ARSENIC AND OLD LACE Comes to Center Repertory Company

Center Repertory Company will kick off its 2024/25 season with a re-envisioned production of Joseph Kesselring’s iconic classic, Arsenic and Old Lace, performing at the Lesher Center for the Arts beginning Sunday, September 8 and running through Sunday, September 29, 2024. Press night will be held on Saturday, September 14. Single tickets are on-sale now by visiting centerrep.org or calling the box office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wed-Sun, 12-6 p.m.).
 
The grandmother of dark comedies gets a mischievous and campy makeover as Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow makes her Center REP directorial debut. Newly engaged theater critic Mortimer discovers his two elderly Aunts are harboring some killer secrets, just as his estranged brother descends upon the family home, upending everything he thought to be true in his life. To save his family, his fiancé, and his own sanity, Mortimer must learn to navigate a new world gone mad… all while trying to make the 8 o’clock curtain. Deliciously macabre, classically winsome, and queerishly delightful, get ready for a new vision for one of theater’s most enduring comedies.  
 
“I fell in love with Arsenic and Old Lace as a child, which says a lot about me and how I see the world,” said Center REP Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow. “Programing it as the first show in my inaugural season at Center REP feels like a homecoming. Rediscovering this hilarious classic as an adult, I was gob smacked by how utterly outrageous the story really is, with two sweet old Aunties literally getting away with murder. I was also thunderstruck by how they were getting away with murder: No one around them sees who they truly are!”
 
“The theme of identity, and the disconnect between how we perceive one another on the surface and the layered truth of who we really are is the farcical root of Arsenic and Old Lace,” adds Morrow. “As a queer person myself, this theme feels personal and chock full of comic potential. Taking a distinctly queer lens to this story felt not only apropos, but a way to imbue this chestnut with a refreshing twist, upping the ante (no pun intended!) on its hilarity and joy. I cannot wait for our esteemed queer and gender-expansive team of artists to share this classic farce anew with our community.”
 
The cast of Arsenic & Old Lace includes (in alphabetical order): Elio Amador (Officer Brophy), Brenda Arellano (Officer Klein), DeAnna Driscoll (Jonathan Brewster), Michelle Ianiro (Lieutenant Rooney), Carla Gallardo (Elaine Harper), Michael Patrick Gaffney (Martha Brewster), Kalli Jonsson (Dr. Harper), Addam Ledamyen (Officer O’Hara), Catherine Luedtke (Teddy Brewster), Danny Scheie (Abby Brewster), Cody Sloan (Mortimer Brewster), and Skyler Sullivan (Dr. Einstein).
 
The creative team for Arsenic & Old Lace includes Yi-Chien Lee (Scenic Designer), Brooke Kesler (Costume Designer), Kurt Landisman (Lighting Design), James Ard (Sound Designer), Alyssa Tryon (Props Designer), Taylor McQuesten (Stage Manager), and Joe Coe (Assistant Stage Manager).

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