TOWNGATE THEATRE PRESENTS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER “WAIT UNTIL DARK”

WHEELING, W.Va. (April 6, 2009)- - Spend an evening on the edge of your seat with a psychological thriller that probes the question, which frightens us more- the evil we see coming or the one that we don’t?

Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre presents the suspenseful and juicy 1960s classic “Wait Until Dark” for just two weekends, April 17-19 and April 23-25.

Written by Frederick Knott, “Wait Unit Dark” climaxes in a heart-pounding game of cat and mouse between a trio of thugs and a young blind woman who has come into possession of a valuable stash they desperately want to get their hands on.

A cool-as-ice con man, Harry Roat, and his two accomplices have traced the location of a mysterious doll to the Greenwich Village apartment where Susy Hendrix lives with her husband, Sam. Sam had been persuaded by a strange woman to transport the doll across the Canadian border, unaware that it contains bags of pure and pricey heroin that people are willing to kill for. While Sam is away, Roat weaves a deadly web of deception around Susy, but he has met his match. Her intelligence and craftiness make for an exciting final confrontation with Roat that provides some of the best moments of suspense you’ll ever see on stage.

An undisputed Broadway hit, “Wait Until Dark” was described by the New York Post as “a first-rate shocker. . . the suspense drama we’ve long awaited.” It was later made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin. The film ranked tenth on Bravo’s “100 Scariest Movie Moments” for its riveting climax and ranked 55th on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years . . . 100 Thrills,” a list of the most thrilling American films.

Towngate Theatre’s production stars Jill Pradragovich as Susy and P.D. Gregg, who also directs the production, as Roat. Other cast members include Aimee Schultz, Bob Lane, Rob DeSantis, Joshua Kiley and Josh DeBeni.

Sponsored by Whiteside Cadillac Buick Pontiac Chevrolet GMC Trucks, “Wait Until Dark” is part of Towngate Theatre’s 39th season of community theater.

Towngate’s curtain is at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday April 17 and 18 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 19. Curtain is at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 23-25.

Call the Stifel Fine Arts Center at 304.242.7700 to reserve seats. For those buying seats at the door, Towngate’s box office opens one hour before all shows and can be reached at 304.233.4257.

Refreshments are available at Towngate Theatre and parking is curbside or in the nearby Center Wheeling Parking Garage. Located at 2118 Market St., Wheeling, Towngate is easy to find and located just across the street from St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in the historic Centre Market district of Wheeling.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the members of the Institute as well as with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts.