INDIANAPOLIS — Q Artistry will open a new musical, White City Murder, in March 2016 starring Claire Wilcher and Ben Asaykwee. The two person musical will explore the life of H. H. Holmes through the eyes of the Columbian Exposition of 1893, otherwise known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The two act play featuring live music will run three weeks in March at Q Artistry in the Historic Irvington Lodge at 5500 E. Washington St.
H.H. Holmes is one of the first documented serial killers in the United States. Also a bigamist and con artist, Holmes is widely known for opening up a hotel specifically designed to carry out his grisly acts near the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The city of Indianapolis has a tie in with the murderer, as remains of a victim(s) were found in Irvington later after his capture.
White City Murder will chronicle the life of Holmes with dramatization and live music by playwright and composer Ben Asaykwee, known for other dark contributions to Indy theatre including Cabaret Poe, ZirkusGrimm and The Donner Party Opera. Asaykwee will also take the stage as half of the two-person team to tackle the show. He will share the stage with local theatre and comedy maven Claire Wilcher (Spamalot, BOBdirex; Avenue Q, Phoenix Theatre) who recently finished a national RV tour performing at ComedySportz venues across the country.
Q Artistry is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing original works by Indiana artists to the stage. Since 2010, Q Artistry has produced 30 original plays and musicals by 17 different local playwrights and continues to regularly sell out new productions.
White City Murder tickets will go on sale beginning February 14th at midnight via qartistry.org and Brownpapertickets.com and will continue to be available for purchase throughout the show’s run, while supplies last. Performances are nightly March 19th – April 2nd.
