Godlight Theatre Set for World Premiere of JOHN BALL'S IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes the return of Godlight Theatre Company with the World Premiere adaptation of John Ball'S IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, adapted by Matt Pelfrey and directed by Joe Tantalo.

John Ball'S IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT begins previews on Friday, March 19 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 25. Press Opening is Sunday, March 28 at 3:30 PM. The regular performance schedule is Tuesday - Wednesday at 7:30 PM, Thursday - Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM and 8:30 PM; Sunday at 3:30 PM. Please note, there are no matinee performances on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21 but an added evening performance on Sunday, March 21 at 7:30 PM. The regular ticket price is $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members).

Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For more information visit www.59E59.org.

It's 1962. A hot August night lies heavy over the small town of Argo, Alabama. A dead white man is discovered and the local police arrest a black stranger named Virgil Tibbs. The police discover that their prime suspect is in fact a homicide detective from California. As it happens, Tibbs becomes the racially tense community's single hope in solving a brutal murder that is turning up no witnesses, no motives and no clues.

Critically acclaimed director Joe Tantalo and playwright Matt Pelfrey bring the world premiere stage adaptation John Ball'S IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, based on the award-winning book that inspired the Oscar-winning film and acclaimed television series.

Written in 1965, the novel was the first in the Virgil Tibbs series of mysteries. The novel served as a window into the segregated South during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. It was subsequently turned into a film in 1967, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is considered a landmark of American cinema. In 1988, it inspired a television series starring Carroll O'Connor and Howard Rollins. It ran on NBC for five seasons, then moved to CBS where it aired for an additional three. In the pilot episode, Virgil Tibbs is persuaded to join the police force after he returns to town following the death of his mother.

Two-time Drama Desk nominee Maruti Evans once again teams up with Godlight to design sets and lighting. Joining Evans on the design team is sound designer Elizabeth Rhodes. Hachi Yu is the choreographer. Fight choreography is by Josh Renfree.

The cast features Gregory Konow, Sean Phillips, Nick Paglino, Michael Shimkin, JuliAnne Nelson, Ashton Crosby, Ryan O'Callaghan, Bryce Hodgson, Sam Whitten and Scarlett Thiele.

Matt Pelfrey (adaptation) adapted Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries for Godlight Theatre Company. He is the resident playwright at Furious Theatre. His plays include An Impending Rupture of the Belly, Cockroach Nation, Terminus Americana, Honkies with Attitude, Gore Hounds, Drive Angry, FrEAk StORm, Jerry Springer is God, Monkey and A Feast of Famine. They have been produced in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and South Africa by such companies as the Actors Theater of Louisville (Humana Festival '99), Furious Theatre Company, Roadworks, American Theater of Actors, (Mostly) Harmless Theater Company, Moving Arts, Hexagon Theatre and the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. He is the recipient of the Heideman Award (National Ten-Minute Play Award) for his play Drive Angry, which was subsequently produced at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Mr. Pelfrey recently won a Back Stage Garland Award for playwriting. He has been nominated for an American Critic's New Play Award, LA Weekly Playwriting Award and a Los Angeles Ovation Award. In 2001 Mr. Pelfrey was a finalist for the Julliard Playwrights Program. Jerry Springer is God and Drive Angry are published by Samuel French and Smith & Kraus. Cockroach Nation, Terminus Americana and Gore Hounds are published by Original Works Publishing. An Impending Rupture of the Belly and FrEAk StORm are published by Broadway Play Publishing. Matt is currently working on an adaptation of Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus for Godlight Theatre Company.

Joe Tantalo (Director) has been the Artistic Director of Godlight Theatre Company since 1994. 59E59 Theaters: George Orwell's 1984 (exclusive New York engagement adapted by Alan Lyddiard), Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries (workshop adapted by Matt Pelfrey), Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five Or: The Children's Crusade (New York premiere adapted by Eric Simonson), Jose Saramago's Blindness (American premiere adaptation), Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (New York premiere/East to Edinburgh), Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange (New York premiere/East to Edinburgh). Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (2006), Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange (2005). Ensemble Studio Theatre: Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, Only We Who Guard The Mystery Shall Be Unhappy, Curious George Goes to Class, The Adventures of Ashman, The Trial of George W., Brown, Big Al, Beds are Made to Lie In. Other New York credits: Waiting on the Z Train (New York Premiere by UK Playwright Sean Tyler), Graham Greene's The Third Man (world premiere adapted by James Brunt), Principia (world premiere musical by Michael Maiello and Andrew Recinos), The Manchurian Candidate, The House of Yes, Poor Superman (New York premiere and 2001 NYCFringe Award Winner). Mr. Tantalo has trained at the Shakespeare Theatre, The Circle in the Square, the Kennedy Center, and Southern Connecticut State University. He was named Director of the Year (2002) by nytheatre.com. In development: Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus, Bernard Malamud's The Natural, Lee Stringer's Grand Central Winter, Graham Greene's Brighton Rock and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five musical with Jed Feuer.