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TO LIFE 6: STORIES & MUSIC CELEBRATING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JEWISH COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND COMEDIANS TO BROADWAY & HOLLYWOOD at the Willow Theatre in January

20 Thursday Nov 2025

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“In any great adventure, if you don’t want to lose
Victory depends upon the people that you choose
So listen, Arthur, darling, closely to this news
We won’t succeed on Broadway if we don’t have any Jews”
From the musical Spamalot
Music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, Lyrics by Eric Idle

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

November 20, 2025

BOCA RATON, FL:  From Arlen and Harburg (“Over the Rainbow”), to Bacharach and David (“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”); from Rodgers and Hammerstein (Carousel) to Jerry Herman (La Cage Aux Folles); or from Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) to Bock and Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), Jewish composers and artists have contributed mightily to the great American Songbook, to Broadway musicals, to pop music, and to theatre and the arts in general.  (As Eric Idle and John Du Prez – non-Jews – so humorously rhapsodized in Spamalot).

To Life 6: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers, Artists, and Comedians to Broadway & Hollywoodwill open in Boca Raton’s Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park on January 16th and run through February 8th.

Once again this popular show will feature amusing anecdotes and fascinating facts about some of America’s most well-known, lauded, and iconic Jewish composers and entertainers who created and performed such musical classics as “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “Get Happy,” “Defying Gravity,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “What the World Needs Now,” and many more.

The production, produced by Hy Juter, and written, directed, and hosted by Shari Upbin will feature top-tier South Florida actor/entertainers Kate Delaney, Bruno Faria, Shelley Keelor, and Shane Tanner.  Aiden Quintana will serve as the production’s Musical Director, and Nicole Roach is the production’s Stage Manager.

“What an honor to be the director of all the To Life shows including To Life 6, the longest running come back series in Florida!” Upbin says. “Over the years we have featured some of  the most talented Carbonell award-winning entertainers in town and highlighted the musical genius of the finest Jewish composers and lyricists of the 19th and 20th and 21st centuries.   Our audiences have been to the Borscht Belt, tasted Egg Creams and looked at the most famous comic books, all stemming from the pens of Jewish artists.  At this point we could even present an entire evening of Christmas songs as so many were written by Jewish composers!

“To Life 6 honors our Jewish immigrant ancestors from Eastern Europe, who came to America, the ‘golden medina’ the land of opportunity and freedom!” she continues.  “Those immigrants whose music have become the greatest influence of American pop culture Broadway and Hollywood in the world! L’Chaim!”

To Life 6 will run from January 16 through February 8 at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park.  Tickets are $46; group rates (6 or more tickets purchased in one transaction) are $42.  Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.myboca.us/2647/To-Life-6 or by phone at 561-347-3948.  The Willow Theatre is located at 300 South Military Trail, in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand Park (33486).          

For more information about To Life 6: Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers, Artists, and Comedians to Broadway & Hollywood,to speak with anyone involved in the production, or to arrange to see a performance, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

In the attached photos:
Shari Upbin
Hy Juter
Photo credits:
Hy Juter/Shari Upbin       

~

To Life 6 – Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers, Artists, & Comedians to Broadway & Hollywood.
Written, directed, and hosted by Shari Upbin.
Musical direction by Aidan Quintana
January 16 – February 8, 2026
Tickets:  $46 ($42 Group Rate – 6 or more tickets purchased in a single transaction)
For tickets & Information:
https://www.myboca.us/2647/To-Life-6
Phone:  567-347-3948
Performance days and times:
Friday and Saturday at 7 pm
Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm
All performances will take place at
The Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park
300 S. Military Trail
Boca Raton, FL  33486

Kate Delany
Bruno Faria
Shelley Keelor
Shane Tanner
Aiden Quintana
Hy Juter
Shari Upbin

Boca Stage to present Howard Skora’s DAMAGED FURNITURE at the Willow Theatre

21 Tuesday Oct 2025

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Boca Stage to present
Howard Skora’s
Damaged Furniture
at the Willow Theatre
March 6 – 15, 2026

“What makes the play a big success is its blatant, over.the.top, outrageous comedy that will not quit.” 
Don Grigware, Grigware Reviews

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

October 21, 2025

BOCA RATON, FL: Boca Stage is pleased to announce their next production will be at Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park, where they will present Damaged Furniture from March 6th through March 15th, 2026. Howard Skora’s outrageously funny comedy about a totally dysfunctional Brooklyn family received multiple awards and nominations when it debuted in Los Angeles in 2018.

