photo by: Mike Yoder

Richard Burt as Monsieur Bouc, from left, Michael Juncker as Hercule Poirot and Abby Ilardi Lowry as Countess Andrenyi perform during rehearsals for “Murder on the Orient Express" at Theatre Lawrence.

In 1975, Hercule Poirot’s obituary was published on the front page of The New York Times — an impressive feat for someone who had never actually been alive, but perhaps not as impressive as his ingenious detective work in “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Poirot’s sleuthing coup in the 1934 novel is still a fan favorite among the dozens of Agatha Christie tales that featured the cerebral Belgian detective — and actor Michael Juncker now counts himself among those fans.

Juncker will be starring in Theatre Lawrence’s production of “Murder on the Orient Express,” the classic “locked-door” mystery set on a luxury train during a snow storm in Eastern Europe.

Juncker is not quite as compact as the 5-foot-4 Poirot, and his mustache is not quite as fussy, but his stage presence is exactly what director Jessica Franz-Martin was looking for.

“Michael is able to command attention, but in a subtle way; you just want to watch what he’s going to do next,” she said. Similarly, “Poirot is a huge presence but almost a diminutive character … who purposefully plays himself down” so as not to rattle, or tip off, the suspects.

Juncker, who comes from a family of mystery fans, was immediately drawn to the prospect of playing the iconic detective, especially after reading Ken Ludwig’s stage adaptation of Christie’s novel.

“I actually decided to audition for the show after reading the script and seeing that character in action,” Juncker said of Poirot, who has been played by dozens of well-known actors, including Albert Finney, Kenneth Branagh, John Malkovich and, perhaps most famously, David Suchet.

Juncker studied many of those stage, TV and film portrayals to get a feel for the character’s essence and to inform his own interpretation. He learned how to speak with a Belgian-French accent and dyed his salt-and-pepper hair jet black. He grew a mustache to avoid having to glue one onto his face — although the “real” Poirot eventually did exactly that, his obituary tells us, when in the novel “Curtain” he appeared with false facial hair and a wig “to mask the signs of age that offended his vanity.” (Poirot’s obituary, the first ever for a fictional character in The New York Times, noted that his age at death was “unknown”).

Beyond looks, though, what Juncker said he really wanted to achieve was “that Agatha Christie confidence, swagger and intelligence” and, above all, the inner “vulnerability” of someone with an outsized ego — someone who is personally affronted by an unsolved jigsaw puzzle.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Cast members of “Murder on the Orient Express” gather around actor Michael Juncker, who plays Hercule Poirot, center, during rehearsals for “Murder on the Orient Express” at Theatre Lawrence.

Fans of the novel should expect to see a few changes in the stage version, most notably a smaller cast with some “merged” characters, but the same basic plot — inspired partly by the 1932 kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s baby — with its array of international characters, its parade of accents, its loathsome villain and its bursts of humor (stemming largely from the interplay between the American and European characters).

Ludwig’s adaptation actually ups the humor quite a bit, Franz-Martin says.

“He just does a really amazing job at merging the mystery, keeping true to Agatha Christie, but still adding comedy,” she said.

Franz-Martin noted that a big technical challenge for the stage version was how to portray the action that occurs almost entirely “on a linear train.” That’s where Theatre Lawrence’s revolving stage comes in, allowing different compartments of the swanky train to be shown without cumbersome scene changes.

“It keeps it quick … we’re not changing sets and five minutes later we’re going to the next one,” Franz-Martin said.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Michel the conductor, played by Don Hires, leads Countess Andrenyi, played by Abby Ilardi Lowry, center, and Princess Dragomiroff, played by Erika Baruth, as they perform a scene during rehearsals for “Murder on the Orient Express” at Theatre Lawrence.

Even if you already know the who in this famous whodunit, the bigger part of Christie’s appeal is in the process rather than in the answer, both Juncker and Franz-Martin agreed.

“The journey is its own reward for this one,” Juncker said, and if you do happen to be unfamiliar with the answer and the unusual type of justice that’s achieved, you’re in for a unique treat: “The ending is just so satisfying,” he said.

“Murder on the Orient Express” is scheduled to open Friday at Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive, and will have multiple performances through March 12. For information about tickets, call 785-843-SHOW (7469) or go online at theatrelawrence.com.