Title

Tri-State Theater

Let's discuss upcoming shows, secrets behind the scenes, things you never knew about the theater and why live theater is so darn entertaining.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Previewing "Jack the Ripper"

The new musical Jack the Ripper takes the stage in Charleston on Thursday, and we have some articles coming up you won't want to miss.

Tomorrow and Thursday we'll have interviews with both the writer and the composer of the show, as they talk about the challenges of bringing one of the most infamous characters in history to life.

But to start things off, be sure to read this story in today's Herald-Dispatch, written by my pal Dave Lavender. Here's a sample:
There's a killer loose in Charleston.

But don't call the cops or lock the doors; this killer is confined to the Capitol Center Theatre and, of course -- if you see the show -- the caverns of your mind.

Charleston composer Mark Scarpelli and writer Dan Kehde have teamed up to breathe life, music and murder into the story of Jack the Ripper.

Starring regional theater veteran Ryan Hardiman, Scarpelli and Kehde's new musical, Jack the Ripper premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday at the theater, located at 1234 Summers St. in downtown Charleston.

Tickets are $9.50 and $5.50 for students and seniors.

The show continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, at 2 p.m. Sunday, as well as 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 9-11.

With a full cast of more than 30 people, the show whisks the audience back to the Whitechapel District of London, circa 1888 and into the tangled mind of a madman as the world's first notable serial killer begins his reign of terror.

Starring Hardiman as Jack and fellow Marshall University graduate Kevin Pauley as Inspector Abberline, the new musical takes a different approach than most Jack the Ripper productions, which have been adapted as whodunits because the murders were never officially solved.

Scarpelli and Kehde's Jack the Ripper shows you the man behind the infamous murders from the beginning, and gives the audience a "fly on the wall" insight into his world, as well as the lives of his mother, his victims and those pursuing Jack the Ripper at any cost.

No comments: