LONG BEACH, Calif. ~ Something’s afoul on the private golf course at Merlinville-Sur-Mer. International City Theatre presents Murder on the Links, hilariously adapted for the stage by Steven Dietz from the novel by Agatha Christie. Todd Nielsen directs the limited, three-week run October 18 through November 3 at ICT’s home in the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, with two low-priced previews set for Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Thursday, Oct. 17.
When Christie’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, arrives in France in response to an urgent summons from Paul Renauld, he finds he’s too late — M. Renauld now lies dead, face down in a grave on the edge of the golf course he was building. Certain facts do not add up… and when a second body is found, it’s been stabbed in a seemingly impossible way.
Louis Lotorto stars as Poirot, with Daniel A. Stevens taking on the role of his stalwart sidekick, Captain Arthur Hastings. Meanwhile, Gabbie Adner, James Simenc, Brian Stanton and Tina Van Berckelaer play all the other parts in a whirlwind of changing locations, costumes and accents as Poirot pits his wits against an arrogant French policeman and Hastings lets his eye wander after an auburn-haired female acrobat.
When Christie’s novel was first published in 1923, The Times Literary Supplement called it “an enthralling mystery of an unusual kind,” and The New York Times wrote, “The plot has peculiar complications and the reader will have to be very astute indeed if he guesses who the criminal is until the last complexity has been unraveled.”
The creative team for Murder on the Links includes set designer Destiny Manewal, lighting designer Donna Ruzika, costume designer Kim DeShazo, sound designer Dave Mickey and prop designer Patty Briles. Casting is by Michael Donovan, CSA and Richie Ferris, CSA. The stage manager is Donna R. Parsons.
Murder on the Links runs October 18 through November 3 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Two preview performances take place on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Thursday, Oct. 17, both at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $49 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (except October 18, opening night, for which tickets are $55 and include a post show reception), and $52 at Sunday matinees. Low-priced tickets to previews are $37.
International City Theatre is located in Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center’s Beverly O’Neill Theater at 330 East Seaside Way, Long Beach, CA 90802.For more information and to purchase tickets, call (562) 436-4610 or go to InternationalCityTheatre.org.