Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express

Adapted by Ken Ludwig

Join us for outstanding performances during this 2024 Woodstock Playhouse Theatre Festival Season as we celebrate the 86th season of the Woodstock Playhouse; originally established in 1938 by Robert Elwyn, a Woodstock Resident, Broadway/Film professional director/actor and member of one of Woodstock's oldest families.

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.

​Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express adapted by Ken Ludwig was originally staged by McCarter Theater Center, Princeton in 2017; NJ Emily Mann, Artistic Director, Timothy J. Shields, Managing Director. The production subsequently transferred to Hartford Stage, Harford, CT Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director, Michael Stotts, Managing Director.

​Performances of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express' have been lauded as:

“A love letter to the original material, with a swift moving script adaptation by Ken Ludwig... Everything you could want – broadly drawn characters, exotic settings, and a spectacular murder with no shortage of suspects.” – BroadwayWorld

“Agatha Christie is not the bestselling novelist in history for nothing, and Ken Ludwig’s adaptation strikes the perfect balance of the cerebral and the comic. Get on board – it’s a great ride.” – Houstonian Magazine

​This performance is brought to the stage of the iconic Woodstock Playhouse featuring the Woodstock Playhouse Summer Theatre Cast 2024, a regional company of rising-professional performers widely acclaimed for some of the finest performances in our NY & Tri-State region.

​Director/Choreographer: Randy Conti

Resident Music Director: Robert J. Tomasulo

Resident Lighting Designer: Michael Gugliotti, Jr.

Resident Sound Designer: Steve Maffia

Resident Costume Designer: Diane Stein

Length of Performance: 2 hours and 15 minutes with intermission 

​TICKET PRICING:

•$60 for Golden Tier Seating, Rows A - F
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•$55 for Blue Tier Seating, Rows G - N
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•$50 for Green Tier Seating, Rows P - Q

Each ticket price already includes a $5 handling/convenience charge; All seating is Reserved Seating, and all sales are final; no refunds nor exchanges.

The Woodstock Playhouse, established in 1938 as a rural extension of Broadway and Summer Theater by a member of one of Woodstock's Oldest Families, became a central hub for the launching of major careers on Broadway and in film and television - including Robert Hutton, Larry Hagman, Lee Marvin, Diane Keaton, Chevy Chase, Andrea Martin, Karl Malden, Kitty Kelly, Elissa Landi, Judd Hirsch, Anne Meara, Dick Van Patten and Estelle Parsons to name just a few - as it continues to do today.

During the late 1950s and into the 60s, the Woodstock Playhouse directors instituted Saturday morning children's productions & concerts as well as midnight concerts featuring such artists as Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, Tim Hardin, Pete Seeger, Happy and Artie Traum, Billy Faire, and Jack Elliot. The Band, including Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Jaime Robbie Robertson, would record their album Stage Fright at the Woodstock Playhouse with Todd Rundgren serving as sound engineer. As the 1960s evolved and Woodstock found itself at the center of a cultural revolution, the Playhouse was host to the final concert in a series of performances known as the Sound-Outs in 1968. Produced by John “Jocko” Moffitt and generally perceived as a precursor concert to the Woodstock Festival held in Bethel a year later, the Playhouse concert featured Richie Havens, with additional performances by Jerry Moore, Don Preston, Major Wiley and Bunky and Jake. 

Throughout the 60s and 70s, legendary musicians and bands played at the Woodstock Playhouse, including Arlo Guthrie, Van Morrison, Orleans, Full Moon, Sonia Malkine, John Hammond, Holy Moses, Dave Van Ronk, Levon and The Band, The Montgomeries, Geoff and Maria Muldaur, Jim Rooney and Bill Keith, and after the burning and rebuilding of the Woodstock Playhouse: Leon Russell, Cindy Cashdollar, Jacke DeJohnette, Sonny Rollins, Peter Yarrow, Bethany and Rufus Cappadocia, John Sebastian, Natalie Merchant, Larry Campbell, David Bromberg, Richie Havens, Noel Paul Stookey, The Indigo Girls, Leon Russell, Well Strung, all of the amazing Headliners at the annual String Sampler Concert, and so many more. 

A more detailed history of the Woodstock Playhouse can be enjoyed by viewing the History Wall and memorabilia when visiting the Woodstock Playhouse and by viewing our history page online at  https://www.woodstockplayhouse.org/history-of-the-woodstock-playhouse where you can also read about and purchase tickets for our other upcoming events.