Actors’ Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its South Florida Premiere of
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express
Actors’ Playhouse is thrilled to announce the complete cast and creative team for the South Florida Premiere of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig and directed by David Arisco. The production will run May 18 – June 5, 2022 at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables.
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is a plot-twist masterpiece that has thrilled mystery lovers from television, radio and film. And now audiences have the chance to experience this lush mystery live onstage. Newly adapted for the stage by Tony Award-Winning Playwright Ken Ludwig, the beloved mystery unfolds in a fresh and thrilling way that will take audiences on the most suspenseful ride of Actors’ Playhouse’s 2021-2022 Season.
“At long last, it’s time to hop onboard the Orient Express!” said Actors’ Playhouse Artistic Director David Arisco. “A production two years in the waiting, we can’t wait to share such an iconic story live onstage featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast that has brought together some of the finest professional actors in the region.”
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express will feature Terry Hardcastle as Hercule Poirot, Michael McKenzie as Monsieur Bouc, Iain Batchelor as Colonel Arbuthnot/Samuel Ratchett, Lourelene Snedeker as Princess Dragomiroff, Irene Adjan as Helen Hubbard, Krystal Millie Valdes as Mary Debenham, Mallory Newbrough as Greta Ohlsson, Gaby Tortoledo as Countess Andrenyi, Alexander Blanco as Hector MacQueen, and Seth Trucks as Michel the Conductor/Head Waiter.
The creative team for Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express includes Scenic Design by Tim Bennett, Lighting Design by Eric Nelson, Costume Design by Ellis Tillman, Sound and Projections Design byShaun Mitchell, Technical Direction by Gene Seyffer, Production Management by Carlos Correa, Set Dressing and Properties Supervision by Jodi Dellaventura, Stage Management by Art Garcia, and Assistant Stage Management by Amanda Corbin.
This event is made possible with the support of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, and the Miami Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners for Major Cultural Institutions, and is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, with support of the City of Coral Gables, and the following sponsors: Azamara, Bacardi U.S.A., Quality Inn® Miami South, NBC 6 South Florida, Zeta 92.3 and WPBT2.
TICKET INFORMATION
Ticket prices range from $40 to $85. Tickets can be purchased by calling (305) 444-9293, visitingwww.ActorsPlayhouse.org, or at the Actors’ Playhouse Box Office (280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, FL 33134). The theatre offers 10 percent off all weekday performances for seniors and $15 student rush tickets to any performance 15 minutes prior to curtain with identification. Group discounted rates are offered for ten patrons or more through the group sales department at (305) 444-9293 ext. 1 or on www.ActorsPlayhouse.org.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Preview performances will take place May 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. The show will open on Friday, May 20 at 8 p.m. and the final performance will take place on June 5. Evening performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
Join in on the conversation by following Actors’ Playhouse on Facebook @actorsplayhouse, Instagram@apmiracletheatre and Twitter @apmiracle.
About Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Actors’ Playhouse is an award-winning nonprofit regional professional theatre company celebrating 34 years of artistic excellence. Located in the historic Miracle Theatre on Miracle Mile in downtown Coral Gables, Actors’ Playhouse is a Florida Presenting Cultural Organization and one of 13 major cultural institutions in Miami-Dade County. The company produces five Mainstage and four professional Children’s Theatre productions annually, a year-round Theatre Conservatory and Summer Camp Program, educational arts outreach programs, and the Young Talent Big Dreams countywide youth talent contest in partnership with The Children’s Trust. To learn more about Actors’ Playhouse, visit www.ActorsPlayhouse.org.
Biographies:
DAVID ARISCO (Artistic Director) has been Artistic Director of Actors’ Playhouse for 34 years, 26 at the Miracle Theatre. His diverse career spans over 42 plus years as a director, actor, musical director, stage manager, symphonic conductor, and instrumentalist. Stage acting credits include Edna Turnblad in Actors’ Playhouse’s production of Hairspray and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Mr. Arisco has directed over 160 shows for Actors’ Playhouse, including the recently acclaimed productions of Memphis and Mamma Mia, and Carbonell-awarded productions of, Les Misérables, Aida, Floyd Collins, Violet, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor® Dreamcoat, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, West Side Story, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, all of which won for Best Production of a Musical. Mr. Arisco is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts and the Richard G. Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theatre from the Florida Professional Theatre Association.
