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The trap is set... for a wickedly funny who'll-do-it

Deathtrap, Ira Levin's cat-and-mouse Broadway suspense smash about a playwright's deadly game of murder, plays through October 23 at the Willows Theatre

September 19 - October 23, 2005: tickets on sale now 

Concord, CA.  August 29, 2005 -- What happens when a has-been playwright's protégé comes up with a new play that's good enough to kill for? Find out when the Willows Theatre Company, one of the Bay Area’s most celebrated professional theaters, presents Deathtrap.  One of Broadway’s great success stories, this ingeniously constructed play offers a rare and skillful blending of two priceless theatrical ingredients: gasp-inducing thrills and spontaneous laughter.  Written by the author of The Stepford Wives and The Boys From Brazil, this comic thriller contains more cat-and-mouse games than a Tom & Jerry cartoon.  Filled with razor sharp wit and hair-raising twists, Deathtrap is the longest running mystery-thriller in Broadway history.  Willows Theatre Artistic Director Richard Elliott will direct the show, which opens September 23 and runs through October 23, 2005, at the Willows Theatre, 1975 Diamond Boulevard, Concord, CA.  Preview performances begin September 19.

The ingenious plot is two-thirds thriller and one-third devilishly clever comedy -- full of twists and shocks until the last minute.  Sidney Bruhl, once a successful writer of Broadway thrillers, hasn't had a hit in 17 years. He supports himself by teaching seminars at a university, but his wife Myra's money provides most of the comforts he enjoys in their suburban Connecticut home.  When he receives a script from Clifford Anderson, a former student, the thriller reads like a surefire smash. Although it is perfect as written, Sidney tells his wife that he will offer to collaborate with the student, kill him if necessary, and present the play as his own. Sidney's collection of grisly murder weapons are mementoes from his past stage productions, but early in the action it appears that he is quite ready to use them to carry out a real-life murder.

Once Clifford accepts Sidney's offer to collaborate and share writing credit on the play, the game of suspense begins. There follows a complicated game of murderous musical chairs. Bodies are buried in the garden; someone gets an arrow from a medieval crossbow in the heart; a psychic woman brings warnings of disaster but seems to get her spectral information mixed up. At the end of the evening, a good percentage of the cast has been obliterated by fiendish means, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats until the startling conclusion.

THE PLAYWRIGHT

Ira Levin is an author of fiction thriller novels as well as a playwright and songwriter.  He wrote his first novel, A Kiss Before Dying, when he was 22 years old. Levin's crowning achievement as a playwright, however, is the comedy thriller Deathtrap, which is still the longest-running mystery ever to play on Broadway. The play was awarded an “Edgar” by the Mystery Writers of America.  Levin is also well known for his novels: Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives, and The Boys From Brazil.  All of these novels, as well as Deathtrap, were turned into successful movies.  In 1982, Deathtrap was made into a film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. No less than Stephen King has described Ira Levin as "the Swiss watchmaker of suspense novels; he makes what the rest of us do look like cheap watchmakers in drugstores."

THE CAST

Sidney Bruhl – Stephen Klum* (Mill Valley) returns to the Willows after having played Daddy Warbucks in last year’s production of Annie.  He most recently appeared as Benedick in the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's production of Much Ado About Nothing.  Stephen has been seen as Kent in King Lear, Antonio in Merchant of Venice, and King Alonzo in The Tempest with California Shakespeare Theater.  Other contemporary Bay Area credits include Robert in Proof; Phil in Inspecting Carol; and the world premiere musical Hans Christian Andersen at ACT in San Francisco, where Stephen understudied Tony award winner John Glover in the title role.  In New York, he made numerous appearances on television's Guiding Light and One Life to Live.

