Pioneer Theatre Company Opens THE CRUCIBLE Tonight

Pioneer Theatre Company presents The Crucible, the American classic, reliving the era of Salem witch trials, tonight, February 13 - February 28, 2015.

In 1692, a group of young girls suddenly manifest signs of "demonic possession." Before the hysteria ends twenty Salem townspeople are dead-executed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the crime of witchcraft. The Crucible is a landmark work of the American theatre, at once a powerful cautionary tale and a mesmerizing psychological drama.

The Crucible has a local angle; several of the descendants of the historical characters in the play emigrated to Utah.

FLETCHER MC TAGGART plays the farmer John Proctor, who finds himself at the center of the hysteria. McTaggart returns to PTC after last being seen as Tony Wendise in Dial M for Murder. His Broadway appearances include Leap Of Faith and he also appeared in Macbeth at Utah Shakespeare Festival. His television appearances include "As the World Turns," "Law and Order," and "Six Degrees."

CLAIRE BROWNELL plays Proctor's wife, Elizabeth. Brownell appeared on Broadway in The 39 Steps. Her television credits include Inside Amy Schumer, and her film credits include The Inspector, The Lady & The Thief, BFF and This is the Story of Ted and Alice.

MADISON MICUCCI plays Abigail, the young women who sets the "crying out" of the witches in motion. This is her PTC debut. A recent graduate of the musical theater program at the University of Michigan, she has been seen recently on "Orange is the New Black" on television.

PAUL KIERNAN plays Reverend Parris, Abigail's uncle and the town's minister. He has appeared at PTC in Odd Couple, Of Mice and Men, Man of La Mancha, Laughing Stock, Emma, The Tempest, The Diary of Anne Frank, Twelve Angry Men, Pride and Prejudice and Amadeus, among others. Other credits include Kentucky Shakespeare, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and more.

Mary Warren is played by BETSY HOGG in her PTC debut; she made her Broadway debut 13 years ago as Betty Parris in the same play. Other Broadway productions include Peter and the Starcatcher (Molly Aster) and Fiddler on the Roof. TV and film appearances include "Onion SportsDome," "Law & Order: SVU," "The Missing Person" and "Rocket Science."

Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, called to Salem to oversee the trial of those accused of witchcraft is played by PHILIP KERR. A veteran of seven Broadway productions, most recently, A Time to Kill, he has also appeared at regional theatres around the country and on television. This is his PTC debut.

The puritan pastor Reverend John Hale is played by J. TODD ADAMS. Adams spent two seasons performing at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, as well as at the Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and South Coast Repertory. His film and television credits include "Gilmore Girls," "The West Wing," "Flyboys" and "Warriors of Virtue."

Reverend Parris' slave from Barbados, Tituba, is played by STEPHANIE WEEKS (Tituba) in her PTC debut. She has performed Off- Broadway with Obie Award winning companies, Target Margin and Hoi Polloi.

JOHN MICHALSKI plays Giles Corey. He has appeared on and Off-Broadway, in two tours with The Acting Company and in theatres from coast to coast. This is his PTC debut.

KURT ZISCHKE plays Thomas Putnam.Hewas last seen at PTC in The Tempest, but also was in Julius Caesar, 1776, Sherlock Holmes & The West End Horror, The Ladies' Man, 42nd Street, Richard III, and Camelot.

JOHN LA GIOIA plays Francis Nurse. His New York credits include On Borrowed Time, School for Scandal, Right You Are, Gemini, Wars of the Roses, Titus Andronicus, Pavlo Hummel, Over the River and Through the Woods and Doubles. A regular on all NY based soap operas, he was Johnny Dallas on "The Edge of Night" for five years

TOBIN ATKINSON as Ezekiel Cheever and DAVID SPENCER as Hathorne return to PTC for this production and are joined by ROBERT SCOTT SMITH in the role of Willard.

Prominent local actors ANNE CULLIMORE DECKER and SARAH SHIPPOBOTHAM play Rebecca Nurse and Ann Putnam respectively. DECKER returns to PTC after You Can't Take it With You. Her most recent theatre credits include Rare Bird, Righteous & Very Real Housewives Of Utah County, Thirty-Three Variations and Loss Of Appetite. She was recently included on the list of Utah's Most Influential Artists-2014. SHIPPOBOTHAM makes her debut at PTC but has been seen at Utah Contemporary Theatre and in the University of Utah's Spring Awakening. She is the head of the Actor Training Program at The University of Utah as well as one of the Voice and Dialect Coaches for The Shaw Festival in Canada.

ANNE LOUISE BRINGS, BRIGHTON HERTFORD and STEPHANIE PURCELL as Mercy, Susanna and Betty, respectively, play the young girls who make the accusations. MICHAEL S. JOHNSON as Hopkins completes the cast.

CHARLES MOREY former PTC Artistic Director, returns to direct The Crucible after directing more than ninety productions from Shakespeare to musicals to world premieres, including this title in 1997.

GARY M. ENGLISH, Scenic Designer, returns to PTC after The Tempest, Hamlet, The Light in the Piazza, and the world premieres of The Ladies Man, by Charles Morey and Touch(ed).

CAROL WELLS-DAY, PTC's resident costume designer, designs for this production.

PHIL MONAT, Lighting Designer, designed previous PTC productions of Alabama Story, Something's Afoot, Man Of La Mancha, Annie, White Christmas, Hamlet, Touch(ed) and more.

JOSHUA C. HIGHT, Sound Designer, and AMANDA FRENCH, Hair and Makeup Designer also design for this production.

The Crucible will run tonight, February 13 through 28, 2015, playing Mondays - Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday matinees, 2:00 p.m. at the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City. Tickets: $25 - $44 in advance and $5 more when purchased on the day of the show; Kids in grades K - 12 are half price on Mondays and Tuesdays. Early Bird Discount: $5 off the cost of Main Floor and Loge seating for the first seven performances, when tickets are purchased on or before February 6. For more information, contact the Box Office: 801-581-6961 (Open 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Mon - Fri) or visit www.pioneertheatre.org.

Pioneer Theatre Company operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah's only fully professional theatre, performs at Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, located on the University of Utah campus at 300 South and 1400 East in Salt Lake City, easily accessible by TRAX light rail. Free parking is also available and the theatre is equipped with an elevator, handicap parking, hearing assistance devices and other easy-access features.

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