Mauckingbird Theatre Co Presents NEVER THE SINNER 8/8-30, Opens 8/13

Mauckingbird Theatre Company will present John Logan's remarkable crime drama, Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story, directed by Mauckingbird Artistic Director Peter Reynolds. The company's fourth production follows Mauckingbird's lesbian adaptation of Hedda Gabler (2009) and the critically acclaimed all-male versions of The Misanthrope (2008) and Shakespeare's R & J (2008). Hailed as "brilliant, powerful, and cinematic" (Associated Press) and "a taut, compelling psycho-sexual waltz" (Newhouse Newspapers), Never the Sinner explores the true story of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold Jr., who brutally murdered a fourteen-year-old boy in one of the most sensational crimes of the 1920's.

Never the Sinner runs from August 8 - 30, 2009 (opening night is August 13) at the Adrienne Theatre's Mainstage, located at 2030 Sansom Street in Philadelphia. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $15 for students and are available by calling the Mauckingbird Theatre Company box office at (215) 923-8909 or online at www.mauckingbirdtheatreco.org.

In the Spring of 1924, two young Chicago millionaires set out to commit the perfect murder. Driven by passion and fevered intellect, handsome Richard Loeb, played by Evan Jonigkeit, and his lover, Nathan Leopold Jr., played by Nicholas Park, brutally killed fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks, for the thrill of it. Known in its time as the crime of the century, the infamous Leopold and Loeb trial ignited a media frenzy, as legendary defense attorney Clarence Darrow, played by Dan Kern, fought to save the boys from execution and news of the merciless crime both horrified and captivated the nation.

In an intimate performance, Mauckingbird Theatre Company's production explores this dark, riveting tale of morality, love and murder, while exposing the complex relationship between Leopold and Loeb, the debate over capital punishment and the role of the media in society.

Before turning to a career in screenwriting, John Logan was a successful playwright in Chicago. Never the Sinner, his first play, opened to rave reviews at Chicago's Stormfield Theater in 1985. The play went on to win the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, and was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Best Play and the Drama League Award for Outstanding New Play.

"The Leopold and Loeb story continues to fascinate the public," says Peter Reynolds. "The main components of the story remain relevant today - we have a senseless crime, followed by a media swarm and a sensational public trial, and the debate over the death penalty, which is still a hot topic in 2009 as it was in 1924. The story also touches on issues of education, wealth, status and youthful desire. In the end, Never the Sinner is a love story between two young men, ending in tragic results."

The Never the Sinner cast pairs two promising young Philadelphia actors Evan Jonigkeit and Nicholas Park, alongside veteran actors Dan Kern and Eric Kramer (State's Attorney Robert Crowe).

Evan Jonigkeit's recent roles in Mauckingbird Theatre Company productions include Célimène in the sold-out hit The Misanthrope and Student 1 (Romeo) in the company's critically acclaimed Shakespeare's R&J. Additional credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author at People's Light & Theatre, A Streetcar Named Desire and Dishwashers at Walnut Street Theatre, and Fox TV's Twice a Hero. Nicholas Park, a recent graduate of the University of the Arts, memorably played Student 4 (acting as Tybalt and the Nurse) in Shakespeare's R&J and has appeared at the Walnut Street Theatre, 11th Hour Productions, and the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival.

Actor and director Dan Kern has appeared locally in productions by InterAct Theatre Company, the Wilma Theater and Act II Playhouse. He recently directed Skylight at Lantern Theater Company, for which he was awarded a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play. Nationally, he has appeared at the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, and The American Conservatory Theatre, among others. Kern has twice been honored with the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award, as a director for Juno and the Paycock and as an actor, for his portrayal of Leontes in A Winter's Tale. Film and TV credits include: The Lovely Bones, Me and the Big Guy, Frasier, Star Trek, Melrose Place and others. Kern currently serves as Head of Acting for the Department of Theater at Temple University.

Never the Sinner marks actor Eric Kramer's return to the Philadelphia stage. He currently has an active career in commercials and corporate videos, both on-camera and as a voice over artist. Kramer's been either seen and/or heard pitching everything from Sears' appliances, Bank One MasterCards, and Bob Evans Restaurants, to Charmin toilet paper, Pop-Tart Pastry Swirls, Altoids and the Pennsylvania ‘Powerball' Lottery, among many others. In his theater career, he has appeared at numerous national venues, including Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Organic-Touchstone, Apple Tree and SummerNITE theatres, the New Jersey and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and New York City's renowned Circle Rep Lab and the New Rude Mechanicals, a company which he co-founded in 1987. In Detroit, he appeared alongside his wife, Cheryl Williams, in the Attic Theatre's notable 1990 production of Hamlet, as well as in actor Jeff Daniels Purple Rose Theatre Company-produced long-running hit, Escanaba in da Moonlight.

Additional cast members include Jessica Bedford as Reporter 2 and Matthew Lorenz as Reporter 3. A graduate student in Villanova's Theatre program, Never the Sinner marks Bedford's professional Philadelphia theatre debut. Lorenz was most recently seen in Flashpoint's The Little Dog Laughed. He returns to Mauckingbird after portraying Judge Brack in Hedda Gabler. Additional cast members to be announced.

The Never the Sinner production team includes set and costume designer Marie Anne Chiment and lighting designer Maria Shaplin. The Head of Design at Temple University, Chiment has designed sets and costumes for hundreds of productions across the nation for opera, theatre and dance. Maria Shaplin, who has lit all previous Mauckingbird Theatre Company productions, has worked as a designer regionally and on off-Broadway, in addition to touring extensively throughout the UK and working on off-West End productions.

Never the Sinner Director Peter Reynolds currently serves as the Director of Musical Theater for the Department of Theater at Temple University. In Philadelphia, he has worked at Media Theatre, Act II Playhouse, Walnut Street Theatre, Hedgerow Theatre, Villanova Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. Reynolds spent 6 years as Artistic Director of the award-winning HealthWorks Theatre in Chicago and has also worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Building Chicago, Apollo Theatre Chicago, St. Louis' HotCity Theatre, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, and Maples Repertory.

The Academy Award nominated John David Logan is an American screenwriter and film producer. Logan was born in San Diego, growing up in California and New Jersey before moving to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where he graduated in 1983. His parents immigrated to the US from Northern Ireland. He is the author of more than a dozen plays, including Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story, his first play. Following ten years of playwriting, Logan turned to the screen. His first screenplay was Any Given Sunday, directed by Oliver Stone, followed by the television movie RKO 281, directed by Benjamin Ross. Logan has received two Academy Award nominations: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for 2000's Best Picture-winner Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott; and Best Writing, Original Screenplay for 2004's The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese. Other notable films written by Logan include Star Trek: Nemesis, The Time Machine, The Last Samurai, and Tim Burton-helmed musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

ABOUT MAUCKINGBIRD THEATRE COMPANY: Founded by Artistic Director Peter Reynolds and Managing Director Lindsay Mauck, Mauckingbird Theatre Company is committed to producing professional gay-themed theatre, while also exploring classic literature and musical genres and providing affordable productions of infrequently produced works.

Evan Jonigkeit and Nicholas Park in a photo by Jill McCorkel

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