FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 10, 2004
Contacts: Karen Schulte, Marketing & Development Director
Joe Stollenwerk, Artistic Director
513-369-1544 info@cincinnatiovation.com
Ovation Serves Up A Treat for Stephen King Fans
Ovation Theater Company's 7th season begins with a resounding whack! Ovation kicks off the Halloween season with a treat for Stephen King fans: the stage adaptation of King's highly popular contemporary thriller, Misery. The play makes its regional debut October 1-16 at the Fifth Third Theater at the Aronoff Center for the Arts.
Misery, a bestselling novel by "the king of horror" Stephen King, was originally published in 1987. It was successfully adapted for the screen in 1990, earning Kathy Bates a Best Actress Oscar. The stage adaptation is by British playwright/director Simon Moore. It premiered at the Criterion Theatre in London in 1992 with Cagney and Lacey's Sharon Gless in the role of Annie Wilkes. The first U.S. production was in Somesville, Maine in 2000. Last spring, Pyewacket Theater's production of Misery garnered several Jefferson Awards in Chicago.
Audiences will get a thrill out of this adaptation of the chilling novel in which Paul Sheldon, world famous author of the "Misery Chastaine" romance novels, is crippled in a car wreck, only to be rescued by Annie Wilkes, his Number One Fan. When Annie reads his new novel where her beloved Misery is killed during childbirth, we discover she isn't the angel of mercy she first appeared to be. Paul begins to realize that he has entered a new kind of hell beyond anything he might have dreamt up for his fictional heroine.
"We choose to produce Misery," says Joe Stollenwerk, Artistic Director of Ovation Theatre Company, "because we knew it would be popular with audiences and because it is very different from any other type of play Ovation has produced before. Of course, we had concerns about comparisons to the movie, but this adaptation is far more faithful to the novel than to the screenplay." Stephen King fans should be happy to hear that most of the dialogue in the play is taken directly from the novel.
Prolific Cincinnati Director Dennis Murphy takes the helm for this, his fifth, directorial effort for Ovation. Murphy was skeptical when the Ovation staff asked him to read the Misery script. "I read the play more out of curiosity than anything else. I had never seen the film because TV ads led me to believe it would be too violent. But when I read the play, I found myself drawn to the story, the dynamics between the two characters and the humor. I also found myself laughing out loud ... and then gasping. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought an audience would too."
Two Ovation veterans will tackle this challenging two-character play. Annie will be played by Carolmarie Stock who won critical acclaim as the title role in Woman in Mind, and has appeared in Ovation productions of A Perfect Ganesh, Suddenly Last Summer, I Hate Hamlet and The House of Yes. Playing the role of Paul is Jon Vater who has shown his versatility in previous Ovation appearances having performed in a comedy (I Hate Hamlet), drama (The Diary of Anne Frank), and a musical revue (You're Gonna Love Tomorrow).
"Ovation has scheduled an extra weekend of performances for Misery"
says Stollenwerk, "to ensure that fans of Stephen King, the movie, and
anyone interested in a suspenseful theatrical experience have plenty
of opportunity to see this play." Stollenwerk adds that "The October 2
performance of Misery is a Stephen King inspired evening included as part
of Enjoy the Arts 20/20 festival." Audience members are invited to come
dressed as their favorite Stephen King character and to participate in
an after-the-show costume contest. Audience members will also be able
to discuss the play with the director and cast before adjourning to
Hamburger Mary's for more after-the-show mingling. For more details on
the 20/20 Festival, go to Enjoy the Arts website at
www.etastart.com.
Performances are October 1, 2, 8, 9, 14, 15, and 16 at 8:00 p.m. and October 3 at 2:00 p.m. All performances are held at the Fifth Third Bank Theater at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, located at the corner of Main and Seventh Streets in Downtown Cincinnati.
Tickets are $16 general admission, $14 seniors, and $12 students/children. Tickets can be purchased online at www.cincinnatiarts.org, at the Aronoff Center ticket office, or by calling 513-621-ARTS (2787). Ovation also offers a Pay What You Can Preview on Thursday, September 30 at 8:00 p.m.
Publicity photos are available by emailing info@cincinnatiovation.com.
For more information about the show or Ovation, please call 513-369-1544 or email info@cincinnatiovation.com. Be sure to visit www.cincinnatiovation.com for news, photos, reviews, opportunities, and more.
Misery is presented with support from the City of Cincinnati, Fine Arts Fund, and Aronoff Rental Subsidy.