Nathan Darrow stars as Tony Wendice in the world-premiere of Dial M for Murder — a new version of the celebrated murder mystery that inspired Hitchcock’s masterpiece. Written by Frederick Knott and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, the production is now playing at The Old Globe in San Diego through August 28. Tony is convinced that his wife Margot has been cheating on him. Now it seems that the affair is over, but in his jealousy Tony spins a web of suspicion and deception that will tighten around them and ensnare them both in danger, recrimination, and murder. Directed by Stafford Arima, the cast includes Kate Abbruzzese, Ruy Iskandar, Ruibo Qian, and John Tufts.
The hit ABC comedy Abbott Elementary, co-starring company member Chris Perfetti, has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy, and recently had its upcoming second season expanded to a full 22 episodes. Abbott’s creator (and star) Quinta Brunson was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy as well as for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The show follows a group of dedicated, passionate teachers—and a slightly tone-deaf principal—brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Chris, who plays an idealistic young teacher named Jacob, was recently interviewed in The Hollywood Reporter about the series.
Company member Sepideh Moafi stars in Black Bird, a new six-episode original limited series on Apple TV. The psychological thriller from executive producer Dennis Lehane also stars Taron Egerton, Paul Walter Hauser, Greg Kinnear, and the late Ray Liotta. Adapted from the 2010 true crime memoir In With the Devil by James Keene and Hillel Levin, Black Bird follows high school football hero Jimmy Keene (Egerton), who in the 90s was sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison. As Jimmy begins his sentence, he gets an incredible offer: If he instead enters a maximum-security prison and can elicit a confession from suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Hauser), he will be freed. Sepideh plays Lauren McCauley, the FBI agent overseeing the case, with Greg Kinnear as a fellow investigator, and Ray Liotta as Jimmy’s father. All episodes now available for streaming on Apple TV.
Company member Antoinette LaVecchia returns to TheatreWorks Hartford for Secondo, and the sequel to a role she first premiered 10 years ago in the hit show, I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti. On the evening of her 10th wedding anniversary, the play follows how Giulia’s married life has provided unexpected delights and challenges. While Giulia rushes to prepare her anniversary dinner, we learn that a boyfriend from the past has resurfaced to complicate her recipe for a happy marriage. Written by Jacques Lamarre, based on stories by Giulia Melucci, and directed by Rob Ruggiero, the production runs through August 28.
Company member John Doman returns as District Attorney Guy Dan in the new season of City on a Hill, Showtime’s crime drama set in early 1990s Boston. Also appearing this season are company members Ivory Aquino and Nancy Lemenager. Corrupt FBI agent Jackie Rohr (Kevin Bacon) is back, looking to exploit Boston’s criminal justice system in a desperate attempt to salvage his own career. Unfortunately for Jackie, ADA Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge) is onto his adversary’s latest misstep. New episodes are available every Sunday on Showtime and Hulu.
Company members Jennifer Ferrin and Barbara Tirrell appear in the new series Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, now streaming on HBO Max. Premiering five years after the original Pretty Little Liars series ended, the reboot focuses on new characters in the fictional town of Millwood, PA. An unknown assailant has begun tormenting a disparate group of teen girls — a new generation of “Little Liars” — to make them pay for their parents’ secret sin as well as their own. Jennifer plays Martha Beasley, the matriarch of the Beasley family, and Barbara plays a teacher, Mrs. Murray.
Tamilla Woodard directs and Mary Bacon plays Tracey in a new production of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize winning play, Sweat, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Sweat was inspired by hundreds of interviews Nottage conducted over a two-year span with citizens of Reading, Pennsylvania, in the heart of America’s Rust Belt. The play opens in 2008 and flashes back to 2000 just before George W. Bush’s first presidential term, telling the story of blue-collar workers at Olstead’s metal tubing factory who share both life and beers after hours. When layoff rumors start to fly, politics and pride form cracks in decades-old friendships and put them to the test. Sweat confronts issues of race, immigration, deindustrialization and the ever-slipping grip on middle-class life — all with Nottage’s signature humor and heart. The production marks debuts at the Guthrie for both Tamilla and Mary.
A new play, Scarecrow, written and performed by company member Heidi Armbruster, recently premiered at the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont in July. Heidi tells the story of a New York City actress who lands herself on her family’s dairy farm to grieve herself back to life, but can she ever make enough meatloaf to feel a sense of purpose again now that her most important person is no longer on the planet? The play offers a look back at the last 33 days of her father’s life in a touching journey of roller coasters, kittens, and cows.
Company member Merritt Janson joins the 2022 Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival appearing in two productions: Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, by Anne Washburn with music by Michael Friedman, and directed by Davis McCallum; as well as Romeo & Juliet, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch. The shows run through mid-September at HVSF’s new home in Garrison, NY.