Stage Adaptation of Rear Window, Directed by Darko Tresnjak, Will Raise Its Blinds in Connecticut

The stage adaptation of Rear Window will receive its world premiere at Hartford Stage as part of its 2015-16 season. The thriller, written by Keith Reddin and based on Cornell Woolrich’s iconic 1942 short story—which also inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window in 1954—will be directed by Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder). Performance dates and casting have not yet been announced.

A production of the thriller was previously reported to be eyeing Broadway in 2013, with Terry Kinney on board to direct. No official word yet if the new production has plans for a bow on the Great White Way.

Rear Window follows L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, a wheelchair-bound photographer who believes he has witnessed a murder while spying on a neighboring New York City apartment. He enlists the help of his girlfriend Lisa and nurse Stella to investigate, putting one of them much closer to the scene of the alleged crime than intended.

The short story, originally published as It Had to Be Murder, was also the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 feature Rear Window. The James Stewart and Grace Kelly-led flick received four Academy Award nominations and holds a spot in AFI’s “100 Years… 100 Movies” list.

The Hartford Stage lineup also includes the world premiere of Christopher Shinn’s An Opening in Time, Body of an American by Dan O’Brien, a staging of Romeo and Juliet helmed by Tresnjak and Emily Mann’s Having Our Say. The season will also included a new musical directed by Tresnjak.