HCCT-03-20 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOX OFFICE OPEN (10/6) FOR DEATHTRAP;
SUSPENSE-THRILLER OPENS 18TH HCCT SEASON OCT. 16

Lee Middlebrooks steps into role of Myra Bruhl at mid-production.

COTTONWOOD SHORES, TEXAS (Oct. 3, 2003) -- The Hill Country Community Theatre box office opens at noon, Monday, Oct. 6, for Deathtrap, Playwright Ira Levin’s suspense thriller kicking off HCCT’s 18th season on Oct. 16.

The nine-performance run promises twists, turns, shocks and even laughter in two acts at the playhouse near Marble Falls. Of course, some of that may be nervous laughter left over from a mid-production change in actors.

Lee Middlebrooks of Marble Falls replaced Pam Verette of Sunrise Beach in the integral role of Myra Bruhl. Verette had a sick family member. Middlebrooks, seen last season in Same Time, Next Year, Lee has been involved with HCCT for nearly three years, working behind the scenes, as well as appearing on-stage in The Last Night of Ballyhoo.

“Deathtrap, a cunningly constructed murder mystery combining gasp-inducing thrills and spontaneous laughter, has been surprising audiences for more than 25 years, both onstage and onscreen,” said Guest Director Beverly Crawford-McIntire of Horseshoe Bay. “Our five-member cast is a tightly wound group fully prepared to fill theatergoers with anxiety, dread and foreboding.”

The storyline involves a hugely successful playwright of thrillers who has recently penned several flops. He devises a plan, with his wife’s help, to collaborate with a student of one of his writing seminars on a highly promising mystery. The lengths to which he goes to improve his fortune leads the audience through spellbinding twists, turns and sudden shocks interspersed with unexpected humor.

Popular HCCT regular Kirk Tatum of Marble Falls portrays Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer struggling to overcome a dry spell. Lee Middlebrooks plays the playwright’s wife and his biggest fan. Jared Lasseter of Austin, recently seen in The King and I, is Clifford Anderson, a budding playwright who works in an urban welfare office.

Audrey Chase, a Central Texas resident, plays the quirky Helga Ten Dorp, a Dutch psychic visiting America and living in a neighbor’s cottage near the Bruhls. Audrey, a veteran of educational theatre, has assisted HCCT with costuming for years. The awarded designer, who has worked with several shows and assisted with others at HCCT, has never before appeared on its stage. John Mengden of Horseshoe Bay is cast as Porter Milgrim, the Bruhl family attorney. He has had HCCT roles in The Miracle Worker and The King and I

The two-act play will run Oct. 16-26 with shows at 8 p.m. nightly and Sunday matinees at 2:15 p.m. The Box Office is at 830-698-8944, or tickets can be ordered/reserved on line at www.hcct.org. The playhouse is located at 4003 FM 2147 West, across from Bob’s Exxon and at the entrance to Cottonwood Shores, between Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay.

For more information on the current performances or tickets, membership, volunteer opportunities (box office, costumes, make-up, props, lighting, set building and painting) or auditions, please contact the HCCT Box Office at 830-798-8944, or Executive Director Bruce Hennie at 830-693-2474.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS:
Preston F. Kirk, APR
HCCT Governor
Spicewood, TX
830-693-4447;
F 693-9898,
kirk@281.com

Bruce Hennie, Executive Director
Hill Country Community Theatre
Cottonwood Shores, TX,
830-693-2474
bruce@hcct.org