When Doug Elling receives word that his beloved uncle has died in an unexpected – and bizarre – accident, he rushes from Los Angeles to Brooklyn and finds himself at the center of his family’s efforts to salvage their furniture business.  An alcoholic father, his ‘happy-face’ mother, his recently widowed aunt, and his therapist sister all add to the chaos surrounding Doug as he tries to decide upon his future.

Director Keith Garsson explains that “…this show is a reset back to our original mission: the premier production of a relatively new work for the South Florida area.  We had two great seasons of commercial fare at the Delray Beach Playhouse, however this piece enables us to go back to our roots with a very dark, off-beat comedy.  Additionally, since Boca Stage was never intended to be a seasonally based company, the Willow Theatre structure enables us to do shows on an a la carte basis without the responsibility of a full slate of productions.”

Garsson has completed casting for the production: Bruno Faria will play Doug, with Valerie diLorenzo as Laurie, Sharon Pfieffer as Gina, Liz DeBeer as Irene, and Shane Tanner as Phil.

Tickets for Damaged Furniture will be on sale soon and will be available via the Willow Theatre website: www.willowtheatre.org or by phone at 561-347-3948.

For more information about Boca Stage, or to speak with Keith Garsson, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

~

Damaged Furniture
by Howard Skora
March 6-15, 2026
Tickets:  $45
For tickets & Information:
561-347-3948
Performance days and times:
Friday and Saturday at 7 pm
Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm
All performances will take place at
The Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park
300 S. Military Trail
Boca Raton, FL  33486

BITTERSUITE: SONGS OF MORE EXPERIENCE at the Levis JCC – March 22nd & 23rd

12 Wednesday Feb 2025

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Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience
at the Levis JCC Sandler Center
March 22nd & 23rd Only

Sheer brilliance… An inspired cabaret presentation with the kind of provocative Broadway songs that draw people back to relish them again and again.”
John S. Wilson – The New York Times

“Riveting, thought-provoking, superb”
Curt Davis – The New York Post

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244 February 11, 2025

February 12, 2025

BOCA RATON, FL: Elliot Weiss and Michael Champagne’s award-winning song cycle, Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience, will run for two performances only at the Levis JCC Sandler Center March 22nd and 23rd.  The production is part of the JCC’s Robert Greenberg Performing Arts Series.

Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience is a extension of the acclaimed revue Bittersuite: Songs of Experience which ran in New York, San Francisco, and for two years in Los Angeles where it was singled out as a “critic’s choice” by the LA Times, LA Weekly, and Daily News. In this edition the cycle continues to explore the American Experience in song, but from a more mature perspective. Bittersuite explores growing old in America, what it feels like, and what it means – how do the issues of love, loneliness, success and failure, change, and accommodation, impact our lives as we age?

“Michael Champagne and I had just completed a workshop of our first musical Casanova – A Musical Romanceand we were having trouble attracting a producer due to the size of the cast,” Bittersuite composer Elliot Weiss recalls. “We decided to scale down and write a song cycle for four singers and piano. We envisioned it to be performed with no props or sets. To let the material speak for itself. But – what should we write about? Seeing as both of us were rapidly approaching middle age, it seemed that how people feel when their youthful expectations collide with their present-day reality could be a fertile field to explore.” 

“Bittersuite grew out of our interest in exploring the realities – both sweet and bitter – of American life,” Michael Champagne says.  We first presented the show in a seedy little Off-Off Broadway theater in New York, where it caught fire and moved into the cabaret theatre scene in a stylish uptown location.  Bittersuite: Songs of Experience has had great success, won many awards, and has been performed many times all over the world.”

“Years went by, and lo and behold Michael and I were now approaching our golden years.” Weiss continues. “It seemed with so much more knowledge, regrets, wisdom, foolhardiness, and everything else that comes with aging it was time to update Bittersuite and call it Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience. This latest version of the show, which has been tailored and updated specifically for South Florida audiences, won the New Jersey Broadway World Best Musical award when we first performed it!”

Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience is a musical ‘selfie’ taken forty years later,” Champagne concludes. “And reflects some of the deeper perspectives time brings with it.”

Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience will be staged by Holly Budney, and Weiss will serve as the show’s Musical Director.  The production will feature Francine Birns, Lisa Fishman, David Hyman, and Shane Tanner.  The four actor/singers will use narrative song, set pieces, humor, and pathos to express the currents flowing through the American psyche to produce an unflinching view of who we are and what we hope as we grow older.

Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience will be performed at the Levis JCC Sandler Center on Saturday, March 22nd and Sunday, March 23; both performances will take place at 7:30 pm.  Tickets are $35/$40 each and are on sale now.  For tickets and information visit https://levisjcc.org/culture/performingarts/ or call 561-558-2520.

For more information about Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience, to speak with Elliot Weiss, Michael Champagne, or anyone else involved in the production, or to arrange to attend a performance, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.

~

Bittersuite: Songs of More Experience
Music by Elliot Weiss
Lyrics by Michael Champagne
Written and created by Elliot Weiss and Michael Champagne
Saturday, March 22 & Sunday, March 23 at 7:30 pm
Tickets:  $35/$40
For tickets and/or more information:
https://levisjcc.org/culture/performingarts/ or
Call:  561-558-2520
Both performances will take place at
The Levis JCC Sandler Center
21050 95th Avenue S.
Boca Raton, FL 33428

Rehearsal photos – credit:
Carol Kassie

David Hyman, Lisa Fishman, Shane Tanner, Francine Birns
Francine Birns, Lisa Fishman, David Hyman, Shane Tanner
Elliot Weiss, Lisa Fishman, Shane Tanner, Francine Birns, David Hyman
Francine Birns, Shane Tanner, Lisa Fishman

TO LIFE 5 – Jewish Broadway to Hollywood – January 17 – February 2 at the Willow Theatre

09 Monday Dec 2024

Posted by in Clients, Hy Juter, Shari Upbin

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Hy Juter presents
To Life 5:
Jewish Broadway to Hollywood!
 Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers and Entertainers to Broadway and the Great Hollywood Musicals
At the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park
January 17 – February 2, 2025

“The humor of the blues, as Jerry (Leiber) used to say, was akin to Yiddish humor. Like, “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.”” Mike Stoller

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

December 9, 2024

BOCA RATON, FL:  From George and Ira Gershwin to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, from Irving Berlin to John Kander and Fred Ebb, or from Jerry Herman to Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, Jewish composers and entertainers have been an integral part of the Broadway and American pop lexicon for well over a century. (And then there’s Barbra Streisand, Carole King, and even Elvis Presley – Elvis’ maternal great-great grandmother, Nancy Burdine, was Jewish. Her daughter gave birth to Doll Mansell who gave birth to Gladys Smith who gave birth to Elvis!).

These, and many more icons of the stage, screen, and recording studio will be celebrated in To Life 5: Jewish Broadway to Hollywood! Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers and Entertainers to Broadway and the Great Hollywood Musicals. The production will run from January 17th through February 2nd at the Willow Theatre in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand Park. The popular series (To Life 1 through 4 each played to sold out houses at almost every performance) was developed by producer Hy Juter and is written by and will be directed and hosted by Shari Upbin.

This all-new 5th chapter in the series will once again feature amusing anecdotes and fascinating facts about some of America’s most well-known, lauded, and popular Jewish composers and entertainers who created and performed in such iconic productions as Mame, Guys and Dolls, Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof, Milk and Honey, and many more.

The production will feature top-tier South Florida entertainers Jinon Deeb, Bruno Faria, Shelley Keelor, and Shane Tanner.   Noted pianist/composer Elliot Weiss will serve as the production’s musical director. Nicole Roach is the production’s Stage Manager.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring another chapter of To Life to the stage!” Shari Upbin says.  “This season we have added stories of The Yiddish Theatre to songs of the Brill Building which includes Carole King and songs by Lieber and Stoller, “Hound Dog,” “Chapel of Love”… along with favorites by Gershwin, Berlin, Sheldon Harnick and Sondheim. This one is going to be a dynamic crowd pleaser!”