KEN LUDWIG (Playwright) has had six shows on Broadway, seven in London’s West End, and many of his works have become a standard part of the American repertoire. His 28 plays and musicals have been performed in over 30 countries in more than 20 languages and are produced throughout the United States every night of the year. Lend Me a Tenor won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century by The Washington Post. Crazy For You was on Broadway for five years and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. In addition, he has won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, and the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater. His plays have starred, among others, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Tony Shaloub, Joan Collins and Hal Holbrook. His stage version of Murder on the Orient Express was written expressly at the request of the Agatha Christie Estate, and his latest play, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, won the 2020 Charles MacArthur Award for Best New Play of the Year and is optioned for Broadway. His book How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year, and his essays are published in the Yale Review. He is a graduate of Harvard and Cambridge and is a frequent guest speaker for groups as varied as The Oxford-Cambridge Society, The Jane Austen Society of North America, The Folger Shakespeare Library, and The Baker Street Irregulars. For more information, see his website at www.kenludwig.com.
TERRY HARDCASTLE (Hercule Poirot) is grateful to be back on stage at Actors’ Playhouse. A teaching artist residing in Miami, Terry is a 25-year member of Actors’ Equity Association. In South Florida, he’s performed with Zoetic Stage, MNM Theatre Company, and Palm Beach Dramaworks. As a Professor of Theatre, Terry has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Sioux Falls. He’s a proud recipient of four Carbonell Awards, the Silver Palm, and the Curtain Up. He’s currently an adjunct faculty member at Florida International University and New World School of the Arts.
MICHAEL MCKENZIE (Monsieur Bouc) appeared recently in The Price at GableStage. He has performed at Palm Beach Dramaworks (Sweeney Todd), MNM’s Man of La Mancha, Theater Lab (We Will Not Be Silent),Caldwell Theater (Dangerous, Déjà Vu). Broadway- Waiting in the Wings, The Man Who Came to Dinner,Eastern Standard. Off Broadway- Kari Floren’s If Wishes Were Horses, A Late Supper, Voices of Swords. Tour- John Houseman’s The Acting Company. Regional- Baltimore CenterStage, Denver Center, Pittsburgh Public, Salt Lake’s Pioneer Theatre, Arkansas Rep, many others. TV/Film- Law & Order, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Younger, Blacklist, All My Children, numerous episodes of Babylon 5. www.MichaelMcKenzie.net
IAIN BATCHELOR (Colonel Arbuthnot/Samuel Ratchett) Theatre credits include The White Card, Watson(GableStage); The Rivals (Arcola Theatre, U.K.); Edward II (National Theatre, U.K.); Billy Budd (Southwark Playhouse, U.K.); A Soldier in Every Son, Richard III, King John (Royal Shakespeare Company, U.K.) and King Lear (Leeds Playhouse, U.K.) Television includes The White Princess (STARZ); Wolf Hall (BBC / Masterpiece);Doctors (BBC) and The Coroner (BBC). Film credits include Allied (Paramount) and Assassin’s Creed (20th Century Fox). Iain is known for his work on the HITMAN video game series and is a winner of the BBC Carleton Hobbs Radio Drama Award. Instagram: @iain___b
LOURELENE SNEDEKER (Princess Dragomiroff) Closer Than Ever marked Lourelene’s first production with Actors’ Playhouse in 1991. Her other work at the Playhouse has included Steel Pier, White Christmas, Proposals, Beauty & The Beast, Das Barbecu, Floyd Collins and others. Her career includes touring with Loretta Swit in Mame and with the Asolo in The Song is Kern, and starring regionally opposite Gregory Harrison, Len Cariou, Evelyn Lear, Avery Schreiber, Richard Kind, Sally Kellerman and Leslie Uggams. Receiving well over 20 nominations, Lourelene has won 4 Carbonells, a Curtain Up Award and a Silver Palm, and has performed for Florida Stage, The Wick, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Florida Rep, Hollywood Playhouse, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, Flatrock Playhouse, Freefall, Primal Forces and others.
