I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT Makes LA Premiere at Colony Theatre, Now thru 3/3

The Colony Theatre will present the fifth production of its "Season of Premieres" with the Los Angeles Premiere of I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT, written and directed by Peter Colley. I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT will preview tonight, February 6; Thursday, February 7; and Friday, February 8 at 8:00pm. It will open on Saturday, February 9 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, March 3 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center.

I'LL BE BACK BEFORE MIDNIGHT is a thriller in the Alfred Hitchcock mode, with nods to GASLIGHT, Agatha Christie, and WAIT UNTIL DARK. Since its premiere in 1979 it has received nearly 1,000 productions worldwide and been translated into a dozen languages, yet, amazingly, has never been produced in Los Angeles. Until now.

Sweet, vulnerable Jan has had a nervous breakdown. To help her recover, her husband Greg rents a remote cabin in the country. Their neighbor is a strange farmer who delights in telling gruesome ghost stories. Then Greg's beautiful, sophisticated sister arrives, and frightening events begin to occur. Is Jan still ill and imagining things? Is Greg trying to help her - or drive her crazy? Is The Farmer an ally or an enemy? And what's really going on with the sister? Mounting suspense and surprising twists turn a familiar country scene into a world of sudden terror.

PETER COLLEY (Playwright/Director) was born in England where his grandfather owned the Pontefract Playhouse, a theatre that had been producing plays since the 1700s. He wrote and directed his first play at the Drama Studio in Sheffield, then became a resident playwright and director at The Grand Theatre, one of Canada's largest regional theatres. His play The Donnellys broke the theatre's box office record, and transferred to The National Arts Centre in the nation's
capital. His next play, The War Show, based on interviews he did with Canadian soldiers from WWII, continues to be performed from coast to coast. He wrote and directed The Vaudevillians for The Gallery Theatre, which was remounted in Toronto where it ran for almost a year. I'll Be Back Before Midnight was commissioned by the Blyth Festival and was named by the Toronto Globe & Mail as the most produced Canadian play ever. Peter's plays have been produced in 29 countries (7 countries during the past year), and have been translated into many languages including French, German, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese. He has had three national tours of Britain, two of his plays have been made into feature films, and he has also written for CBC, Fox, British ITV, and CBS. He was nominated for a 2000 Humanitas Prize for screenwriting, was a winner of a 2008 New American Play Award from Theatre Communications Group (Edgerton Foundation), and was the winner of the 2010 Florida Carbonell Award for Best New Work for his musical Cagney!

KATE MAYER (Laura) was most recently seen in You Can't Take It With You at The Antaeus Company as Alice Sycamore. Other theatre credits include Moliere's The Bungler at A Noise Within and A Stubborn Woman with The Global Theatre Project at LATC. Kate received a BFA in Acting from the School of Dramatic Arts at USC. While there, she was seen in The Crucible (Mary Warren), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Cunningham), Barbarians (Nadiezhda), and Mansfield Park (Mary Crawford). She has also studied at The British American Dramatic Academy in Oxford, England. TV/Film credits include Death and Cremation, Armynel and Lost Tapes: Bear Lake Monster

Ron Orbach (George) Colony debut. Broadway: Laughter on the 23rd Floor (later starred in the Chicago Premiere, National Tour, and ACT, Seattle, where he also directed); Amos Hart in Chicago (1st National Tour; Jeff Award / Ovation Nomination,1998); Dance of the Vampires; Never Gonna Dance. Off-Broadway: Harry Chapin: Lies & Legends (Also, Chicago / Equity Card, 1983; and Pasadena Playhouse / 1988 LADCC Award, Best Ensemble); Mrs. Dally Has a Lover (w/ Judith Ivey / Westbeth Theater Center); Hotel Suite (Roundabout); Mark St. Germain's The God Committee (The Lambs). Regional / LA: Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream (2012 Jeff Nomination / Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Harry in The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (w/Jason Alexander / El Portal); Mack Sennett in Limelight (La Jolla Playhouse); Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (Sacramento Music Circus / Directed by Glenn Casale); Pseudolus/Senex, in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Denver Center; Reprise / Directed by David Lee); The Gershwins' An American in Paris (The Alley); Mr. Foreman / Marlowe in Enter Laughing (Berkshire Theater Festival / Directed by Scott Schwartz); Multiple roles in Turn of the Century (Starring Jeff Daniels / Directed by Tommy Tune); and David O. Selznick in Ron Hutchinson's, Moonlight and Magnolias (Directed by Steven Robman / World Premiere), both at The Goodman. Most Memorable Film Performance: The DMV Tester in Clueless. TV: Numerous guest star roles. Voice Over: Lego; C.I.T.; Toadhog in Jungle Junction (Disney Jr. Channel). Direction: Jim McGrath's The Ellis Jump (Met Theatre/ 1996 Ovation Award); The God Committee (Actor's Co-op); Room Service (Open Fist).

More Articles by This Author...