Cast and Crew Announced for BrightSide Theatre's DEATHTRAP March 8 - 24, 2024

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Cast and production team announced for BrightSide Theatre production of Ira Levin’s comedic thriller 

DEATHTRAP

March 8 - 24

Children under the age of 5 are not permitted in the theater

BrightSide Theatre Youth Theatre to additionally perform MEAN GIRLS JR. Saturday matinees and Sunday evenings during the first two weekends of DEATHTRAP

Full cast and crew have been announced for BrightSide Theatre’s upcoming production of Ira Levin’s DEATHTRAP, the longest-running comedic thriller in Broadway history, and the fifth-longest-running Broadway play of all time. In it, a playwright and his much younger former student each attempt to kill the other, so that one of them can claim sole authorship of the mystery play on which they’ve been collaborating. The humor and the many plot twists devised by Levin, author of the thrillers ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL, and THE STEPFORD WIVES, kept Broadway audiences laughing and on the edge of their seats for over four years. It was adapted as a successful feature film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve and continues to be a hit with audiences to this day.

The cast directed by Jason Harrington will be led by Scott Kelley of Schaumburg as the older playwright, Sidney Bruhl; and Tyler Szarabajka of Vernon Hills as Bruhl’s younger mentee, Clifford Anderson. Lisa Braatz of Naperville has been cast as their neighbor Helga ten Dorp, a noted psychic whose suspicions are aroused by the strange activity in the Bruhls’ Connecticut home. Marianne Embree of Arlington Heights will play Bruhl’s wife, Myra; and John Zimmerman of Carol Stream will be Bruhl’s attorney, Porter Milgrim.

Top row (l-r): Scott Kelley, Tyler Szarabajka

Second row (l-r): Lisa Braatz, John Zimmerman, Marianne Embree

The production team for DEATHTRAP, in addition to Harrington as director, will include Jeff Award winner Eric Luchen (Set Designer), Jeff Award nominee Kurt Ottinger (Lighting Design), Cheryl Newman (Costume Design), Jim Heatherly (Prop Designer), RJ Cecott (Fight Choreographer), Jeff Sand (Technical Director), and JJ O’Connell (Stage Manager).

DEATHTRAP will be performed at Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville.  Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm.  Tickets are $37.00 for adults and $32.00 for students and seniors. Tickets are on sale now at www.BrightSidetheatre.com or by phone at 630-447-TIXS (8497).  

BrightSide Theatre Youth Theatre to perform musical MEAN GIRLS JR. March 9-17

The BrightSide Theatre Youth Project, which provides a professional and educational learning experience for students aged 8-18 interested in exploring musical theater, will stage MEAN GIRLS, JR. from March 9-17 on Saturdays at 11 am and 2 pm and on Sundays at 6 pm in the Theater at Meiley-Swallow Hall of North Central College.

The musical MEAN GIRLS, based on the hit 2005 film written by Tina Fey and Rosalind Wiseman, was a hit on Broadway, running from 2018 to 2020. MEAN GIRLS JR. is a condensed, author-approved version of the full musical. 

Special services and free admission for hearing or visually impaired patrons and their parties at selected performances of MEAN GIRLS, JR.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters will be present for the 11 am performance on Saturday, March 9. Patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and their parties can attend this ASL-interpreted performance free of charge. For access to ASL seating, enter the promo code ASL when purchasing online or call the box office at 630.447.8497.=

The Saturday, March 16 performance at 2 pm will offer two services for the visually impaired – audio description and a touch tour. Throughout the performance, patrons can listen to an audio describer who will narrate all of the important visuals of the show (blocking, facial expressions, design choices, choreography) through a personal audio device. The performance will be preceded by a touch tour at 1 pm, in which patrons can explore, through touch, the costumes, props, and sets of a production to better experience the design of a show. It also gives tour attendees a chance to meet actors who will give physical descriptions of their characters and model a few lines of dialog to help patrons better identify the characters' voice during the show. For access to Audio-Described seating enter the promo code AUDIO when purchasing online or call the box office at 630.447.8497.

Free admission for hearing or visually impaired patrons and their parties to these performances is made possible through the generosity of the Naperville Lions Club.

BIOS

Jason Harrington (Director) is thrilled to be at BrightSide again after directing THE ODD COUPLE last season. He is a proud board member of Up and Coming Theatre where his directing credits include: SWEET CHARITY, Lippa's THE WILD PARTY, HAIR, FOOTLOOSE, and HEATHERS: THE MUSICAL (BroadwayWorld Award, best direction of a musical). Other directing credits include productions with: The Second City, Glenview Theatre Guild, Bailiwick, and the Library Theatre at Feltre. 

Ira Levin (Author) became a best-selling author with his first novel, 1953's A KISS BEFORE DYING. More thrilling works followed, including 1968's ROSEMARY'S BABY, 1972’s THE STEPFORD WIVES, and 1976's THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL, all of which were later turned into feature films. Levin served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1953 to 1955. After being discharged, he spent much of his time devoted to the theater. Levin enjoyed some success with his adaptation of Mac Hyman's humorous novel NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS. His own original works included the 1958 mystery INTERLOCK, the comedy CRITIC'S CHOICE, and the 1965 musical DRAT! THE CAT!, a comedy about a thief.  He returned with another play, the mystery DR. COOK'S GARDEN, two years later in 1967.

March 8 – 24, 2024

Performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm

Press Opening Friday, March 8 at 8 pm

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville 

Tickets $35 - $40, available at www.BrightSideTheatre.com or at 630-447-TIXS (8497)  

Holding the record for the longest running comedic thriller on Broadway, DEATHTRAP is the story of the world-famous thriller playwright Sidney Bruhl  who is suffering from a chronic case of writer’s block. When one of his former students shows up at his doorstep with what might be the next Broadway hit, Sidney and his wife concoct a deadly plan to make the manuscript their own. DEATHTRAP is filled with twists and turns in a series of shocking events that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last moment!  

MEAN GIRLS, JR.

Book by Tina Fey, Lyrics by Nell Benjamin, Music by Jeff Richmond

Directed by De Haddad

Choreography by Amanda Vinson

Music Direction by Meghan Kessel

March 9-17, 2024

Saturdays at 11 am and 2 pm, Sundays at 6 pm

Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville 

Tickets: $20 adults, $15 students, available online at www,brightsidetheatre.com or by phone at 630-447-TIXS (8497).

ASL-interpreted performance on Saturday, March 9 at 11 am. Admission to this performance is free for hearing impaired patrons and their parties with code ASL

Audio-described performance on Saturday, March 16 at 2 pm, preceded by a Touch Tour at 1 pm. Admission to this performance is free for hearing impaired patrons and their parties with code AUDIO.

A condensed, author-approved version of the Broadway musical based on the 2004 film. Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. How will this naïve newbie rise to the top of the popularity pecking order? By taking on the plastics, a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. Cady and her friends devise a "revenge party" to end Regina’s reign with Cady going undercover as an aspiring plastic. When the lines between the real Cady and her plastic-self get blurred, she must find her way back to herself and her true friends.    

ABOUT BRIGHTSIDE THEATRE

BrightSide Theatre (Jeffrey Cass, Artistic Director and Julie Ann Kornak, Executive Director) is committed to Enlighten, Educate, and Entertain through comedies and inspirational stories from across the globe.  A unique blend of award-winners, premieres, modern works and timeless classics meant to reflect upon and inform our community inhabit BrightSide’s stage.  For more information on BrightSide Theatre, please visit www.BrightSidetheatre.com.