Clifford Anderson – Cassidy Brown (Oakland) is performing in his eighth show at the Willows, where he has also been seen in Treasure Island; You Can’t Take It With You; Teahouse of the August Moon; Jackie, Look Homeward, Angel; To Kill a Mockingbird; and My Sister Eileen.  He is the director of youth programs for the Willows Theatre Conservatory, where he recently directed the East Bay premiere of Urinetown: The Musical.  Other acting credits include appearances with Shotgun Players (Meyerhold in The Death of Meyerhold, Boris Annenkhov in The Just); Porchlight Theatre (A Month in the Country); The Missouri Rep (Julius Caesar, A Christmas Carol); and the S.F. Fringe Festival, as well as locally, nationally and internationally with The Traveling Lantern Theater Company.

Myra Bruhl – Sandra Jardin (Hayward) appeared earlier this season as Maria Wallner in the Willows’ production of Judgment at Nuremberg.  She has also appeared locally in All in the Timing and Othello at Calaveras Repertory Theatre; As You Like It with Woman's Will; Wit with Bus Barn Stage Company; and productions with Palo Alto Players, Pleasanton Playhouse, and Shakespeare at the Casa, among others.  Her favorite role may always be Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, performed in college.  Sandra will receive her B.A. in Theatre from Cal State Hayward this spring.

Helga ten Dorp – Amy L. Washburn* (El Sobrante) returns to the Willows after having recently appeared as Miss Hannigan in last year’s production of Annie.  Other Willows roles include Doetsy Mae in Best Little Whorehouse, Reverend Mother in Meshuggah-Nuns, and Icey in The Night of the Hunter.  A veteran of regional theatres across the country, she has also appeared locally in Menopause-The Musical at Pier 39 in San Francisco, at Pacific Rep in Carmel; and at Center Repertory in Walnut Creek.  She has a master’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.

Porter Milgrim – Jeff Bredt (San Francisco) is appearing with the Willows for the first time in Deathtrap.  A founding member of Teatro La Quindicina, The DangerKids, and The Good Dog Dinner Theater, Jeff's past performances include Bobby Gould in Speed the Plow, Pierpont Mauler in St. Joan of the Stockyards, Argan in The Imaginary Invalid, Daisy in Baby with the Bathwater, Judas in Godspell, and Dr. Faustus in Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights.  He was seen most recently as Wilbur in Denouement: Highway 5 and as Reggie in This Time in Reno for this year's San Francisco Fringe Festival.

*Member, Actors’ Equity Association

PRODUCTION TEAM

As artistic director of the Willows since 1986, director Richard Elliott has overseen the company’s growth from a small community theater to a nationally recognized professional LORT theater company, recipient of two NEA grants for the commission of new outdoor drama, and has overseen the development and production of more than 15 new plays and musicals.  Elliott has directed over 100 productions, garnered two Shellie awards, and won the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle director’s award for the West Coast premiere of Brimstone.  He has produced and directed the acclaimed musical John Muir’s Mountain Days, based on the life of environmentalist John Muir, and is currently overseeing the development of a newly commissioned piece, Sacagawea.  Mr. Elliott is a past recipient of the Arts Recognition Award from the Arts & Cultural Commission of Contra Costa County.  He holds a B.A. in Theatre from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, where he was a guest director in 2005.

The design team for Deathtrap includes Shaun Carroll (Properties and Set Dressing), Jonathan Retsky (Lighting), Tom Benson (Scenery), Loran Watkins (Costumes), and Lyle Barrere (Sound).  Jon M. Marshall* is production stage manager.  Tom Flynn will choreograph the intricate fight sequences.

Ticket and Schedule Information

Tickets are $30-$35 with discounts for students (6-18), seniors (65+), and groups (10+).  To purchase tickets call (925) 798-1300 or visit the Willows Theatre Company Web site at www.willowstheatre.org.  Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.

The Willows Theatre is located at 1975 Diamond Blvd. next to CompUSA and REI in the Willows Shopping Center in Concord, across the street from the Concord Hilton and one block east of the Willow Pass Road exit off Highway 680.

The Willows Theatre Company daytime box office is located at 1425 Gasoline Alley, Concord, at the corner of Bisso Lane, one block north of Concord Avenue.  The daytime box office hours are Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday Noon-5 p.m.  The theatre box office and will-call window, located in the theater lobby, opens one hour prior to each performance. For more information call (925) 798-1300 or visit our Web site at www.willowstheatre.org.