To Life 5 will run from January 17 through February 2 at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park.  Tickets are $46; group rates (6 or more tickets purchased in one transaction) are $41.  Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.myboca.us/2647/To-Life-5 or by phone at 561-347-3948.  The Willow Theatre is located at 300 South Military Trail, in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand Park (33486).     

For more information about To Life 5: Jewish Broadway to Hollywood! Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers and Entertainers to Broadway and the Great Hollywood Musicals,to speak with anyone involved in the production, or to arrange to see a performance, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.  

Photo credits:
For Hy Juter: Arlene Juter
For Shari Upbin: Michael Thomas Photos

~

To Life 5: Jewish Broadway to Hollywood!
Stories & Music Celebrating the Contributions of Jewish Composers and Entertainers to Broadway and the Great Hollywood Musicals
January 17 – February 2, 2025
Written and Directed by Shari Upbin
Musical Direction by Elliot Weiss
Produced and Created by Hy Juter
Ticket prices: $46
Group rates: $41 (for groups of 6 or more tickets purchased in a single transaction)
For tickets & Information:
https://www.myboca.us/2647/To-Life-5 
Or call 561-347-3948
Performance days & times:
Friday & Saturday at 7 pm
Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm
All performances will take place at
The Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park
300 S. Military Trail
Boca Raton, FL  33486

Jinon Deeb
Bruno Faria
Shelley Keelor
Shane Tanner
Shari Upbin
Elliot Weiss
Hy Juter
Nicole Roach

Boca Stage to present THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO October 24 – November 3, 2024

24 Tuesday Sep 2024

Posted by in Boca Stage, Clients, Delray Beach Playhouse

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“Using the manner and technique of boulevard comedy as its backdrop, “Ballyhoo” addresses some weighty issues with… [a] combination of ease and purpose…”
Greg Evans ~ Variety 

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

September 24, 2024

DELRAY BEACH, FL: Boca Stage’s second production of the 2024-2025 season will be The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Pulitzer Prize/Tony Award/and Academy Award-winning playwright Alfred Uhry. The production will run from October 24th to November 3rd in the Cabaret Theatre at the Delray Beach Playhouse.

“The Last Night of Ballyhoo is the second of playwright Alfred Uhry’s ‘Atlanta Trilogy’ which, although it follows Driving Miss Daisy, takes place twenty-five years earlier as World War II is just on the horizon and Gone with the Wind is about to become a movie sensation,” the production’s director Keith Garsson explains.  (The third work in the trilogy, the musical Parade, recently enjoyed a successful revival on Broadway).

“In both Daisy and Ballyhoo, Uhry gives us characters who share a common experience of alienation yet cannot communicate with each other”, Garsson continues.

“Ballyhoo, told on a larger canvas, flips the traditional story of the assimilation of twentieth-century American Jews on its head,” he says. “Instead of the humorous Neil Simon tales of woe, neuroses and insecurities in New York City, Ballyhoo tells a much darker story with more serious themes of identity.

“The German-Jews of this story settled in Atlanta and became successful business folks. Yet, unlike their New York counterparts who continued to embrace their religion, the protagonists of Ballyhoo slowly shed their own backgrounds as they longed for acceptance in the upper crust of Southern society. Although the play may be seen as a search for identity, it is also by turns humorous, touching, and fascinating.

“We’ve all been outsiders at some point in our lives and Ballyhoo masterfully balances the sometimes-painful journey of a family that is forced to finally decide who they want to be.”

Director Garsson’s talented cast includes Hannah Hayley as Lala, Liz DeBeer as Reba, Betty Ann Hunt Strain as Boo, Shane Tanner as Adolph, Alex Bakalarz as Joe, Rachel Whittington as Sunny, and Christian Cooper as Peachy.

The Stage Manager for The Last Night of Ballyhoo is Joseph Long.  The production’s Technical Director is Christian Taylor, Set Design is by Claudia Smith, Lighting Design is by Stevie Bleich, Sound Design is by David Hart, Costume Design is by Timothy Charles Bowman, and Jeff Davis will take care of Set Construction.

Tickets for The Last Night of Ballyhoo are on sale now. They range in price from $59 to $69 and are available online at delraybeachplayhouse.com or by calling 561-272-1281. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm. All performances will take place at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th Street, Delray Beach (33444)

The Delray Beach Playhouse is located at 950 NW 9th Street, in Delray Beach, 33444. (561-272-1281).  For more information about the Playhouse, visit https://delraybeachplayhouse.com.

