DEATHTRAP to be Presented by PTPA

Just in time for Halloween, Hazleton’s Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts will present Ira Levin’s witty and intriguing murder mystery Deathtrap for six performances in October at the J. J. Ferrara Center on Broad Street. Director Drew Coffman has announced the cast list for PTPA’s production of the show.

Deathtrap, on Broadway from 1978 through 1982, still holds the record for the longest-running who-done-it in Broadway history. It was nominated for the Tony award as best play and was later made into a movie starring Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, and Dyan Cannon.

Long-time PTPA lead actor Lee Alucci will play Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer of Broadway thrillers who has had a recent string of flops and finds himself in financial trouble. Bruhl and his wife Myra, played by PTPA newcomer Michelle Medek, open the play considering their options in their cozy Connecticut home.

Alucci, a veteran actor and director with the theater troupe, was last seen as Victor Velasco in PTPA’s production of Barefoot in the Park in March. He has had lead roles in many PTPA shows including George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life and Harold Hill in The Music Man. Alucci also directed PTPA’s 2006 holiday production of A Christmas Story and won a Northeastern Pennsylvania Theatrical Alliance award nomination for directing The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 2007. Medek, a member of PTPA’s Board of Directors and a local secondary social studies teacher, takes on the role of Myra, Sidney’s nervously ill but very devoted wife.

In the play, Sidney recognizes real talent and potential success in a script written by Clifford Anderson, a student in one of the classes Sidney teaches at a local college. Sidney and Myra concoct a plan to offer a collaboration to the student and Anderson quickly agrees.

Addison O’Donnell will play Anderson, the student who soon finds that things are not what they appear when he joins Sidney and Myra at their home. O’Donnell has played leads in several PTPA productions, including WillyWonka in this past summer’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Hysterium in last summer’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Obie Adams in A Monster Ate My Homework. O’Donnell was nominated for NEPTA’s 2007 best supporting actor in a musical award for his performance in Forum.

PTPA lead actress Lauren McGill will play the part of Helga ten Dorp, a Dutch psychic who shows up at the Bruhl home. The character of Helga is supposed to have assisted European police solve murders in the past. McGill, who directed Barefoot in the Park at PTPA last spring, has performed in many PTPA shows and was nominated for a NEPTA award as best lead actress in a drama for her role as Catherine in 2007’s Proof.

Rounding out the cast is Director Drew Coffman who will play Porter Milgrim, Sidney’s lawyer and best friend. Coffman, who has directed many of PTPA’s comedies and dramas over the past several years, won the 2007 NEPTA as best actor in a drama for his performance in Proof and shared the directing award for the same show.

PTPA’s production of Deathtrap runs October 3, 4, 10, and 11 at 7 p.m. and October 5 and 12 at 3 p.m. PTPA’s all-you-can-eat dinner buffet will be available 90 minutes before all four evening performances.

Tickets for Deathtrap are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Dinner and show tickets are $28 for adults and $22 for students. Group rates are available and some tickets will be sold at the door. For more information or reservations, call 454-5451 or visit www.ptpashows.org on line.