"Perfect Crime" Finds the, Um, Perfect Audience: Smart People

Courtesy of my colleague, the clever and charming John Capo, here is a press release I received today for a special performance of Perfect Crime in which the entire audience will consist of Mensa members. There is a reason the producers of Wicked, The Little Mermaid and Stomp didn't think of this earlier. (Here, I'll give you a few seconds to ponder that...)

Perfect Crime, the complex Off Broadway psychological thriller, will perform for an audience of Mensa geniuses on Saturday, December 6, 2008. The event will feature a post-performance discussion with Edgar-nominated suspense author Alison Gaylin who will speak about the psychology of the criminal mind. Available for interview are President of Greater New York Mensa Natalie Krauser and author/panelist Alison Gaylin. For more information or to obtain press passes, please contact me directly.

The release follows.

PERFECT CRIME TO PERFORM FOR AUDIENCE OF GENIUSES

Perfect Crime, the Off Broadway psychological thriller, will partner with Mensa, the high IQ society, for a special matinee performance on Saturday, December 6, 2008 that will feature an audience of Mensa geniuses who will attempt to solve the mystery behind the longest-running play in the history of New York theater. The event will also feature a post-show discussion with Alison Gaylin, Edgar-nominated author of Hide Your Eyes, You Kill Me and Heartless, who will speak about the psychology of the criminal mind.

“For 21 years, audiences have been fascinated by the secret revelations at the heart of Perfect Crime,” said producer Armand Hyatt. “Let’s see how long it takes a room full of geniuses to figure out Perfect Crime’s legendary ending.”

Non-Mensa members who want to flex their mental acumen can purchase $41 tickets for the special 2PM performance and post-show discussion by calling the box office at (212) 921-7862 or Ticketmaster.com at (212) 307-4100. $26 student rush tickets are also available by calling or visiting the box office.

A secluded mansion. A would-be murderess. The perfect crime. Margaret Brent is an accomplished Connecticut psychiatrist—and potential cold-blooded killer. When her wealthy husband turns up dead, she gets caught in the middle of a terrifying game of cat and mouse with a deranged patient and the handsome but duplicitous investigator assigned to the case. Perfect Crime has played over 8,800 performances since opening on April 18, 1987. It has been featured in every major New York publication as well as in People magazine and on Entertainment Tonight and The Today Show.

Written by Warren Manzi and directed by Jeffrey Hyatt, the cast of Perfect Crime includes Catherine Russell, who has starred in the show since its first performance and played all but four of its performances, Michael Brian Dunn (Broadway’s The Life, Guys and Dolls, Big River, Sweeney Todd), Robert Emmet Lunney (Broadway’s Mauritius, Deuce, Dancing at Lughnasa) Patrick Robustelli, and Richard Shoberg (24 years as Tom Cudahy on ABC’s All My Children).

Greater New York Mensa, the partnering organization, is comprised of 2,150 members from all walks of life and all corners of the globe who now reside in the five boroughs of New York City and the surrounding counties Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam. Greater New York Mensa is the local chapter of Mensa International, a not for profit organization dedicated to identifying and fostering intelligence for the benefit of humanity. The local chapters of Mensa International serve to provide myriad stimulating intellectual and social environments for its members to congregate and fraternize.

Perfect Crime plays at The Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street at Broadway.

Sphere: Related Content