For more information about Boca Stage, the Delray Beach Playhouse, and Keith Garsson, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244. 

~

The Last Night of Ballyhoo
By Alfred Uhry
October 24 – November 3, 2025
Tickets: $59/$69
For tickets & information:  
https://delraybeachplayhouse.com/off-broadway-series
561-272-1281
All performances will take place at
The Delray Beach Playhouse
950 NW 9th Street
Delray Beach, FL  33444

The Last Night of Ballyhoo Production Photos by Amy Pasquantonio
(Click on each image to enlarge)

Liz DeBeer, Hannah Hayley, Betty Ann Hunt Strain
Betty Ann Hunt Strain, Hannah Hayley
Liz DeBeer, Betty Ann Hunt Strain
Shane Tanner
Rachel Whittington
Christian Cooper, Betty Ann Hunt Strain, Hannah Hayley
Rachel Whittington, Alex Bakalarz

TO LIFE 4: THAT’S (JEWISH) ENTERTAINMENT at the Willow Theatre in Boca Raton – January 19 – February 4

14 Thursday Dec 2023

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Hy Juter
Presents

To Life 4:
That’s (Jewish) Entertainment!
 Stories & Music Celebrating Some of the Greatest Jewish Entertainers
At the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park


January 19 – February 4

“I have always thought of music as a highway with many lanes.” Marvin Hamlisch

“I love writing songs. I’m a songwriter…. I know how to make it a great musical. I’ve got to. It’s
like I’ve got to see it on stage.”  Mel Brooks

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

December 14, 2023

BOCA RATON, FL:  To Life 4, That’s Jewish Entertainment! Stories & Music Celebrating Some of the Greatest Jewish Entertainers the popular series developed by producer Hy Juter   will run from January 19th through February 4th at The Willow Theatre in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand Park. To Life 4 is a follow-up to three previous To Life productions – all of which played to sold out houses at almost every performance. 

This all-new 4th chapter in the popular series will once again feature music, amusing anecdotes, and fascinating facts about some of the most well-known, lauded, and popular Jewish entertainers and composers in recent history, including Mel Brooks, Marvin Hamlisch, Bette Midler, Neil Diamond, Jerry Herman, Sheldon Harnick, and many more!

The production will feature top tier South Florida entertainers Jinon Deeb, Shelley Keelor, Ben Sandomir, and Shane Tanner.   Writer/director Shari Upbin will serve as the show’s host/narrator and noted pianist composer Elliot Weiss will serve as the production’s musical director.

“To Life 4: That’s (Jewish) Entertainment! is a marvelous extension of To Life 1, 2, and 3,” Upbin says.  “Along with Jewish composers of Broadway and Hollywood, we now have the pleasure of featuring those performers who changed our lives and shaped our formative years. Neil Diamond, Bette Midler, Mel Brooks, and the explosive talent of the Borsht Belt. We have also been able to add those dynamic women composers, Dorothy Fields and Betty Comden into To Life 4. Every chapter of To Life introduces us to even more of the legends of the Golden Years of the Great American Songbook, and we are so excited to be able to bring you this year’s version!”   

To Life 4 will run from January 19 through February 4 at the Willow Theatre in Sugar Sand Park.  Tickets are $45; group rates (6 or more tickets purchased in one transaction) are $40.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.sugarsandpark.org/life-4  or by phone at 561-347-3948.  The Willow Theatre is located at 300 South Military Trail, in Boca Raton’s Sugar Sand Park (33486).      

For more information about To Life 4, That’s Jewish Entertainment! Stories & Music Celebrating Some of the Greatest Jewish Entertainers please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244.    

Hy Juter (Jupiter Theater Company, LLC) presents
To Life 4: That’s (Jewish) Entertainment!
 Stories & Music Celebrating Some of the Greatest Jewish Entertainers
January 19 – February 4, 2024
Written and Directed by Shari Upbin
Musical Direction by Elliot Weiss      
Tickets: $45 / $40 for groups of 6 or more tickets purchased in one transaction
For tickets:  561-347-3948 or
https://www.sugarsandpark.org/life-4
Showtimes:
Friday & Saturday at 7 pm
Saturday, & Sunday at 1 pm
All performances take place in

The Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park
300 South Military Trail,
Boca Raton, FL 33486

About The Willow Theatre:
The Willow Theatre, opened in 1998, is a beautiful 155-seat proscenium theater, located inside Sugar Sand Park Community Center and allows for a unique experience for theatre patrons. Before or after a show, you may wander the nature trails, visit the Children’s Science Explorium, look at the art exhibit on display, or picnic at one of our pavilions.

