Zev Buffman, the super producer who brought Elizabeth Taylor to the stage in “The Little Foxes, among many other productions, outdid himself last night by providing an English rain for the audience members as they left the Parker Playhouse after seeing his latest production “Agatha Christie’s The BBC Murders” . It hadn’t rained in Fort Lauderdale all week so it makes you wonder if the man made a special deal with The Man!

“Agatha Christie’s The BBC Murders” performs 4 one act plays written by Ms. Christie for the BBC between 1937 and 1947. Each play lasts between 30-35 minutes hosted by Ms. Christie (played by Melinda Peterson) who tells a little about her life as she introduces each section.

Mr. Buffman has assembled a cast of 14, mostly Equity actors, from Indiana to Australia, each playing 3-4 different roles most succeeding with a few minor missteps here and there. Each play takes place in a radio studio as performed back in the day with actors holding, and sometimes reading from, their scripts, though many costumes and back wall projections along with entrances and exits that I am sure didn’t take place when originally read on the BBC.

Each play has its Edgar Allan Poe twist and, admittingly, your reviewer isn’t very good at figuring out mysteries, is not exactly foreseen.  Of the 4 one act plays the most familiar will probably be “Three Blind Mice” which would later become the stage play “The Mousetrap” which in turn became the world’s longest running play ever.  “Yellow Iris” not only introduces us to Inspector Hercule Poirot (Phil Proctor) but also to 3 songs, set in the period times and reminiscent to Cole Porter tunes, by Rupert Holmes and Robert Marsanyl, the former the first person to win Tony Awards for both best book and best score of a musical for his creation of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” which is currently enjoying a successful revival on Broadway.

In addition to“Yellow Iris” and “Three Blind Mice” there are “Personal Call” and “Butter in a Lordly Dish” which brings special mention of Tony Brewer and Lauren Allison who are the Foley Artists, the two people who provide all the sound effects for the 4 radio plays, including a man walking around on winter skis!

The question is if Mr. Buffman has a deal to have that British rain surround the Parker Playhouse area after each performance of “Agatha Christie’s The BBC Murders”?!

First act 70 minutes  Intermission 15 minutes Second act 70 minutes
Gunshots, smoke and strobe lights

Corine Cohen:  Sharna: I saw you in the incredible show BURN THE FLOOR On BROADWAY and you were all fantastic. Now you and Sasha are dancing on DWTS In LA. How exciting is it?

Sharna Burgess: It is so exciting! It's such an amazing production with incredible people running it. The talent isn't just in the dancing, but also everybody behind the scenes and the camera making every week exciting and fresh. I love being a part of a show that brings not only high quality dance and entertainment, but also shows the public that it's never too late to learn and have fun with it.

THE ACTIVE THEATER PRESENTS

THE NEW YORK REVIVAL OF

THE VIOLET HOUR

BY RICHARD GREENBERG

OPENING MONDAY, MARCH 12^TH

AT THE WORKSHOP THEATER

PREVIEWS BEGIN FRIDAY, MARCH 9TH

The Active Theater (Nathaniel Shaw, Artistic Director), now in its fourth season, presents the New York revival of Richard Greenberg’s THE VIOLET HOUR in association with Goode Productions. The play opens on Monday, March 12^th at The Workshop Theater (312 W. 36^th Street). Previews begin Friday, March 9^th. The production runs through March 25^th.

THE VIOLET HOUR is about a young publisher who struggles to choose his next project while dealing with the appearance of a strange machine that spits out manuscript pages with information about his future.

Starring newcomer John P. Keller, and Cheryl Freeman (Broadway: The Who’s Tommy, Play On, The Civil War); the cast also features Lincoln Thompson, Heather Lee Harper, and Andrew Sellon.   Nathaniel Shaw is the director.

The design team is comprised of Mike Inwood (Lighting), Craig Napoliello (Set), Jacob Subotnik (Sound) and Tony Award Nominee (for Taboo) Bobby Pearce (Costumes).

Richard Greenberg (Playwright) is the author of Take Me Out (Tony, New York Drama Critics, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lortel and Drama League Awards), The Violet Hour, The Dazzle (Outer Critics Circle Award), Hurrah at Last, Three Days of Rain (L.A. Drama Critics Award; Olivier, Drama Desk, Hull- Warriner nominations) and many other plays. He won the Oppenheimer Award for a debuting playwright, the first Pen/Laura Pels Award for a mid-career playwright and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Nathaniel Shaw (Director) is the founder and Artistic Director of The Active Theater. For the company he has directed the World Premiere of Bridgeboy, and the Midtown International Theatre Festival nominated World Premiere of Body Language. Under his leadership the company has collaborated with artists such as Tony Nominees Marcia Milgrom Dodge and Xanthe Elbrick, Jeremy Dobrish, Christian Campbell, Michael McGlone, Samantha Buck, and Marc Robin. His regional credits include the direction of Hair at the Mount Washington Valley Theater Company, which garnered 13 NHTA Nominations, including Best Direction and Best Choreography. Also for Mount Washington he directed and choreographed Hairspray and Damn Yankees,and directed A Chorus Line. His choreography has been seen at the Broadway Palm Theater in Mesa, Arizona in Fiddler on the Roof and Babes in Toyland, as well as in the film Perception by Daedalus Productions.

Now in its fourth season, The Active Theater produced the world premiere of Anthony Dodge’s Venus Flytrap, Touch, Two Rooms, the musical Romance/Romance, and the New York premiere of William Donnelly’s Magnetic North. The Active Theater has presented new works in collaboration with producers Greg Schaffert, Craig Haffner, and Karl Held and recently joined forces with Bud Martin as associate producer for the New York premiere of Bruce Graham’s Any Given Monday. The Active Theater continues to produce thought provoking, contemporary American theater aimed at giving audiences an opportunity to more closely examine the world we all share.

Originally produced by South Coast Repertory, THE VIOLET HOUR opened on Broadway on November 6, 2003 at The Manhattan Theater Club’s Biltmore Theater.

The playing schedule for THE VIOLET HOUR is as follows: Thursdays, at 7PM, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 3PM. Opening night is Monday, March 12^th at 7pm, with an addition performanceWednesday, March 21^st at 7pm. Tickets are $18. The production runs through March 25^th.

For more information on THE VIOLET HOUR, please visit http://www.theactivetheater.com