Detective Seaver: Ben Rose
Abby Borden: Shelley Dziedzic (flat on the floor)
Andrew Borden: Nicole (under the sheet)
Bridget Sullivan Suzanne Rogers
Emma Borden: Barbara Morrissey
Addie Churchill: JoAnne Giovino
Alice Russell: Kristin Pepe
Uncle John: Joe Radza
Dr. Dolan: Michael Shogi

Undertaker Winward  Richard Marr-Griffin
Miss Manning from the Herald: Christina Lambertson
Internationally acclaimed world reporter, Nellie Bly- Katrina Shogi
Marshall Hilliard; Ray Mitchell
Mrs. Dr. Bowen: Ellen Borden

This year the August 4th production at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast will debut a new leading lady.  She is no stranger to the part.  The photos here are taken from an episode filmed last summer for the Travel Channel.  Kathleen Troost-Cramer, day manager at the famous B&B in Fall River, may be remembered for performances in years past as Irish maid, Bridget Sullivan.  This year, having gotten in a few practice whacks with a hatchet, Kathleen is ready to take on the legendary Lizzie Borden, probably the most difficult role of the lot as expectations are so varied and anticipated by the sold-out crowd which assembles every year on the 4th to re-live the Borden tale of mystery.

Mild-mannered mother of two, and Bible scholar, this role is quite a stretch, but anyone who has been “under the hatchet”to Kathleen can testify- she means business!

Congratulations and “break-a-leg” to Kathleen as we wait to see her unique spin on the unforgettable Lizzie Borden!

First performance on August 4th at 10:30 a.m., last performance at 3:30 p.m.

For reviews of the play and some color stills, visit this link http://www.thecoveytheatrecompany.com/production-archives.html

Tickets may be purchased online at the link and word is out that this new treatment of the case promises to satisfy the most ardent Bordenite.  Snag a ticket early!

Read more: http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x2108614302/-Lizzie-Borden-Took-an-Axe-to-be-staged-at-Durfee-High-School#ixzz1QatgYTzn 

The annual costumed recreation of August 4th will take place as usual at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast on the 4th, which this year, will be a Thursday, just as it was in 1892.

Plenty of Lizzie on the way for August!

The Best Actor Award was a tie this year- for the first time.  Will Clawson and Ray Mitchell, both employees of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum are also Pear Essential Players and last August 4th, on the anniversary of the murders, took up the roles of Officer Harrington and City Marshal Rufus B. Hilliard.  The Second Street Irregulars (the “Muttoneaters”), award the golden statuette yearly for best performance in a Borden case-related role.

Will Clawson as the popular and well-beloved Phil Harrington (the man who described Lizzie’s wrapper in such detail and died tragically on his honeymoon the year Lizzie was acquitted)

Ray Mitchell as City Marshal Rufus Hilliard

The best actress award this year went to Kristin Pepe for her sympathetic portrayal of long-time Borden friend, and former neighbor, Alice Russell.  Kristin played the role of Bridget Sullivan in 2009 and 2010 was her first time in the role of the lady who saw Lizzie burn the dress in the woodstove and who was the recipient of the exciting news divulged by Lizzie on the night before the murders that “something is going to happen, Father has an enemy. . .” Kristin was also a Lens of Sherlock recipient several years ago when she tracked down Emma Borden’s alma mater, Wheaton Female Seminary. Congratulations, all!

Kristin (center) with Barbara Morrissey (Emma, on the left) and Lorraine Gregoire (Lizzie on the right) on August 4, 2011.

THE WORKSHOP THEATER and ALVIN OUT PRODUCTIONS’ production of Lizzie Borden at Eight O’Clock, tells the chilling first person account from Lizzie Borden herself of her father and stepmother’s gruesome murders.

Decades after her acquittal, Lizzie Borden takes the podium at her local Historical Society to once and for all clear her name, or will she?  With a tour de force performance by Ellen Barry (Terrence McNally‘s A Perfect Ganesh) as Lizzie Borden, Lizzie relives the compelling events that lead to the headline murders of the century.  The bloody dress, the food poisoning, the broken hatchet in the basement, the mysterious bloodless-ness of the crime scenes— all clues pointed towards Lizzie for the murders.  But Lizzie has an alternate explanation, and, at long last, she’s ready to tell the whole spine-tingling story.  Originally produced and developed and performed at the Historic North Hall in Huntington, MA, this is Lizzie Borden At Eight O’Clock’s New York City debut.

