Hartford Stage Presents Agatha Christie's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts announced today the cast and creative team for Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, which will perform at Hartford Stage Thursday, February 15, through Sunday, March 18.

Tony-nominated playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Crazy for You) adapted Christie's classic murder mystery for the stage. Multi-award-winning McCarter Theatre Center Artistic Director Emily Mann (Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years and A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway) directs the production, which had its world premiere at the McCarter Theatre Center last March.

"With Ken Ludwig, Emily Mann, a splendid cast, and a renowned design team on board, Murder on the Orient Express is bound to be a glamorous and suspenseful train ride," Tresnjak said. "I can't wait to see their take on one of the supreme achievements of the mystery genre at Hartford Stage."

Murder on the Orient Express is widely regarded as one of Agatha Christie's greatest literary achievements. First published in 1934, the stylish, suspenseful murder mystery about an unlikely array of potential suspects (including a colonel, a princess and a countess, all with alibis) trapped aboard the luxurious Orient Express during a snow storm features one of the most iconic fictional detectives of all time - Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot. Ludwig's stage adaptation promises fans of the mystery classic a suspenseful, thrilling ride.

Tony Award-nominated actor David Pittu (Best Featured Actor in a Musical for LoveMusik, Best Featured Actor in a Play for Is He Dead?) will portray Hercule Poirot. Pittu's theatre credits also include The Heir Apparent, Classic Stage Company; The Coast of Utopia, Lincoln Center; and What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling, Atlantic Theater Company. He has also appeared in the television series House of Cards, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Damages and the films The Invention of Lying and Men in Black 3.

Joining Pittu in the company of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express are Ian Bedford (Below the Belt, City Theater; Flags, 59E59 Theatre) as Colonel Arbuthnot/Samuel Ratchett; Veanne Cox (An American in Paris and the revival of La Cage aux Folles, Broadway) as Princess Dragomiroff; Maboud Ebrahimzadeh (The Book of Will, Round House Theatre; The Invisible Hand, Theatre Exile) as Michel/Marcel; Julie Halston (revivals of On the Town and You Can't Take it With You, Broadway) as Helen Hubbard; Susannah Hoffman (The Effect, Gloucester Stage; Insignificance, Langham Place) as Mary Debenham; Leigh Ann Larkin (Gypsy and A Little Night Music, Broadway revivals) as Countess Andrenyi; Juha Sorola (The Book of Gabrielle, 65 Wilding Films; About Heroes, United Solo) as Hector MacQueen; Samantha Steinmetz (Sense & Sensibility and The Seagull, Bedlam Theatre), as Greta Ohlsson; and Evan Zes (Incident at Vichy, Signature Theatre; The 39 Steps, Mile Square Theatre) as Monsieur Bouc.

Jordyn Schmidt (A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas, Hartford Stage) of Glastonbury will portray Daisy Armstrong. Meghan Pratt (A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas, Hartford Stage) of Glastonbury will serve as understudy.

In addition to Ludwig and Mann, the creative team is comprised of four Tony Award-winning designers including Set Designer Beowulf Boritt (Act One-Tony Award Winner; Come From Away); Costume Designer William Ivey Long (15 Tony Award nominations, 6 wins including Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella and Grey Gardens); Lighting Designer Ken Billington (Chicago-Tony Award Winner, Sunday in the Park with George); and Sound Designer Darron L. West (Peter and the Starcatchers-Tony Award winner, Six Degrees of Separation).

Samantha Flint (A Christmas Carol, McCarter Theatre Center; Somewhere, Hartford Stage -Assistant Stage Manager) will serve as Production Stage Manager, with Carolyn Reich (Would You Still Love Me If..., New World Stages) as Assistant Stage Manager.

Special Dates
Previews begin at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, February 15
Opening Night: 8 p.m., Friday, February 23
Closes: 2 p.m., Sunday, March 18

Tickets & Performances
Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun at 7:30 p.m.-Fri, Sat at 8 p.m.-Sat, Sun at 2 p.m.
Wed matinee at 2 p.m. on February 28 only.
Weekly schedules vary. For details, visit www.hartfordstage.org.