Mystery, suspense and deceit will fill the stage at the Sands Point Preserve’s Club G April 3 through 6 during the Community Synagogue Theater Company’s production of “Murder on the Orient Express.”
Crew members will transform the Sands Point black-box theater into a European train car. Eugene Sullivan plays Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who tries to solve a murder that occurs when nobody is looking.
The production coincides with the Community Synagogue Theater Company’s 10th anniversary. Company member Amanda Kowalczuk said the production team had brought together talents of all ages and backgrounds over their decade of performing around the Port Washington area.
“I think one of the greatest things about this theater company is that they invite people from all different religions, all different walks of life, all different ethnicities, and all different towns,” Kowalczuk said. “Some of the people that are in this show are not living here in Port Washington, and many of them are also not Jewish. And I think that’s part of the beauty of it is the diversity of the people that they invite to be part of this production.”
Kowalczuk said the costume and set designs, which evoke early-20th-century European life, will captivate audiences just as much as the story and actors bringing the characters to life.
Tom Rocco directs the production of “Murder on the Orient Express,” which also features executive producer Lori Zlotoff, stage manager Jane Ronis, and costume designer Lydia Gladstone.
The period piece, whose play is based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, will also feature actors performing personas and accents from all over Europe, including countries like Sweden, Hungary, and Belgium, with the help of dialect coach Elise May.
Along with Sullivan, who plays detective Poirot, the cast includes Jeff Grossman, Danilise Diaz, Paul Phillips, Spencer Cohen, Caryn Ronis, Lauren Moschetta Gilbert, Michelle Herson, Lori Zlotoff, Max Welsh, Steve Brustien, Cori Kanefsky, and Melissa Chernosky.
Since mid-January, cast and crew have been rehearsing three times weekly to perfect their lines and sets for the production, a process Kowalczuk said has been intense at times.
The Community Synagogue Theater Company will perform “Murder on the Orient Express” on Thursday, April 3 and Saturday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, April 6, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.. Tickets cost $35 each and are on sale at www.commsyn.org/TCS-Theater-Company.
