March 2, 2009
Contact: Heather Nowlin
(801) 581-7222
heather.nowlin@ptc.utah.edu
PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
Dial “M” for Murder
By Frederick Knott
Pioneer Theatre Company presents the classic mystery Dial “M” for Murder, by Frederick Knott. This is the play on which Alfred Hitchcock based his 1954 film of the same name. The show runs March 20 through April 4, 2009.
A former tennis player, accustomed to a lavish lifestyle that is made possible by his marriage to a wealthy London heiress, plans what he believes is the perfect murder. But his plans take a turn when his wife refuses to play the part of the victim.
Appearing as the plotting husband Tony Wendice is Equity actor Fletcher McTaggart. McTaggart’s NYC credits include Warrick Wilson in Biography with The Pearl Theatre, and Harrison in Home Front with La Mama Theatre. He has appeared at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, New Jersey Shakespeare Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. This marks his PTC debut.
Equity actress Amy Tribbey plays Margot Wendice, his wife and intended victim. Tribbey received the Best of Nashville’s Best Actress Award for her performance in Tennessee Repertory’s production of Proof, and was also winner of the Best of the Suncoast Best Actress Award for her performance in Last Train to Nibroc at Florida Studio Theatre. Regional credits also include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Pat Hingle, the world premiere of The Sleeper at Laguna Playhouse, and Amadeus with Michael Emerson at Arkansas Repertory Theatre. She returns to PTC after appearing as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Margot’s friend and protector, Max Halliday, is played by Equity actor R. Ward Duffy. Off-Broadway, Duffy has appeared at Lincoln Center, New Dramatists, and Cherry Lane Theater. He has appeared at regional theatres across the country, and received the Best of the Suncoast Best Actor Award for his performance in True West at the Banyan Theater. Duffy has appeared in several PTC productions, including as Athos in The Three Musketeers, as Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and as Iago in Othello.
The detective on the murderer’s heels, Inspector Hubbard, is played by AEA member Roger Forbes. Forbes has appeared in London’s West End at the Garrick and Cambridge Theatres, and recently toured his one-man show Falstaff throughout the United Kingdom. In the U.S., his credits include eight seasons with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as well as the Alliance Atlanta, Milwaukee Repertory, Buffalo Studio Arena, Long Wharf, and Florida Stage Theatres, among many others. His directing credits include productions of King Lear and The Seagull and more recently the hit comedy Shear Madness. This marks his PTC debut.
Wendice’s extorted accomplice Captain Lesgate is played by Equity actor Mark Light-Orr. Orr’s New York credits include the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run of Counsellor At Law (which received a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Revival), and as Aaron Steiner in the premiere of The Second Tosca at the 45th Street Theatre. Other NYC credits include Antony in Antony and Cleopatra at Expanded Arts, and work with the Midtown International Theatre Festival, the NY Fringe Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and ASCAP, among others. He played Charlie Cowell in the national tour of Susan Stroman’s revival of The Music Man. He returns to PTC after appearing as Monsieur D’Arque in both of the theatre’s productions of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Directing the production is Gavin Cameron-Webb. Cameron-Webb served for 13 seasons as the Artistic Director of the Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, NY, where he directed 34 productions and produced over 90 plays. Since leaving Buffalo, he has directed Tom Dulack’s comedy Breaking Legs in Vienna and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in Cairo, where he also collaborated on a theatre piece with a group of Sudanese refugees from Darfur. In the U.S., Cameron-Webb’s work has been seen at the McCarter Theatre, Geva Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Boston Shakespeare Company, Missouri Repertory Theatre, and Alabama Shakespeare Festival, among many others. He returns to PTC after directing Othello in 2007.
Scenic design is by William Barclay. On Broadway, Barclay designed Solitary Confinement with Stacy Keach and Sally Marr & Her Escorts with Joan Rivers. Off-Broadway designs include A Shayna Maidel, Goblin Market, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, and the revivals of Kurt Wiell, Berlin to Broadway and Alan Sherman’s Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, among others. Barclay has been Art Director on over a dozen feature films, including Glengarry Glen Ross, Beaches, and The Crow, and has been nominated for the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Helen Hayes, and Drama-Logue Awards.
Costume design for the production is by Carol Wells-Day. In addition to having been assistant designer for Inherit the Wind at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C., Wells-Day worked for the Utah Shakespearean Festival for 13 years as a costume shop supervisor and designer. She is one of PTC’s resident costume designers and the costume shop supervisor. Her recent designs for PTC include The Light in the Piazza, The Heiress, Doubt, Lost in Yonkers, and Pride and Prejudice.
Lighting design is by Peter L. Willardson. Willardson is the lighting design professor for the University of Utah Theatre Department, and has illuminated over 120 productions for PTC since his first design of The King and I in 1972. He is also the resident lighting designer for PTC.
Sound design is by Joe Payne. Payne is in his ninth season as resident sound designer for Pioneer Theatre Company. He has designed sound and/or composed music for more than 100 productions in theatres throughout the country.
Hair and Make-up Designer Amanda French, PTC resident designer, has worked for theatres all over the west. She is a contributing writer in the ninth edition of Stage Makeup by Richard Corson and James Glavan and is a featured artist in The Costume Technician’s Handbook by Rosemary Ingham and Liz Covey.
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MEDIA PHOTO SHOOT: There will be a media photo shoot on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009, at 5:15 p.m. at Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 E., SLC. Please RSVP at (801) 581-7222.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD: High-resolution color photos of this production will be available for media use on the PTC website beginning Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 after 3:00 p.m. Go directly to www.pioneertheatre.org/season/presspix.html
TV CAMERA FILMING: Filming a short segment of the production during Preview or Opening Night for press use can be arranged. Call (801) 581-6270.
INTERVIEWS: Interviews with the cast and artistic staff are available. Call (801) 581-7222.
PRESS TOURS: Tours of the set for the press are available. Call (801) 581-6270.
WHO: Pioneer Theatre Company
WHAT: Dial “M” for Murder By Frederick Knott
WHEN: March 20 – April 4, 2009
TIMES: Mondays – Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday matinees, 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre
300 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City
PRICE: $22 – $40; Children K – 12 are half price on Mondays and Tuesdays
MORE INFO: Box Office (801) 581-6961. The Box Office is open 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday – Friday, and Saturdays when there are performances
CAST:
R. Ward Duffy*………………………………………………….. Max Halliday/Fight Choreographer
Roger Forbes*…………………………………………………… Inspector Hubbard
Mark Light-Orr*………………………………………………… Captain Lesgate
Fletcher McTaggart*…………………………………………… Tony Wendice
Amy Tribbey*……………………………………………………. Margot Wendice
Logan Black………………………………………………………. Williams/US-Max Halliday
Aaron Spencer…………………………………………………… Thompson/US-Hubbard and Lesgate
Stefanie Londino…………………………………………………. US-Margot Wendice
Brandon Tessers…………………………………………………. US-Tony Wendice
* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association.
ARTISTIC TEAM:
Director…………………………………………………………….. Gavin Cameron-Webb
Set Designer………………………………………………………. William Barclay
Costume Designer………………………………………………. Carol Wells-Day
Lighting Designer………………………………………………… Peter L. Willardson
Sound Designer………………………………………………….. Joe Payne
Fight Director…………………………………………………….. R. Ward Duffy
Wig and Make-up Designer………………………………….. Amanda French