Boston's Stoneham Theatre presents "THRILL ME" Opening Jan 20th

Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story by Stephen Dolginoff premiered in 2003 as part of the Fourth Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City. Its originally-scheduled performances quickly sold out, and its run was extended to accommodate an eager, albeit curious crowd of music theatre enthusiasts unsure what to expect from a musical about one of the most heinous crimes of the 20th Century. The result was a phenomenon in which audiences and critics became enamored with a small, low-budget chamber musical tucked away in one of the smallest theatres in the city.

Since then, Thrill Me has been included alongside some impressive company as critics in New York mark it among the best shows of the year. Peter Filichia of TheaterMania.com includes Thrill Me in his September 2004 list of the All-Time Fifty Best Scores for Off-Broadway Musicals, which also includes Little Shop of Horrors, The Fantasticks, Godspell, and Bat Boy.

Thrill Me chronicles the events leading up to the infamous 1924 murder of a young Chicago boy. Dolginoff's dark score propels the action and underscores the tension at the center of the story. "The idea of musicalizing such a tale may seem like a bleak joke, but Thrill Me uses music to get us over the hump of the criminal details of the case and to display the emotions underlying the relationship between Leopold and Loeb that allowed the murder to happen, according to TheaterMania.com. "The musical unfolds as a love story- it delves into these two hearts of darkness to find the reason for the unfathomable murder of a boy whom neither of these killers knew."

Playwright/Composer Stephen Dolginoff, who has also written Most Men Are, One Foot Out the Door, and the award-nominated Journey to the Center of the Earth based on the Jules Verne classic, began the process of writing Thrill Me in the mid 1990s with thorough research into the lives of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, and "decided to add [his] own imagination along the way," he says. "I've always been drawn to unusual subject matter and wanted to explore the dark side of a relationship. I was interested in creating a dark, musical thriller with a twisted relationship at its center and thought the true story of Leopold and Loeb would be a fascinating subject."

The January production of Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story at Stoneham Theatre is the first fully-staged production of the musical since its 2003 debut. Nathan Leopold is played by Jonathan Reid Gealt, an actor with credits in Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York including Jesus Christ Superstar (John), The Rocky Horror Show (Ensemble), and Cats (Coriopat), who is appearing this December in the holiday concert with the Boston Pops. Richard Loeb is played by Jonathan Colby, originally from Newton, who has recently appeared in Floyd Collins with Damn Few Productions, Fiddler on the Roof with Turtle Lane Playhouse, and other companies around the region.

Thrill Me is directed by Stoneham Theatre Artistic Associate Caitlin Lowans, whose directing credits include Angels in America: Millennium Approaches with Georgetown University; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; and Amphibians, Stoneham Theatre?s entry in the 2004 Boston Theatre Marathon. In addition, the creative team includes music director Judy Hayward, stage manager Timothy L'Ecuyer, and lighting designer Matt Guminski.

Tickets are $25/Adults; $20/Seniors (62+); and $10/Students (under 18 or with a valid college I.D.) Customers who purchase tickets for both Thrill Me and the April Emerging Stages production of Never Swim Alone before January 28, 2005 receive 25% off the combined ticket price.

Performances of Thrill Me are Thursday, Jan. 20 at 7:30pm; Friday, Jan. 21 at 8pm; Saturday, Jan. 22 at 8pm; Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 7:30pm; Thursday, Jan. 27 at 7:30pm; and Friday Jan. 28 at 8pm. An original cast recording of Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story is available for purchase at www.thrillmethemusical.com. For tickets or more information, call the box office at (781) 279-2200 or visit StonehamTheatre.org.

www.thrillmethemusical.com