Arsenic and Old Lace

Okay.

Back on the Humboldt stage, October 15th through 24th is Arsenic and Old Lace.

Yes.

I think.

I know it from the Joe

Rivers show.

I thought we were going to do Arsenic and Old Lace here at the Lyric for a couple of years now.

I feel like it

Thank you, sir.

[instrumental music] You are listening to the Columbia Broadcasting System presentation of Arsenic and Old Lace and The Mercury Theatre on the Air in Sherlock Holmes, with Orson Welles in the title role and Ray Collins as Dr. Watson.

We pause a moment for Station IX announcements.

This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.

That is easily the most common critique of the medium.

But, uh, the broadcast notes we have here on the classic play Arsenic and Old Lace, they dismantle that argument completely.

Really? How so?

Well, they prove that the lack of visuals is not a handicap at all.

It is the fundamental mechanism that allows certain genres, particularly farce and psychological horror, to function optimally.

Okay, I read through the Arsenic and Old Lace deep dive, and it is a brilliant case study.

It really is the perfect example.

For those of you who might not be familiar with this quintessential piece of American theater, it is a pitch black comedy.

Uh, and, uh, it's, it's an old school one from the '40s, uh, but it- it's, uh, it's, it's kinda funny because when we did our episode on, uh, high-risk/low-risk for community theater, I said there are five surefire plays.

I said, um, See How They Run, Arsenic and Old Lace, um, Silent Sky, Steel Magnolias, and Harvey.

Those are my five surefire.

And, um, and when, uh, when they announced See How They Run, uh, so the Empress has done ... has done Steel Magnolias, See How They Run, uh, well, they've done See How They Run, they've done Silent Sky, and they've done Arsenic and Old Lace.

And so, like, I told the director, I said, "Hey, when are you [laughs] when are you gonna do Harvey? It's time." [laughs] We've done all five.

You're like, "And I'll direct that one for you."

And uh, you can also, if you're in the Chicagoland area like Devon and I, you can see me, uh, coming up at the end of the month, October 23rd, 24th and 25th at the Kankakee Valley Theater Association down about an hour south of the city.

You can see me as Dr. Einstein in the classic play, Arsenic and Old Lace.

Ooh.

Yes.

Um, any-

Arsenic and Old Lace would be fun, I think.

Yeah.

Ooh, that would be fun.

You can also see me live if you are in the Chicagoland area, as I know a couple of you are.

I will be performing at the end of October, 23rd, 24th, 25th, at the Kankakee Valley Theatre Association's production of Arsenic and Old Lace.

I will be portraying the role of Dr. Einstein.

Tickets are currently on sale, kvta.org. Come see it.

Okay.

Arsenic and Old Lace is our spring show.

Yes.

And then our junior theater is doing Lion King Jr.,