SPRINGFIELD – As Bees in Honey Drown, a "dark comic mystery" by Douglas Carter Beane, is the next production of the Theatre Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield.The play will be presented in six performances – March 2-4 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and 8-10 (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) – in the Studio Theatre, located in the lower level of the Public Affairs Center on the UIS campus. All performances will be at 8 p.m. except the Sunday performance (March 4), which will be at 2 p.m.
Cast members are: Joey Cruse* (Evan Wyler), Gretchen Ross* (Alexa Vere de Vere), Patrick Russell (Ronald/Skunk/Mike), Molly Sullivan* (Amber/Backup Singer/Secretary/Bethany/Ginny, a second muse), Michael Waltersdorf* (Photographer/Swen/Royalton Clerk/Kaden), and Christine Wenthe* (Waiter/Backup Singer/Carla/Newsstand Woman/Denise/Illya, a muse). (* indicates a current UIS student)
Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, assistant professor and director of theatre at UIS, will direct.
As Bees in Honey Drown was the runaway hit of the 1997 Off-Broadway season. Set in Manhattan, the story follows the trail of socialite Alexa Vere de Vere, a woman of mystery who’s made the world of celebrity her home, and Evan Wyler, a young writer savoring the success of his first novel. As Alexa tries to persuade Evan to write her life story – for a possible film – he becomes caught up in a heady whirl of instant fame. The New York Times called it "a delicious souffle of a satire … [an] extremely entertaining fable for an age that always chooses image over substance." The New York Daily News noted that playwright Beane "gives a witty assessment of ... the creation of 'hot' young things, whom the media have learned to mass produce with efficiency and zeal."
Tickets – $10 general admission, $6 UIS faculty/staff with current i-card, or $4 for UIS students with current i-card – are available now at the UIS Ticket Office, located on level two of the Public Affairs Center. Purchase tickets in person, by phone at 217/206-6160 or 800/207-6960 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or online at www.uis.edu/theatre. Tickets will also be available at the ticket office on the day of the performance, beginning 90 minutes before curtain time.
UIS Theatre's 2006-2007 season will close with the program's first-ever student/faculty showcase, a production of Two Rooms by Lee Blessing. Four performances are scheduled for one weekend only – Friday-Sunday, April 13-15. Show times are 8 p.m on Friday and Saturday; two Sunday performances will be at 2 and 8 p.m. Special guest director will be Leigh Steiner; the cast will feature Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson and Milissa Thibodeaux-Thompson, UIS Theatre faculty, alongside UIS Theatre students Roger Boyd and Alicia Artner.
For more information about the plays or about UIS Theatre, contact Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson by phone at 206-6613 or by e-mail at ethib1@uis.edu, or go to www.uis.edu/theatre.
