ATC's SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUICIDE CLUB Closes Tonight, 10/8

By: Oct. 08, 2011
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

Witness murder, mayhem and deception unfold in Arizona Theatre Company's world premiere thriller, Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club. Commissioned by ATC, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher brings the famous detective alive in an original tale full of intrigue, twists and chills. Sherlock Holmes is directed by ATC Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein and launches ATC's 2011 - 2012 Season in Tucson. The production plays at the Temple of Music and Art ends its run tonight. Arizona Theatre Company's season sponsors are I. Michael and Beth Kasser.

In the heart of London, behind the impassive facade of a windowless house, some of Europe's most powerful men gather to play a game. The game is murder, and this is The Suicide Club. But the Club has a new member: Sherlock Holmes. Brilliant, perceptive, the greatest detective in the English-speaking world - and susceptible to the darkest moods, Holmes has joined the Club. Does he wish to die? Will he have to kill? Can his old friend Dr. Watson save him? Or doesn't Holmes want to be saved? And all the time, we are aware that dark forces deep within The Suicide Club may be manipulating the deaths of prominent men in a plot so far reaching that the fate of Europe is at stake. A beguiling World Premiere thriller commissioned by ATC from one of our favorite authors brings the famous detective alive in a tale full of mystery, twists and chills.

"Jeffrey Hatcher has pulled a devilishly clever trick in writing his new play," said Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein, "He has combined the beloved characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle into a story suggested by The Suicide Club, an 1878 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson. The result is an all new Holmes tale that whips us around Edwardian London in the years before World War I. Daring gambits, desperate gambles, sleight-of-hand and deadly showdowns all play a part in a whip-smart mystery worthy of Conan Doyle. As in his Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Jeffrey has rung intriguing variations on iconic characters in a deliciously theatrical dish."

"The first novel I read was The Hound of the Baskervilles," commented Jeffrey Hatcher. "I was 10 years old, and for the next year or so I referred to our family's miniature poodle as 'that hound of hell' and called the fields of our Ohio farm 'the moor.' So it shouldn't surprise anyone seeing Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club that its author is a devotee of Holmes, Watson and their creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Writing this play for Arizona Theatre Company - and having the chance to work with David Ira Goldstein and his superb cast and design team - has been a great joy. There's nothing better in life than working with good, talented people -- unless it's sitting at home alone thinking up ways to murder them."

Jeffrey Hatcher (Playwright) is the author of Ten Chimneys, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Ella and co-author of Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright and Tuesdays with Morrie - all of which have been seen on Arizona Theatre Company's stages. Mr. Hatcher authored the book for the Broadway musical, Never Gonna Dance. Off-Broadway, he has had several plays produced, including Three Viewings and A Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club, Scotland Road and The Turn of the Screw at Primary Stages, Tuesdays with Morrie (with Mitch Albom) at Minetta Lane Theatre, Murder by Poe and The Turn of the Screw with The Acting Company, Neddy at The American Place Theatre and Fellow Travelers at Manhattan Punchline. His plays - among them, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Mercy of a Storm, Smash Armadale, Korczak's Children, To Fool the Eye, The Falls, A Piece of the Rope, All the Way with LBJ, The Government Inspector, and Work Song (with Eric Simonson) - have been seen at such theatres as Yale Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Florida Stage, The Empty Space, California Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, City Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre and dozens more in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Hatcher wrote the screenplays for Stage Beauty, The Duchess and Casanova.

David Ira Goldstein (Director) celebrates his twentieth season as Artistic Director of ATC with this production. He has directed over 40 mainstage productions for ATC ranging from classics to musicals to numerous world premieres including the world premieres of Jeffrey Hatcher's Ten Chimneys and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as seven original plays by Steven Dietz. He has been a guest director at theatres from coast to coast including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Florida Stage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, Mixed Blood, and Northlight Theatre. His musical A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, which originated at ATC, has played extensively across the US, winning many awards including four Jeff Awards in Chicago (including Best Director), the Elliot Norton Award in Boston, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award and the Bay Area Critics Award. He is recipient of the Arizona Governor's Arts Award as Individual Artist.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club features a cast of veteran actors, many of whom have appeared previously at ATC. Returning to ATC are REMI SANDRI (Sherlock Holmes) who last appeared here in The Kite Runner. His other ATC credits include Much Ado About Nothing and Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Sandri appeared Off-Broadway in Spring Awakening. His regional credits include Theatreworks, Geva Theatre Center, Cincinnatti Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His film and television credits include Law and Order, Conviction and Deadline; Jeff Steitzer (Dr. John Watson) has appeared extensively at ATC including Twelfth Night, Over the Moon, As You Like It, Private Eyes, Much Ado about Nothing, Scapin, and others. His Broadway credits include Inherit The Wind and Mary Poppins. He regional credits include Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, ACT Theatre, The Old Globe, Geva Theatre Center, Yale Repertory Theatre, among many others.

Other ATC returnees include Celeste Ciulla (Club Secretary) who last appeared at ATC as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She appeared at The Pearl Theatre Company in The Phantom Lady, The Tempest and She Stoops to Conquer. Ms. Ciulla's regional credits include The Old Globe, Florida Studio Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, St. Louis Repertory Theatre and Pioneer Theatre Company among others. She represented The Old Globe Theatre as a 2010 Lunt-Fontanne Fellow at Ten Chimneys; Mark Anders (Mr. Williams) most recently appeared in Oh, Coward! and 2 Pianos 4 Hands. His credits include A Marvelous Party: The Noël Coward Celebration, 2 Pianos 4 Hands, The Woman in Black, Dirty Blonde, Old Wicked Songs, A Christmas Carol, Souvenir, The Scarlet Letter, The Mystery of Irma Vep, and many others. His regional credits include Intiman Theatre, ACT Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre, among others; MAEDELL DIXON (Mrs. Hudson, Lucy O'Malley) last appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird. Her other ATC credits include Blithe Spirit, and Amadeus. Her New York credits include Intimate Letters. Local credits include Phoenix Theatre; Canyon Moon Theatre; Actors Repertory Theatre, Invisible Theatre and Arizona Repertory Theatre. Her film and television credits include Half Laughing, Speed Zone and The Truth about Jane and Little Arliss; ROBERTO GUAJARDO (Mr. Henry) first appeared at ATC in The Matchmaker. Since then, he has appeared in over 20 ATC productions, most recently, George is Dead. Other regional appearances include Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre and San Jose Repertory Theatre. Local credits include Invisible Theatre, Borderlands Theater, Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, Actors Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, among others; Alexandra Tavares (Christiane de LaBegassier) was last seen at ATC in Somebody/Nobody and The Clean House. Her regional credits include Pride and Prejudice, Italian American Reconciliation and Three Tall Women. She has appeared at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre and Seattle Children's Theatre; JAMES CADA (Mr. George, Inspector Mickelwhite) appeared at ATC in the Guthrie Theater tour of Othello. Other work includes Three Viewings and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure and Jeeves in Bloom. Mr. Cada teaches at the Guthrie Theater, where he has also performed and toured in Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mr. Cada's film credits include roles in North Country, The Straight Story, Iron Will, Sweetland, Untamed Heart, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Grumpier Old Men.

The cast also includes David Green (Mr. Richards, Mycroft Holmes) who has appeared on Broadway in Annie, Evita, Teddy & Alice, and The Flowering Peach; as well as The Pajama Game. His Off-Broadway and regional credits include Mornings at Seven, What About Luv and Wish You Were Here, Once on a Summers' Day, Little Me and A Fine And Private Place, You Can't Take It With You, The Anastasia Affaire, La Cage Aux Folles, among others. Mr. Green's television appearances include Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Practice, E.R., Murphy Brown, Kate and Allie, All My Children, Loving, One Life To Live and The Guiding Light; NICHOLAS BAILEY (Prince Nikita Starloff) who has appeared in Prince Horace, the Horrible, Dirty Blonde, The Maid of Orleans and Another Caesar. His film and television credits include The History Channel's Conquest of America: Southeast, I'll Be Here and Christmas Tree: A Story in Five Parts; the ensemble also includes CHRISSY TOLLEY (Journalist); CONNOR KESSLERING (Constable) and KARL HUSSEY (Desk Clerk).

