heat of the Night remains shockingly emblematic of America in the 1960s, and how, almost half a century later, our nation is still dealing with ingrained racist attitudes and behaviors.

L.A. Theatre Works: In The Heat of The Night will be performed tonight, November 18, 2014 at 7 pm. Tickets are priced at $19-$39; Premium $45; Students with ID $12. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

While John Ball's 1965 novel, In the Heat of the Night takes place in Alabama, signs such as "Whites Only" and "Segregation Forever" appeared throughout much of America during the 1960s. The country was grappling with integration and an evolving acceptance of the Civil Rights Movement. This was the era of sit-ins and tear gas, of marches and assassinations. This was the era of Martin Luther King Jr., the Kennedys, and LBJ and an America finally, deliberately, moving towards a future of equality regardless of skin color.

Nearly fifty years later, the question remains ? have we really arrived? Perhaps not. Just as Ball's white, Southern, police Chief Bill Gillespie's personal prejudices are tested by working with African-American detective Virgil Tibbs, America continues to confront prejudice, stereotyping, and fear as shown in recent news headlines.

Playwright and screenwriter Matt Pelfrey sets his riveting stage adaptation of this classic American thriller in the environment of gradual change, rebellion, anger, frustration, and stubborn clinging to old ways of life. Ball's novel reflected the difficult and personal clashes of the time - the kind of daily encounters that showed ingrained racist attitudes and behaviors.

The role of Virgil Tibbs will be played by the young up and coming actor Ryan Vincent Anderson. The production also stars a great mix of actors with stage, film, and TV credits. Included is L.A. Theatre Works regular and frequent TV and film star Tom Virtue (Even Stevens, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Charmed, Entourage, Two and a Half Men, Iron Man 3 and many more).

Also in the cast are Michael Hammond whose credits include the Shakespeare Theatre DC and the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Travis Johns, a frequent guest star on TV (Nip/Tuck, Days of Our Lives, Ray Donovan, The Mentalist and more). Kalen Harriman and L.A. Theatre Works stalwart, Darren Richardson, whose distinctive voice has been heard in a wide array of films from Pirates of the Caribbean to X-Men are also in the cast.

Under the leadership of Producing Director, Susan Albert Loewenberg, L.A. Theatre Works (LATW) has been the foremost radio theater company in the United States for more than two decades. The Philadelphia Inquirer refers to it as "...a national theatrical treasure." L.A. Theatre Works is broadcast weekly in America on public radio stations, daily in China on the Radio Beijing Network, streamed online at www.latw.org and programs are aired internationally on the BBC, CBC, and many other English language networks. LATW has single-handedly brought the finest recorded dramatic literature into the homes of millions. On the road, LATW has delighted audiences with its unique live radio theater style performances in over 300 small towns and major cities, including New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington and Chicago, Beijing and Shanghai. An L.A. Theatre Works performance is immediate, spontaneous, and features a first-rate cast, live sound effects, and a connection to the audience rarely felt in a traditional theater setting. This theater... is an event.

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