Little Firehouse Theatre
298 Kinderkamack Road
Oradell, NJ 07649

  PRESS RELEASE

BERGEN COUNTY PLAYERS PRESENTS WHODUNNIT
A COMEDY/MURDER MYSTERY
BY SLEUTH PLAYWRIGHT ANTHONY SHAFFER

Oradell, NJ, March 1, 2010

The Bergen County Players (BCP) presents Whodunnit, a laugh-out-loud murder mystery by Anthony Shaffer, author of the award-winning Sleuth. Under the direction of Bunny Mateosian, Whodunnit will be performed at the Little Firehouse Theatre in Oradell from March 20^th through April 17^th, 2010, with shows at 8pm on Friday and Saturday and 2pm on Sunday (No shows on April 2^nd and April 4^th). Tickets can be purchased online at www.bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200 or by visiting the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell during regular box office hours.

On a dark and stormy night, in a country house drawing room, six diverse strangers are invited to a gloomy, old English manor for a formal dinner party. As the night continues, a guest named Andreas Capodistriou seems to be up to no good as he blackmails all the other guests, but then, someone is horribly murdered before going into dinner. What follows is a riotous parody of Agatha Christie style murder mysteries, with more twists than a corkscrew and the full collection of eccentric stereotypes. Eventually a Detective arrives from Scotland Yard to solve the crime and explain the mystery to everyone - or does he?  You will be at the edge of your seat throughout the show as you try to figure out…Whodunnit.

Director Bunny Mateosian of Closter is a Bergen County Players Life Member who has directed many shows in her 30+ years with BCP including The Mousetrap, Postmortem, The Guys and last year’s world premier of The Most Ridiculous Thing You Ever Hoid.  She has also delighted audiences with her performances in The Full Monty, The Women, Lost In Yonkers, and The  Beauty Queen of Leenane, for which she won the 2004 Perry Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress.   As chairperson of the costume committee for many seasons she has dressed countless shows, including Into the Woods, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and The Octette Bridge Club.  

The cast of Whodunnit is comprised of seasoned performers from across Northern New Jersey.  Bill Cantor from Woodcliff Lake plays the evil Levantine, Andreas Capodistriou. Sheldon Stone of Totowa portrays the respectable family lawyer Silas Bazeby while Ridgewood resident Jason Lewis plays Rear-Admiral Knatchbull Folliatt, an old sea dog.  They are joined by James Lesko of Englewood as the Butler, Ruth Morley of Ridgewood as the sweet, young ingénue and Rachel Gordon of Paramus as a dotty aristocrat. Teaneck resident Joe Halajian appears as Roger Dashwell, heir to a family fortune and Joan Eagle Ross from Westwood depicts the eccentric archaeologist, Dame Edith Runcible.  Rounding out the brilliant cast are Bill Joachim of Englewood as an unconventional Scotland Yard detective and Alan Morley of Ridgewood as the Sergeant.

The team behind the scenes includes Bunny Mateosian (Director); Michele Roth & Kathie Robitz (Producers); Marjory Lewis (Assistant to the Director); Marisa Dolkart (Stage Manager); Eric Zoback (Set Design/Construction); Marci K. Weinstein (Décor and program notes); Allan Seward (Lighting Design); Mary Upham and Rob DeScherer(Sound Design); Katie Lupfer (Costumes); Eva Piccioni, Karen Hermey, and Helen Boyadjian (Properties); Andrew Cohn (Lighting Operator); Jeffrey Muller (Sound Operator); Rachel Menconi and Nina Lionetti (Make-Up); Lindsay Braverman (Publicity); Alan Zenreich (Photography); Stephanie Bazzanella and Shari Buchwald (Programs).

 

TICKET AND SCHEDULE INFORMATION

• All performances take place at The Little Firehouse Theatre at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell, home to the Bergen County Players for 58 years.
• Tickets for Whodunnit are $19.00 (Friday/Saturdays) and $16.00 (Sundays) and can be purchased online at www.bcplayers.org, by calling 201-261-4200 or by visiting the box office at 298 Kinderkamack Road in Oradell during regular box office hours.  Visa, Master Card, and American Express are accepted.
• An Audience Q & A (“Questions & Artists”) is scheduled for March 26^th.  Admission is included in the cost of the ticket.
• Those interested in Group Sales can call (201) 262-0515.
• Student Rush tickets are available for $5.00 for students age 25 and under with valid ID, 30 minutes prior to curtain. One ticket per ID. Cash only. Students can also guarantee their seats in advance either online or through the box office for the special student price of just $14.00. 
• Parking is free at the Park Avenue municipal lot, across the street, one-half block north of the theater.

The Bergen County Players has grown tremendously from its roots as a small community theater when it was founded in 1932; today, nearly 300 volunteer members, working on and off stage, make possible the eight productions presented each season.  The company's professional alumni include Tony Award-nominated actress Beth Fowler (The Boy From Oz, Sweeney Todd), Tony Award-winning actor Robert Sean Leonard (FOX’s House, The Invention of Love), Tony Award-nominated director Robert Jess Roth (Beauty and the Beast, Lestat), and international best-selling suspense author Mary Higgins Clark, just to name a few.  In May 2001, Tony Award-winning playwright and composer Rupert Holmes (Curtains, The Mystery of Edwin Drood) collaborated with the Bergen County Players to premier his new play at the Little Firehouse Theatre, a comic mystery called Thumbs.

Information on the remaining shows in the 2009-2010 season can be found at www.bcplayers.org.

The Bergen County Players, Inc., is a non-Equity, non-profit community theatre company dedicated to presenting quality productions for the enrichment of the community.