The creative team for Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club includes John Ezell (Scenic Designer), who also designed ATC's productions of Ten Chimneys, Hair, and [title of show]. He has designed for Broadway, New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theater, as well as Roundabout Theatre Company, Crossroads Theatre Company and Shakespeare Theatre Company, among many others. His work has received the Award for Experimental Television Art in Milan, two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards for Excellence and eleven Critics' Circle Awards; MATHEW J. LEFEBVRE (Costume Designer) returns to ATC where he designed costumes for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, A Raisin in the Sun and Jitney. His Off-Broadway credits include Two Trains Running and Bach at Leipzig. Mr. LeFebvre has designed costumes for over twenty productions at Guthrie Theater, as well as several Penumbra Theatre Company productions. Other regional credits include The Old Globe, The Acting Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, The Cleveland Play House and Geffen Playhouse; Don Darnutzer (Lighting Designer) has designed 56 shows for ATC since 1981. His most recent designs include Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Touch the Names, Love, Janis and I Am My Own Wife. He designed the lighting for Broadway's production of It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues and Off-Broadway's Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Almost Heaven and The Immigrant. He has worked for American Conservatory Theater, Guthrie Theater, Kennedy Center, The Cleveland Play House, New Orleans Opera, Denver Center Theatre, Alley Theatre, and Seattle Repertory Theatre, among many others; ROBERTA CARLSON (Composer) has composed scores for many productions at ATC, including The Mystery of Irma Vep, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Macbeth, As You Like It, Dracula and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. Her work has also been heard at Guthrie Theater, Children's Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, and Seattle Repertory Theatre; BRIAN JEROME PETERSON (Resident Sound Designer) celebrates his 26th season at ATC, where he has designed 68 productions, His designs have also been heard in many theatres including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Cleveland Play House, among many others; JEFFREY CADY (Projection Designer) returns to ATC where he designed projections for Woody Guthrie's American Song, [title of show] and Love, Janis; KEN MERCKX (Fight Director) returns to ATC where he worked on The Kite Runner, Somebody/Nobody, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure; DIANNE J. WINSLOW (Dialect Coach) returns to ATC after serving as dialect coach for Lost in Yonkers, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Lady with All the Answers, To Kill a Mockingbird and over 20 others.; Glenn Bruner is the Stage Manager.

The Tucson media sponsors for the 2011-2012 Season are KGUN9, MIXFM and Tucson Lifestyle.

Arizona Theatre Company offers accessibility services for patrons with disabilities for select performances. Audio Description provides patrons with vision loss a running audio description of the movement and activities onstage through an infrared broadcast system. An Audio-Described performance is offered on October 6 at 2:00 PM. Interested patrons with vision loss may request a tactile tour one hour prior to curtain. American Sign Language Interpretation is presented by professional, theatrically-trained ASL-interpreters for people who have deafness or hearing impairment. An ASL-interpreted performance is offered on October 6 at 7:30 PM. Open-captioning allows patrons to read the play's dialogue on an LED screen as the play progresses. An open-captioned performance is offered on October 6 at 2:00 PM. For open-captioned or ASL-interpreted performances, patrons should request seats best suited to ASL interpretation or captioning when purchasing tickets. Large print and Braille playbills and infrared listening amplification devices are also available at every ATC performance with reservation. TTY access for the box office is available in Tucson at (520) 884-9723 or via Arizona Relay at (800) 367-8939 (TTY/ASCII).

Adult tickets start at $31 depending on date and section choice and are available at www.arizonatheatre.org or by calling the box office at (520) 622-2823. Discounts are available for seniors and active military on specific performance days. $10 student ticket pricing is now available for all performances. Half-price rush tickets are available for balcony seating for all performances one hour prior to curtain at the ATC box office (subject to availability). Ten Dollar Tuesday for Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club is September 20 at 7:30 PM. Balcony seats for this preview performance are available for a suggested $10 donation. (Tickets must be purchased at the ATC box office starting at 10 AM on September 20. Seating is first-come first served and is not guaranteed. Cash only, please. Two tickets per person maximum.) For discounts on groups of eight or more, call (520) 622-2823.



Videos