IRENE ADJAN (Helen Hubbard) is happy to be back at Actors’ Playhouse. Some of her many appearances at Actors’ Playhouse include Finding Mona Lisa, Ragtime, Full Monty, 1776, Annie, Joseph and Funny Girl. Other notable appearances include Almost Maine and House of Blue Leaves (Palm Beach Dramaworks); The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons, and The Glass Piano (Theatre Lab), Moscow, Assassins, and Detroit(Zoetic Stage), Indecent, Casa Valentina, Adding Machine, In the Next Room, and The Dead (GableStage); The Cake, many seasons of Summer Shorts and Winter Shorts (City Theatre). Irene is a 12-time Carbonell Award nominee, and has won the award three times.
KRYSTAL MILLIE VALDES (Mary Debenham) is so grateful to return to Actors’ Playhouse for her first show back since 2020! You can find her on screen in 93 miles (Cannes Film Festival 2018), Three Bedrooms, and Pompano Boy (Amazon Prime). Theatre: One Man Two Guvnors (Actor’s Playhouse), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), I Am Me (Arsht Center), Amparo (Bacardi), The House of Blue Leaves (Palm Beach Dramaworks), Peter and the Starcatcher (Slowburn), As You Like It (Tour: Paris, France), Little Montgomery, The Glass Menagerie, Proof, Clybourne Park (NCP), Safe House (Urbanite Theatre), Tar Beach (Theatre Lab). An AEA member, NWSA BFA graduate, and NCP founding member.krystalmillievaldes.com
MALLORY NEWBROUGH (Greta Ohlsson) is a proud AEA member from the MD/DC area. Theatres that she has performed at during her time here in South Florida include: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Slow Burn Theatre Company, MNM Productions, Island City Stage, Area Stage and The Wick Theatre where she was nominated for two Carbonell Awards for her performances of Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Janis Joplin in Beehive, for which she took home the win. She is also the proud recipient of two Silver Palm Awards for her work in various productions over the years. BFA – Ithaca College (www.mallorynewbrough.com)
GABY TORTOLEDO (Countess Andrenyi) is a Venezuelan stage and screen actress, singer, and dancer, recently seen in Gulf Coast Symphony’s I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, headlining Theatre Lab’s world premiere of The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons, and critically acclaimed for playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Regional credits: Songs for a New World (Gulf Coast Symphony), Rock Odyssey (Adrienne ArshtCenter), Compensation (Island City Stage). International credits: And the World Goes Round, Opening Doors, A Dream Is A Wish (Song Cycle Intensive, London). TV credits: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Studios), Just My Type (Punchline Productions).
@gabytortoledo/gabytortoledo.com
ALEXANDER BLANCO (Hector MacQueen) is excited to return to the mainstage of Actors’ Playhouse in Murder on the Orient Express! A recent graduate from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, his credits includeOn Your Feet! Rent, In The Heights, Jekyll and Hyde, Fiddler on the Roof, Children of Eden, and The Kiss. He has also participated in several children’s productions here at the Actors’ Playhouse, most recently in Rapunzel.
SETH TRUCKS (Michel the Conductor/Head Waiter) South Florida credits include: Actors’ Playhouse: Phil/Ensemble (On Your Feet). Thinking Cap Theatre: Edgar (King Lear). Stage Door Theatre: Frances (La Cage Aux Folles). Outré Theatre: Ned Weeks (The Normal Heart), Winston Smith (1984), Rodrigo (Othello). Evening Star: Estragon (Waiting for Godot), Macbeth (Macbeth), Antipholus’ (Comedy of Errors), Inspector Pratt (Murdered to Death). Florida Shakespeare Theatre: Hamlet (Hamlet), Shylock (Merchant of Venice). Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival: Bottom (Midsummer), Octavius (Antony and Cleopatra), Horatio (Hamlet), Dogberry (Much Ado About Nothing), Dromios (Comedy of Errors). Entre-Acte Theatrix: Narrator (Rocky Horror Show), Trekkie Monster (Avenue Q).