Jeff Awards Honor Pen Players Company Members

These suspicious characters are featured in “Murder On the Nile.” (Top, left to right) Neil Friedman, Carmen Roman, Brandon Dahlquist, Karen Janes Woditsch, Paul Slade Smith, Tom Mula, Torian Miller, Meredith Montgomery and H. Erin Quist. (Bottom, left to right) Callie Johnson, Ericka Mac, Tim Monsion and Erin Noel Grennan.

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile is playing at Peninsula Players Theatre through Sept. 2. The Queen of Crime’s whodunit is an old-fashioned mystery. Cruising under the blazing Egyptian sun, a river steamer makes its way up the Nile in 1947, carrying stylish honeymooners who find themselves immersed in blackmail, bullets and dead bodies.

Murder on the Nile is based on her 1937 novel Death on the Nile. Christie’s plays and stories have been made into a number of television series and films, most centering on her beloved characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. More than one billion copies of her stories have been sold since 1920; only the Bible has been translated into more languages.

Also, company members of Peninsula Players Theatre celebrated the announcement of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award nominations with the listing of several current and past company members. The Joseph Jefferson Awards are Chicago Theater’s equivalent to Broadway’s Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards.

Actor Brandon Dahlquist (far left) and Jack Magaw, scenic designer of “Murder on the Nile,” were recently nominated for Joseph Jefferson Awards for their work this past winter in Chicago.

“Congratulations to our past and current company members on their accomplishments in Chicago,” said Peninsula Players Artistic Director Greg Vinkler. “Every season Peninsula Players tries to bring the best talent there is to Door County audiences, and every season with the announcements of the ‘Jeffs’ I am pleased to see several of our company members recognized just as that – the best.”

The Joseph Jefferson awards, established in 1968, annually honor outstanding theater artists in the Chicago theater community. Nominated for their work are Peninsula Players current company members Brandon Dahlquist (Murder on the Nile and Lombardi), Rebecca Finnegan (Chicago), scenic designer Jack Magaw (Opus and Murder on the Nile) and sound designers Victoria DeIorio (Opus), Joshua Horvath (Chicago) and Christopher Kriz (The Nerd).

Peninsula Players performs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 7:30 pm, except for a 4 pm matinee on Sept. 2. Ticket prices range from $33 to $39; discount tickets are available for groups of 15 or more.

For more information or to reserve tickets, call 920.868.3287 or visit http://www.peninsulaplayers.com.