Checkmate! A Chess Master Makes Moves in NY Premiere of Suspense-Thriller Fit to Kill, April 9-30
By Kenneth Jones
07 Apr 2005
Broadway’s Jana Robbins (The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife) stars in what’s billed as a witty and elegant play in the tradition of Sleuth and Deathtrap.
Rachel Reiner Productions presents the New York premiere staging, directed by Eric Parness. Performances continue to April 30.
Playwight Cahn penned Roses in December, which starred James and Keira Naughton Off-Broadway. The new drama “is a suspense-thriller about strategy, deception, and betrayal,” according to production notes. “Adrian, a charming but self-indulgent chess master, lives a life of luxury thanks to his marriage to Janice, an older but sexy and vibrant woman, who has made her fortune as the CEO of an exercise empire. When Amy, a young reporter with an agenda of her own, starts asking too many questions, a whirlwind of deadly schemes ensue, leading to a series of twists and surprises that will keep audiences guessing until the final seconds.”
Susan Polgar, a four-time World Chess Champion, five-time Olympic Champion and the first woman in history to break the gender barrier in chess, is chess consultant for the new play.
The cast also includes Lanie MacEwan (Peccadillo Theater Company’s Counsellor-at-Law) and Patrick Melville (the New York premiere of Charles Mee’s Time to Burn at the Manhattan Ensemble Theater).
Designers are Robert R. Sweetnam (scenic design), Sidney Shannon (costume), Pamela Kupper (lighting) and Nick Moore (sound).
Cahn’s numerous other plays include Getting the Business, Embraceable Me (which will be given a future Off-Broadway staging), Of My Father’s House, Sheepskin/Bottom of the Ninth and A Dish for the Gods.
Rachel Reiner Productions’ upcoming projects include an off-Broadway production of Embraceable Me by Victor L. Cahn, and Crazy for the Dog by Chris Boal. Recently, Rachel Reiner Productions produced developmental productions ofZimmerman by Frank Barth at the Sanford Meisner Theater and Embraceable Me at the 78th Street Theatre Lab.
Rachel Reiner Productions was Associate Producer for the Directors Company’s production of Love in the Age of Narcissism by Brad Desch and Rapt by Roland Tec at the Culture Project.
The Clurman in Theatre Row is at 410 W. 42nd Street. The performance schedule for Fit to Kill is Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 3 PM and Mondays at 7 PM.