Thom Christopher to Star in Adirondack Theatre Festival Production of A.R. Gurney’s BLACK TIE

Emmy Award winning actor Thom Christopher (One Life to Live; Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) will star in A.R. Gurney's comedy Black Tie, kicking off the Adirondack Theatre Festival's (ATF) 18th summer season of professional theatre June 26.

Black Tie is a recent Off-Broadway hit comedy set in a Lake George Hotel on the eve of a family wedding. Mr. Christopher plays the father of the groom, who simply wants to make a memorable toast. But before he is able to raise his glass, he must defend time?honored traditions of the past, including his formal attire. Cultures and generations clash when a surprise guest is announced, threatening to throw convention out the window. Balancing the standards of his late father and the needs of his future family may prove too messy for a black tie affair.

Mr. Christopher is known to millions of soap opera fans as Carol Hesser and Hesser's twin brother Mortimer Bern on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live, and as Dante/Joe Young on the soap Loving. He received Emmy nominations for both roles and took home the trophy in 1993 for Supporting Actor on One Life to Live. He went on to play Colonel Dax on Guiding Light. He is perhaps best known, however, for his portrayal of Hawk on Buck Rogers.

Among his other credits are guest roles on many primetime series over the past 25 years (most recently several episodes of Law and Order), and in television movies including the role of Aristotle Onassis in The Women of Camelot; Betrayed by Innocence; and Hellinger's Law. On the big screen, he appeared in many films including The Paper; Blood and Wine; Space Raiders; and Street Hunter.

Mr. Christopher won the Clarence Derwent and Theatre World Awards when he made his Broadway debut with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn and Anne Baxter in Noel Coward in Two Keys. He was also featured on Broadway as Apollodorus in Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra and in Pirandello's Henry IV -- both with Rex Harrison. Additionally, he has dozens of off-Broadway and regional theatre credits which includes title roles in King Lear, A Picasso, Zorba, and as Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo, as well as many voiceovers and narrations.

Black Tie will play at the Charles R. Wood Theater (207 Glen Street in downtown Glens Falls). Performances are June 26 through June 30 at 7:30 pm; June 27 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $25 ? $40 and available at www.ATFestival.org or (518)874?0800. Discount season packages are also available.

Founded in 1995, each summer ATF produces a season of theatre for an audience of both locals and tourists using professional artists from New York City and across the country. ATF operates under a Small Professional Theatre Agreement with Actors' Equity Association. ATF is the only professional summer theatre in the Capital District, Saratoga and Adirondack regions of upstate New York solely committed to producing new and contemporary works of theatre. More at www.ATFestival.org.