The suspense-drama “Wait Until Dark” is coming to the Orcas Grange next week, beginning on Feb. 19 with a benefit performance for Kaleidoscope Childcare Center.
This edge of your seat thriller, with Orcas Island leading lady Melinda Milligan, (pictured right) may not be suitable for younger children due to intense nature of the drama.
Director Doug Bechtel says, “We should get several gasps or even screams” at the six performances by The Actors Theater of Orcas Island.
The tense thriller by Frederick Knott will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and holding your breath, Bechtel promises.
The New York Post called the Broadway production of “Wait Until Dark” a “first-rate shocker. The suspense drama we’ve long awaited eagerly.”
This play was also made into an award winning movie starring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin.
When the sinister con man Roat, played by Freddy Hinkle, threatens the life of blind woman Suzy Hendrix, played by Milligan, she turns the tables on him by turning out the lights, leaving both of them in darkness. To help her balance the playing field, Suzy enlists the aid of ten-year-old upstairs neighbor Gloria, played by Adia Dolan.
Other actors include John Mazzarella as Mike Talman, Fred Vinson as Sargent Carlino, Ron Herman as Sam Hendrix and Pat and Greg Ayres as the policemen.
Tickets are $10 for the performances on Friday, February 20th, Saturday, February 21st, Friday, February 27th, Saturday, February 28th and closing night Sunday, March 1st. Tickets are available at Darvill’s Bookstore and at the door.
There will be a special sneak preview fund raiser to benefit Kaleidoscope on Thursday, February 19. Tickets for the sneak preview are $25 each and 100% of the proceeds go to Kaleidoscope. These tickets are available at Kaleidoscope, Darvill’s and at the door. There will be special refreshments and dessert at the benefit performance.
For additional information, contact Doug Bechtel at 317-5601.
“Wait Until Dark” the story:
A sinister con man, Roat, and two ex-convicts, Mike and Carlino, are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll, which they are much interested in, to the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam Hendrix and his blind wife, Susy. Sam had apparently been persuaded by a strange woman to transport the doll across the Canadian border, not knowing that sewn inside were several grams of heroin. When the woman is murdered, the situation becomes more urgent. The con man and his ex-convicts, through a cleverly constructed deception, convince Susy that the police have implicated Sam in the woman’s murder, and the doll, which she believes is the key to his innocence, is evidence. She refuses to reveal its location, and with the help of a young neighbor, figures out she is the victim of a bizarre charade. But when Roat kills his associates, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues between the two. Susy knows the only way to play fair is by her rules, so when darkness falls she turns off all the lights leaving both of them to maneuver in the dark until the game ends.
