STAGE TUBE: Behind the Scenes with Walnut Street Theatre's ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 205th season with Broadway's classic madcap comedy, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE. Directed by Charles Abbott, this 75th Anniversary production runs through April 27th on the Walnut's Mainstage. You'll feel right at home with the Brewsters in the behind-the-scenes tour of the set of 'Arsenic and Old Lace' below!

Drama critic Mortimer Brewster is engaged to the lovely Elaine Harper... but will she fit in with his 'unusual' family? Abby and Martha Brewster are known throughout Brooklyn for their many acts of kindness and charity. But Mortimer has just learned that his charming spinster aunts have taken to relieving the loneliness of old men by inviting them in for a nice glass of home­made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pinch" of cyanide! And, his brother believes that he's Teddy Roosevelt! What else can go wrong? Audiences will find out in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, one of the American theatre's funniest comedies.

Written by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE premiered on Broadway in January, 1941 and ran for 1444 performances. The show gained popularity after the film version was released in 1944 starringCary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. Members of the original Broadway cast, including Jean Adair(Martha Brewster), Josephine Hull (Abby Brewster), and John Alexander (Teddy Brewster), were given permission to leave the stage production for a short while to reprise their roles in the film. A Broadway revival came in June, 1986 at the 46th Street Theatre.

The cast is led by the deceptively delicious Brewster sisters, Mary Martello (Abby) and Jane Ridley (Martha). Walnut audiences will recognize Martello from The Music Man and Grease, and Ridley from Mrs. Kemble's Tempest. Theatre critic Mortimer Brewster and his love interest, the beautiful Elaine Harper, are played by Damon Bonetti (The Glass Menagerie) and Jennie Eisenhower (An Ideal Husband), respectively. Ben Dibble (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Dan Olmstead (Amadeus) play the zany Brewster brothers Teddy and Jonathon. Adding to the madcap events are cast members Paul L. Nolan (Love Story), Fran Prisco (Elf), John Jarboe (Vincent in Brixton), Peter Schmitz(Hairspray),Laurent Giroux (Aspects of Love) and John­Charles Kelly (42nd Street).

Tickets vary by performance and range from $10-$85. For tickets and information, call 215-­574-­3550 or 800-­982-­2787. Tickets are also available online 24/7 by visiting www.WalnutStreetTheatre.org or Ticketmaster.

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