In the Heat of the Night at 59E59 from 19 mar

Godlight Theatre Company present the world premiere adaptation of John Ball's In The Heat Of The Night, adapted by Matt Pelfrey and directed by Joe Tantalo, opening at 59E59's Theater C from 28 Mar 2010, following previews from 19 Mar and running through to 25 Apr 2010.

In The Heat Of The Night: It's 1962. A hot August night lies heavy over the small town of Argo, Alabama. A dead white man is discovered and the local police arrest a black stranger named Virgil Tibbs. The police discover that their prime suspect is in fact a homicide detective from California. As it happens, Tibbs becomes the racially tense community's single hope in solving a brutal murder that is turning up no witnesses, no motives and no clues.

The cast features Gregory Konow, Sean Phillips, Nick Paglino, Michael Shimkin, Julianne Nelson, Ashton Crosby, Ryan O'Callaghan, Bryce Hodgson, Sam Whitten and Scarlett Thiele.

The creative team features set and lighting design by Maruti Evans, sound designer by Elizabeth Rhodes, choreography byHachi Yu and fight choreography by Josh Renfree.

Written in 1965, the novel was the first in John Ball's Virgil Tibbs series of mysteries. The novel served as a window into the segregated South during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. It was subsequently turned into a film in 1967, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In 1988, it inspired an Emmy award-winning television series starring Carroll O'Connor and Howard Rollins. It ran on NBC for five seasons, then moved to CBS where it aired for an additional three.