Syracuse Stage begins the 2024/25 subscription series with “Dial M for Murder,” Jeffrey Hatcher’s fresh adaptation of the classic crime thriller. Directed by Syracuse Stage artistic director Robert Hupp (“Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express,” “Our Town”), the show will run Oct. 16-Nov. 3 in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.
Margot Wendice is happily married to Tony, and the couple share a charming life and a modest flat in 1950s London. But not all is as it seems—Margot has been involved with the famous American crime writer Maxine Hadley and is being blackmailed by a mysterious stranger who threatens to expose the affair to her husband. But Tony already knows, and he has just hatched a plot of deadly revenge.
“I’m thrilled to direct our season opening production of ‘Dial M for Murder,’” says Robert Hupp, artistic director. “I am a huge fan of this genre, and we had so much fun creating last season’s ‘Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express’ that I couldn’t wait to kill off more characters on our stage.”
Written by Frederick Knott in 1952, “Dial M for Murder” was adapted into a 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film starring Grace Kelly, and again in 1998 as the loose remake “A Perfect Murder” with Gwenyth Paltrow as the unsuspecting wife. Hatcher’s adaptation, which premiered at San Diego’s Old Globe in 2022, gives Knott’s clever original a fresh coat of paint, notably infusing the script with a touch of light comedy and a swifter pace for modern audiences.
Says Hupp, “‘Dial M’ is less of a murder mystery and more of a psychological thriller. While the setting, 1950s London, remains the same as the Knott play and the Hitchcock film, our playwright, Jeffrey Hatcher, updates the storyline to raise the stakes and create even more tension in this powerful, suspenseful story. I think our audience will love the cast we’ve assembled for ‘Dial M,’ and I can’t wait to share this deliciously dangerous play with everyone in Central New York.”
“Dial M for Murder” features Christine Albright-Tufts (assistant professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Drama) as Margot Wendice, Avery Clark as her scheming husband Tony and Krystel Lucas as Maxine Hadley. The ensemble rounds out with J.D. Webster as Inspector Hubbard and John Long as the killer-for-hire Lesgate. The design team includes sets by Stanley Meyer, costumes by Lux Haac, lighting design by Dawn Chiang, sound design by Tony Award nominee John Gromada (“The Trip to Bountiful”) and hair and wigs by Brittany Hartman, with fight choreography by D.C. Wright. Blake Segal serves as the production’s dialect coach and Yvonne Perry as the intimacy coordinator.
Born in China to missionary parents in 1916, Knott studied law at Cambridge University and achieved the rank of major in the British Army before finding fame with 1952’s “Dial ‘M’ for Murder.” The play aired on the BBC before critically acclaimed productions in London’s West End and on Broadway. Called “notoriously unprolific” in a 2002 obituary, Knott only wrote three other plays during his lifetime—“Mr. Fox of Venice” (1959), “Write Me a Murder (1961) and “Wait Until Dark” (1966)—but made enough from his work to live comfortably in Manhattan with his wife, actress Ann Hillary. Knott’s intricately plotted mystery plays continue to entertain audiences throughout the world with revival productions and new adaptations, including American playwright Hatcher’s stylish updates of “Wait Until Dark” and “Dial M for Murder”.
All evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. while all matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $25 with discounts available for students and groups. Tickets may be purchased online at SyracuseStage.org, by phone at 315.443.3275 or in person at the Syracuse Stage Box Office. Pay-what-you-will performances for “Dial M for Murder” are Oct. 16-20 inclusive; prologue conversations, three pre-show discussions, take place one hour before curtain on Oct. 20, 26 and 31; the post-show Talkback will take place on Sunday, Oct. 20, after the 7:30 p.m. performance. Syracuse Stage has its open-captioned performances scheduled for Oct. 23 and Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. The performance on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m. is an audio described performance with Spanish language open captioning. The sensory friendly/relaxed performance of “Dial M for Murder” is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Support for the 2024/25 season includes season sponsors the Slutzker Family Foundation, the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation and Advance Media New York. The community partner for “Dial M for Murder” is the Syracuse International Film Festival.
