Never the Sinner, a dramatic recreation of the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, makes its west coast premiere Jan. 14.-Feb. 25 at Portland, Oregon's Artists Repertory Theatre. Jon Kretzu directs the play opening Jan. 19.

There have been many "crimes of the century" from the Lindbergh baby kidnapping to the O.J. Simpson trial. In May, 1924, the country was rocked by another one of these - the brutal murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks by two wealthy teenaged Chicagoans. Famed defense attorney and life long death penalty opponent Clarence Darrow saved Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb from hanging, but the elaborate plan to kidnap and murder for a ransom concocted by the bored students shocked the nation.

Never the Sinner's author John Logan has found much of his success in Hollywood, where his recent screenplays include "Any Given Sunday," "Gladiator" and the Emmy-nominated "RKO 281." He is currently at work on "Star Trek 10," "The Time Machine" and a film about Howard Hughes for director Michael Mann.

Michael Burke and David Wells star as Leopold and Loeb. Also in the cast are Tobias Anderson (Clarence Darrow), Eric Hull (Robert Crowe), David Bodin (Reporter 1), Allison Batty (Reporter 2) and Jonathan Molitor (Reporter 3).

Designing Never the Sinner are Tim Stapleton, Sarah Andrews (costumes), Vikki McGuire (lighting) and Dave Grafe (sound). Tickets are $26-$22, $13.50 for previews. For reservations, call (503) 241-1ART. Artists Repertory Theatre is on the web at http://www.artistsrep.org.

— By Christine Ehren