Dinner Night Adds Flavor To ARSENIC AND OLD LACE At Sunset Playhouse

 ELM GROVE, WI—AUG. 24, 2011.  Playgoers will have the opportunity to enjoy a special version of dinner theatre on Saturday, Sept. 10, during the upcoming run of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE at Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove.

 Nora B’s Restaurant will serve a four-course meal in its dining room for theatre patrons at 6 p.m. before the 8 p.m. show and at 7:30 p.m. after the 5 p.m. performance.  Tickets will be $40 for admission to the play and dinner.

 Each seating will be limited to 50 people. The recently opened restaurant is one block from The Playhouse at 890 Elm Grove Rd. Tickets for the dinner and play package are available at the Sunset Playhouse.

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, a perennial comedy about two spinsters with poisonously good intentions, will run Sept. 1 through Sept. 18. It opens the 52nd season of comedy, drama and musicals at the community theatre.

Abby and Martha are elderly sisters who take pity on lonely old men by murdering them with their deadly elderberry wine. The zany farce also introduces Mortimer, their nephew, who is horrified when he discovers the victims’ bodies.  He devises frantic and hilarious solutions to stopping the kindly killings while keeping his charming but crazy aunts out of jail.

The play, written by Joseph Kesserling, has some memorable characters.  Another nephew, Teddy, who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt, works at building the Panama Canal in the cellar.  A third nephew, Jonathan, is a maniacal criminal who looks like a horror movie star.

“The story is mad and unhackneyed,” the New York Times said when it premiered in 1941. “Nothing in Mr. Kesselring’s record has prepared us for the humor and ingenuity of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE.”

   The cast for ARSENIC AND OLD LACE includes Michael Skocir as Officer Brophy, Scott Bahr as Mortimer Brewster, Kay Esposito as Abby Brewster, Victoria Heckman as Martha Brewster, Bill Hitt as Office Klein, Andy Lien as Jonathan Brewster, Mark McGuire as Reverend Harper, Paul Pfannenstiel as Mr. Witherspoon, Stephanie Pluta as Elaine Harper, Michael Pocaro as Teddy Brewster, John Roberts as Dr. Einstein, DJ Slater as Officer O'Hara, and Christopher Smith as Lieutenant Rooney.

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE will be performed in Sunset Playhouse’s Furlan Auditorium Sept. 1-18.  Performance dates and times follow:

            Thursday      9/1/11     7:30 p.m. Preview

            Friday            9/2/11     8:00 p.m.  Opening Night

            Saturday        9/3/11     5 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.

            Sunday          9/4/11     2:00 p.m.

            Thursday      9/8/11     7:30 p.m.

            Friday            9/9/11    8:00 p.m.

            Saturday       9/10/11   5:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.

            Sunday          9/11/11   2:00 p.m.

            Wednesday   9/14/11   7:30 p.m.

            Thursday       9/15/11   7:30 p.m.

            Friday            9/16/11   8:00 p.m.

            Saturday        9/17/11   5:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.

            Sunday          9/18/11    2:00 p.m.

The Playhouse offers $10 tickets for the Thursday Preview (9/1//11) and the Wednesday  (9/14/11) performance. Ticket prices for ARSENIC AND OLD LACE are as follows:

Full Price  $20

Students & Seniors  $16

Groups of 15 or more  $15

Value Nights (Preview & last Wednesday)  $10

For more information or to order tickets by telephone, call the Box Office at 262-782-4430.  Box Office hours are Tuesday through Friday 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. and Saturdays 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.. Tickets may also be ordered on-line at www.sunsetplayhouse.com.

#####