“Misery" at the Circa '21 Speakeasy -- February 21 through 28.
Friday, February 21, through Friday, February 28
Circa '21 Speakeasy, 1818 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Praised by Talkin' Broadway as "a play that will keep you on the edge of your seat" and "great fun for fans of this genre," William Goldman's Stephen King adaptation Misery enjoys a four-performance run at Rock Island's Circa '21 Speakeasy from February 21 through 28, this terrifying, darkly funny tale beloved by horror devotees who devoured King's bestseller and Rob Reiner's 1990 film version starring Kathy Bates in her Oscar-winning role.
As Misery begins, hugely successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon has just been rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes, and wakes up in a bedroom of her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads his latest book and becomes enraged when she discovers that the author has killed off her favorite literary character Misery Chastain. Annie consequently forces the injured, captive Paul to write a new Misery novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere, perhaps even if he finishes the book. The increasingly irate and unhinged Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it – and it does. A Broadway hit in 2015 starring Bruce Willis and the Tony Award-nominated Laurie Metcalf, Misery was lauded by NBC-NY, which raved, “There are no lulls in famed screenwriter William Goldman’s 90-minute stage adaptation of the Stephen King story, which Goldman himself translated into the 1990 film. Exposition that took a dozen pages in paperback and at least several minutes on screen plays out ... faster than snow piling up in a Colorado blizzard.”
Directing Misery for the Speakeasy is the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's longtime production manager Jeremy Littlejohn, a multi-faceted stage artist whose area credits include directing and choreographing last October's Speakeasy presentation of The Rocky Horror Show, helming Quad City Music Guild's Singin' in the Rain, and appearing in Circa '21's family musicals Pinkalicious and Garfield.
Three veterans of the Rock Island dinner theatre, meanwhile, compose the Misery cast. Novelist Paul Sheldon is portrayed by Brad Hauskins, featured in the venue's recent productions of Jersey Boys, The Outsider, and Grumpy Old Men: The Musical. Obsessed fan Annie Wilkes is played by Rachelle "Shelley" Walljasper, who performed in The Addams Family, Murder on the Orient Express, and Church Basement Ladies. And enacting a kindly sheriff who investigates Paul's disappearance is Mark McGinn, whose Circa '21 credits include A Christmas Story: The Musical and Winter Wonderland.
Misery will be performed in the intimate Rock Island venue from February 21 through 28, with the February 21, 22, and 28 performances at 8 p.m. and the Sunday, February 23 performance at 6 p.m. Admission is $25-30, patrons must be ages 18 and older, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visiting TheCirca21Speakeasy.com.
