Psychological thriller, “Wait Until Dark” opens in October

The psychological thriller “Wait Until Dark” by Frederick Knott opens Utah State University Eastern’s 2017-2018 theatre season on two consecutive weekends: Oct. 5-7 and 12-14.
“Wait Until Dark” opened on Broadway in 1966 and has been a staple of theatre programs throughout the United States.
I t was made into a major motion picture in 1968 starring Audrey Hepburn, Richard Crenna and Alan Arkin. Hepburn was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Suzy Hendrix. The story concerns Suzy, who is blind, and a band of thieves intent on recovering a doll filled with heroin. The play concludes with an intense game of cat and mouse between Suzy and one of her attackers.
“This play has been on my bucket list to direct for years,” said director Dr. Corey Ewan. “I saw it at Snow College a couple of years ago and it got me thinking about directing it . . . it felt like a perfect fit for our season.”
The remainder of our season will be the plays, Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward, Steel Magnolias by Robert Harline, and Guys and Dolls music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows.
The “Wait Until Dark” set was purchased from USU in Logan where the play was performed this past summer. The really interesting part of buying these sets is how we adapt them for our Black Box Theater, its like a giant jigsaw puzzle, Ewan said.
Spencer Potter, son of former CEU student body President Mackae Potter, designed the USU set, originally built for the Old Lyric Repertory Company’s production.
Casting for the play was concluded last week with Veronica Roberts (Stansbury Park High School) taking on the role of Suzy Hendrix with her husband to be played by Gabe Marcotte (Da Vinci Academy).
Tait Sommerfeldt (Cardston High School) tackles Harry Roat, Jr., with Zachary Ballard (Cottonwood High School) playing Mike Talman and Hayden Buss (Orem High School) portraying Sgt. Carlino.
The final actors include Morgan Innes (Carbon High School) playing Gloria and Paul Shaw (Copper Hills High School) and Nathan Carter (Pinnacle Charter School) playing police officers Ganz and Gorman.
Curtain time for all performances is at 7:30 p.m.. Ticket prices have been increased this year due to budgetary necessities and increasing production costs. Adult tickets are $12, seniors $10 and non-USU E students $7, faculty and staff $7 while USU Eastern students with current USUE ID $3, and children and USU E theatre alumni $5.
Ewan said, “We have put off raising our ticket prices for three years now and felt that we had no choice but to do so now.”