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Perfect Crime (play)
Encyclopedia
Perfect Crime is a 1987 Off Broadway play in the murder mystery/thriller genre written by Warren Manzi. It tells the story of Margaret Thorne Brent, an accomplished Connecticut psychiatrist and potential cold-blooded killer who may have committed "the perfect crime
." When her wealthy husband, W. Harrison Brent, turns up dead, she gets caught in the middle of a terrifying game of cat and mouse with her deranged patient, Lionel McAuley, and Inspector Ascher, the handsome but duplicitous investigator assigned to the case.
Perfect Crime is currently the longest-running play in New York City history .
. At age 25, Manzi, then starring as Mozart in Amadeus
on Broadway, was the youngest American author ever to have a play optioned for Broadway. After producer Morton Gottlieb, (Deathtrap
), wanted to change the play's title to "Guilty Hands" Manzi lost interest and went to Hollywood to write screenplays, including one of the many versions of the film Clue
. The play ultimately began its life several years later in 1987, in the heart of Greenwich Village at the Courtyard Playhouse on Grove Street, produced by the Actors Collective, a not-for-profit theater company whose artistic director was Warren Manzi. Commercial producer Armand Hyatt moved the show immediately after its four-week limited run to an Off-Broadway venue .
After opening on April 18, 1987, Perfect Crime has since played nearly 9,000 performances. It played in several theaters during its early years: the 47th Street Theater, The Harold Clurman Theater, Theatre Four, the McGinn-Cazale Theater and Intar before settling into a long run at the Duffy Theater at 46th Street and Broadway, in a renovated burlesque house above the Times Square landmark, the Howard Johnson's
. After that property was sold in 2005, Perfect Crime found a permanent home at the brand new Snapple Theater Center
located at the corner of 50th Street and Broadway in NYC's Times Square
.
. Russell currently holds the world record for the most performances as a character in a play..
Perfect crime
Perfect crime is a colloquial term used in law and fiction to characterize crimes that are undetected, unattributed to a perpetrator, or else unsolved as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator....
." When her wealthy husband, W. Harrison Brent, turns up dead, she gets caught in the middle of a terrifying game of cat and mouse with her deranged patient, Lionel McAuley, and Inspector Ascher, the handsome but duplicitous investigator assigned to the case.
Perfect Crime is currently the longest-running play in New York City history .
Background
The play has been called "an urban legend" by New York Times critic Jason Zinoman because of its long and storied history. Perfect Crime was originally optioned for Broadway in 1980, just after author Manzi graduated from the Yale School of DramaYale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. At age 25, Manzi, then starring as Mozart in Amadeus
Amadeus
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...
on Broadway, was the youngest American author ever to have a play optioned for Broadway. After producer Morton Gottlieb, (Deathtrap
Deathtrap
Deathtrap may refer to:*Deathtrap , a 1978 play by Ira Levin which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play*Deathtrap , a 1982 film based on the Levin play*Deathtrap , a plot device in fiction and drama...
), wanted to change the play's title to "Guilty Hands" Manzi lost interest and went to Hollywood to write screenplays, including one of the many versions of the film Clue
Clue
Clue may refer to:* Cluedo , a crime fiction board game** Clue , based on the board game** Clue , based on the board game** Clue , based on the board game...
. The play ultimately began its life several years later in 1987, in the heart of Greenwich Village at the Courtyard Playhouse on Grove Street, produced by the Actors Collective, a not-for-profit theater company whose artistic director was Warren Manzi. Commercial producer Armand Hyatt moved the show immediately after its four-week limited run to an Off-Broadway venue .
After opening on April 18, 1987, Perfect Crime has since played nearly 9,000 performances. It played in several theaters during its early years: the 47th Street Theater, The Harold Clurman Theater, Theatre Four, the McGinn-Cazale Theater and Intar before settling into a long run at the Duffy Theater at 46th Street and Broadway, in a renovated burlesque house above the Times Square landmark, the Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...
. After that property was sold in 2005, Perfect Crime found a permanent home at the brand new Snapple Theater Center
Snapple Theater Center
The Snapple Theater Center is a multi-theater entertainment complex located on the corner of 50th Street and Broadway in New York City.-History:The complex opened on May 22, 2006 and is sponsored by the beverage company Snapple...
located at the corner of 50th Street and Broadway in NYC's Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
.
Catherine Russell
One of the most frequent associations with the play is the story of its leading lady since 1987, Catherine Russell. Rusty, has performed the role of Margaret Thorne Brent from the beginning of the play's run. She has missed only four performances (to attend her siblings' weddings). She has never taken a sick day or a vacation day. The subject of Russell's longevity has been the focus of national and international coverage including People magazine and Entertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
. Russell currently holds the world record for the most performances as a character in a play..
Characters
- Margaret Thorne Brent
- W.Harrison Brent
- Inspector Ascher
- Lionel McAuley
- David Breuer (appears on videotape)