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Contact: Brad Kalbfeld
(571) 205-2571
e-mail: bkalbfeld@1ststagespringhill.org
Web site: www.1stStageTysons.org

Thrills, Comedy, and Mystery on Tap in Third Season at 1st Stage

Tysons Corner's Professional Theater to Feature The Mousetrap for the Holidays

(McLean, Va, Aug. 3) – A mix of murder, mayhem, and money kick off the third season at 1st Stage in Tyson’s Corner. The theater announced the first three shows of the 2010-11 season, with The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie -- the longest-running whodunit in theatre history -- on stage during the holidays for family audiences.

The Washington D.C. premiere of Mauritius, by Theresa Rebeck, opens the season on September 10, running through October 3. It will be directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director Mark Krikstan. This high-stakes double-cross, set in the unlikely world of stamp collecting, centers on Jackie and Mary, two estranged half-sisters, who are at odds over whether to sell two rare stamps that could be worth a fortune. Things turn dark when Jackie takes the stamps to be appraised and invites three seedy wanna-be collectors into the sisters' world.

Philip Barry’s sophisticated comedy, Holiday, is the second production of the season, on stage from October 22 through November 14. Dawn McAndrews, who helmed last season’s Three Days of Rain, will direct. Written just before the stock market crash of 1929, Holiday follows the whirlwind romance of Johnny Case and Julia Seton, eldest daughter of a prominent New York family. When Johnny announces he wants to “retire early and work late”, sparks fly, igniting younger sister Linda, who also longs to break out and pursue a dream of her own. Barry’s comedy elegantly explores the clash of love and money, eerily preceding the financial doom that will force millions to examine both their greed and humanity.

The Mousetrap will play at 1st Stage through the holiday season, December 10 through January 9, 2011. Agatha Christie’s 1952 thriller opens with a group of strangers stranded at Monkswell Manor during a snow storm. The radio announces a grisly murder in London -- and then Sergeant Trotter arrives, having tracked the killer to the guest house. When one of the guests is found dead, a live action game of Clue ensues as the suspects—a newly married couple, a spinster, an architect, a retired Army major, an unhappy judge, and an unexpected traveler whose car has overturned in a drift—work together to catch a killer and stay alive.

Ticket prices are $25 for adults, $15 for students.

Tickets for Mauritius are available at www.1ststagetysons.org/mauritius.

Editors: Press night for Mauritius is Saturday, September 11 at 8 p.m.

1st Stage was recognized with the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre at the 2010 Helen Hayes Awards Ceremony in Washington.

1st Stage was started by a group of teachers, artists, and actors committed to bringing professional theatre to Tyson’s Corner and to providing area theatre artists the opportunity to nurture their careers. In its first two seasons, 1st Stage debuted the talent of nearly 30 actors, designers and directors. For more information on 1st Stage, visit www.1ststagetysons.org.

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