**NOTE*** Lizzie Borden At Eight O’Clock deals with graphic material that may be unsuitable for younger audiences.”

For more about cast and crew http://offoffbroadway.broadwayworld.com/article/Workshop_Theatre_and_Alvin_Out_Productions_Present_LIZZIE_BORDEN_AT_EIGHT_OCLOCK_32443_20110209

As Halloween draws nearer every year, there seem to be more and more “Lizzie sightings”.  Whether in haunted corn mazes, horror theme attractions, Halloween costumes or a proliferation of Lizzie Borden-based plays- the little gal with the hatchet is everywhere from August right through to All Saints Day!

The Discovery Channel has set the Ghost Lab show of the investigation of the Borden house for Oct 25th, with a preview on the 19th. The Travel Channel repeated its look at America’s Most Terrifying Places again this past weekend, Nance O’Neil is coming to a close this weekend in Manhattan and coming soon- a new play, Lizzie Borden Took An Axe, by Garrett Heater will be the debut production of a brand new theatre group.

http://blog.syracuse.com/entertainment/2010/10/new_theater_company_stages_ori.html

Stay tuned for all-new Lizzie & Family productions coming this Fall on the Discovery channel, a landmark book on Fall River and Lizzie coming from the Fall River Historical Society, and the Borden case documentary shot by Ric Rebelo this past spring will be airing Saturday, October 30th at 7pm on Rhode Island PBS- the day before Halloween.  And Sunday night, the 31st,  is ALWAYS a special night at #92 Second Street and is sold out a year in advance!

nancereviewNYTimes.

http://www.theplayersnyc.org/members/content/view/21/35/

Lizzie Borden has jumped the bounds of just New England lore. West Coasters love Lizzie too!  The popular play, Blood Relations is on tap for December in Olympia, Washington.  http://www.olytheater.com/index.htm  Not only transcontinental, Miss Borden and that hatchet are on the way to becoming transglobal, thanks to the Internet and the Travel Channel!

Blood Relations by Sharon Pollock
Directed by Tim Samland
December, 2010
Venue: The Midnight Sun“In 1892 Lizzie Borden was tried for the double murder of her father and stepmother. She was acquitted but the crime was never solved. 10 years later, at tea with an actress, Lizzie suggests a game in which the actress will portray Miss Lizzie and Lizzie will take the role of Bridget, the family’s maid.”

Chances are you have not heard of the Garst Museum in Greenville, Ohio unless you are a fan of  Greenville- born world traveller and TV star Lowell Thomas whose adventures enthralled millions on radio and later television.  Or perhaps sharpshooter Annie Oakley, about whom the Garst has produced a world-class exhibit about her life. 

As part of their autumn lecture series, another famous lady will be featured as subject of a one-woman show as Christy Igo takes on Lizzie Borden- no sharp-shooting pistol, but a hatchet just as deadly.

(photo of Ms. Igo from http://www.lizzieborden.info/_wsn/page2.html)

“Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m., Christy Igo’s program “Lizzie Borden: A Life” is coming to the Garst. It is full of laughter, mystery, and horror as she brings  Lizzie Borden to life to tell HER STORY of the murder of her beloved  father and step mother. This crime is one of the bloodiest, most notorious and mysterious crimes of the 19th century!
In 1892 Lizzie Borden was found NOT guilty by a jury of her peers. Most of the towns folk of Falls River, Massachusetts DISAGREED. The trial received worldwide media attention. Lizzie became a celebrity. The gruesome details played out in the daily newspapers.

Did she or didn’t she? Modern law students still argue the case. You be the judge.
Christy Igo trained at Ohio University’s Professional Actor Training Program as well as at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She has worked professionally all over the North Eastern United States.  She has worked in film, commercials and documentaries. She formed HerStory productions in 1999 to produce and perform original one woman shows about inspirational women from history.