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Arsenic and Old Lace

Author: 
Joseph Kesselring
Publisher: 
Dramatists Play Services
Director Staff: 
Director: Timothy Bond
Asst. Director: Ashley Croft

The play is a farcical black comedy revolving around Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic who must deal with his crazy, homicidal family and local police in Brooklyn, NY, as he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves. His family includes two spinster aunts who have taken to murdering lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pinch" of cyanide; a brother who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt and digs locks for the Panama Canal in the cellar of the Brewster home (which then serve as graves for the aunts' victims); and a murderous brother who has received plastic surgery performed by an alcoholic accomplice, Dr. Einstein (a character based on real-life gangland surgeon Joseph Moran) to conceal his identity and now looks like horror-film actor Boris Karloff (a self-referential joke, as the part was originally played by Karloff).

 

Audition Dates

Audition dates not available

Performance Dates

  • Fri, 04/17/2009 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm

    Lobby opens at 6:00pm
    House seating opens at 6:30pm

  • Sat, 04/18/2009 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm

    Lobby opens at 6:00pm
    House seating opens at 6:30pm

  • Sun, 04/19/2009 - 4:00pm to 6:00pm

    Lobby opens at 3:00pm
    House seating opens at 3:30pm

 
Venue: 
LTU Science Building, S100
Venue Address: 
2100 West Ten Mile Road Southfield, MI 48075
Ticket Cost: 
General Admission: $5.00
With LTU ID: Free
Special Thanks: 

Ron Jenkins Sr. for set construction and prop modifications

Sutton Costumes for assistance with costume design and acquisition

Julie Hyska for supplying props

Carolyn Lamb for assisting with set construction

Dan Lennemann for assisting with set construction

Giuseppe Lacaria for assisting with set construction

Cast Members

Jen GuthrieMartha Brewster
 
Amanda SweetAbby Brewster
 
Eric LennemannMortimer Brewster
 
Joe LongJonathan Brewster
 
Sean LaFolletteTeddy Brewster
 
Timothy BondDr. Einstein
 
Neil GanshornRev. Dr. Harper, Mr. Gibbs
 
Ashley CroftElaine Harper
 
Rachel YarbroughOfficer O'Hara
 
Andrew YarbroughOfficer Brophy
 
Aly DavisOfficer Klein
 
Emily MorganLieutenant Rooney
 
Kris NaylorDr. Witherspoon
 

Crew Members

Ron JenkinsTechnical Director, Stage Manager, Lighting Engineer
 
John CamardeseLighting Engineer, Sound Engineer
 
Jessica StilesLighting Console Operator
 
Joe LongAsst. Sound Engineer