  • Shari Upbin
  • Jinon Deeb
  • Shelley Keelor
  • Ben Sandomir
  • Shante Tanner
  • Hy Juter
  • Elliot Weiss

Boca Stage’s WAIT UNTIL DARK Opens at the Delray Beach Playhouse October 26th

18 Monday Sep 2023

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Wait Until Dark
to be
Boca Stage’s
First Production at
The Delray Beach Playhouse

October 26 – November 5

“…gripping from start to finish… a riveting evening of theatre.”
~ Don Grigward, BroadwayWorld
“… one of the finest thrillers created for the stage”
~ The Berkshire Edge

For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carol Kassie
carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244

September 19, 2023

DELRAY BEACH, FL:  Boca Stage’s first production in their new home at the Delray Beach Playhouse will be Frederick Knott’s classic thriller, Wait Until Dark.  The production will run in the Playhouse’s Cabaret Theatre from October 27th through November 5th. 

“Boca Stage has held off for years on producing a version of Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark because we felt his original script, with its roots in the drug-infested New York City of the 1960s and its myriad dated elements would no longer resonate with modern audiences,” says Keith Garrsson, Boca Stage’s Founder, Executive Producer, and the production’s Director.

“However, in 2013, playwright and author Jeffrey Hatcher (Tuesdays with Morrie), updated the 1964 script by resetting the show in 1944, just at the end of World War II while keeping its New York City locale,” he continues. “This newly updated script is now tighter, faster, and no longer dated.”

The plot:  In 1944 Greenwich Village, Susan Hendrix, a blind yet capable woman, is imperiled by a trio of men in her own apartment. As the climax builds, Susan discovers that her blindness just might be the key to her escape, but she and her tormentors must wait until dark to play out this classic thriller’s chilling conclusion.

“The MacGuffin in this play is the cache of diamonds that has been, through some very strange circumstances placed somewhere in Susan’s Greenwich Village basement apartment and the quest of some very bad guys to retrieve it,” Garsson explains. “Blood will be spilled, people will die…  Wait Until Dark represents our first time (stab?!) at a pure thriller, a cat-and-mouse chase complete with double-crosses, triple-crosses, and some very challenging staging.

“Fortunately,” Garsson says, “A top-notch cast and crew will make this endeavor a great ride through a theater classic.”

Garsson has cast Rachel Whittington as Susan, Shane Tanner as Roat, Rio Chavarro as Mike, Troy Stanley as Carlino, Michael Coppola as Sam, and Ellie Rose as Gloria.

The Stage Manager for Wait Until Dark is James Danford. Cindi Blank Taylor is the show’s Scenic Designer, and Andre Lancaster will create the Sound and Light Design, and serve as the show’s Technical Director. Backstage Managers are Anne Solomons and Eric Fields.

Tickets for Wait Until Dark range in price from $39 to $69 and are available online at delraybeachplayhouse.com or by calling 561-272-1281. Performances are on Friday and Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm, and on Sunday at 2 pm. There will also be a performance on Thursday, October 26th at 8 pm. All performances will take place at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th Street, Delray Beach (33444)

For more information about Boca Stage, to arrange for interviews, or for photos, please contact Carol Kassie at carol@carolkassie.com / 561-445-9244. 

~

Wait Until Dark
October 26 – November 5, 2023
By Frederick Knott
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
Performances:
Thursday, October 26 at 8 pm
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 pm
Saturdays & Sundays at 2 pm
Tickets: $39-$69
For tickets: delraybeachplayhouse.com / 561-272-1281
All performances will take place at
The Delray Beach Playhouse
950 NW 9th Street
Delray Beach, FL  33444

  • Rachel Whittington
  • Shane Tanner
  • Rio Chavarro
  • Troy Stanley
  • Michael Coppola
  • Ellie Rose