The WG Drama Department was thrilled to bring Joseph Kesserling's thriller-comedy Aresenic and Old Lace to the Black Box in the Spring. It was an opportunity for us to play in a genre we had not done in awhile. Well written horror comedies are extremely rare.
Officer O'Hara (Caleb) finishing up the dramatic plot
of his play to Mortimer (Spencer) before the cops bust in...
About the Author
Joseph Otto Kesselring (1902 - 1967)
Kesselring was an American playwright known best
for his play 'Arsenic and Old Lace'.He was born in New York City to a family of
German descent. The son of a surgeon, Kesselring spent much of his life in and
around the theatre. In 1922, at the age of 20, he began teaching vocal music
and directed stage productions at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas. After
two years of teaching, Kesselring left teaching and returned to the stage,
working for two years with an amateur theatrical group in Niagara, New York. He
began working as a freelance playwright in 1933, completing 12 original plays,
of which four were produced on Broadway: 'Wisdom in Women', 'Arsenic and Old
Lace', 'Four Twelves are 48' and 'Mother of that Wisdom'. In 1980, the National
Arts Club created the Joseph Kesselring Prize for up-and-coming playwrights,
funded by Kesselring's widow, Charlotte.
OUR PRODUCTIONWe played the show the first two weekends in April 2018 which allowed for an additional three more performances than usual. We normally only run a show for one weekend. We decided to try a two weekend run because of the limited amount of seating we could set up in the audience. Also, the cost of the production was significant due to the props and costume expenses (and we were frugal!!!).
We are still learning how much revenue we can generate with the Black Box shows and what kind of numbers to expect in the future with various size sets. This was a very large set and so we only sat around 75 when we were full. The first weekend's ticket sales also started a bit lighter (35-40 per night), but by the time we closed we were selling out.
This was a huge success for the department and it was our second opportunity to build a full set in the space.
Poster Design by Kate Becker
created during her Independant Study hour with Mr. Schaefer
AUDITIONS
We held auditions in the Drama Room after school over two days. The actors had to do some monologue and scene work in the auditions and the casting table saw several pairings. Like most auditions it was pretty clear to the entire casting table who fit best in each role.
Like most shows, we did have to recast a couple of roles after the initial audition due to scheduling conflicts and student workloads. It always works out fine for the show, and we were thrilled with the cast of the production. They worked very hard all along the way.
CAST LIST
Mortimer Brewster........Spencer Erb
Abby Brewster...............Kate
Becker
Martha Brewster............Meredith
Grimm-Howell
Teddy Brewster.............Trevor
Zink
Jonathon Brewster.......Logan Corzine
Dr.
Einstein....................Yensen LeBeau
Elaine Harper.................Fiona
Carton
Dr Harper........................Yusuf
Randolph
Officer Klein...................Colin
Shue
Officer Brophy...............Hank
Geers
Sergeant Rooney..........Jessica Petersen
Lt. O’Hara.............Caleb Miofsky
Mr. Gibbs........................Sam
Getz
Ms. Witherspoon...........Sarah Kaul
The cast of "Arsenic and Old Lace" taking their bows...
REHEARSALS
We rehearsed in the Drama Room after school three-four days a week until the set was built and then the actors could start getting the timing down.
The call board for the show
With a very short rehearsal schedule it was hard to get everything done in time. The script is very dense and there were a lot of comic bits to work out.
Trevor (as Teddy), Yusuf (as Dr. Harper), and kate (as Abby) rehearsing the first scene after school
Kate, Meredith (as Martha), Caleb (as O'Hara), Logan (as Jonathon) and Spencer (as Mortimer) working out a major comic moment in Act II.
Katherine Ransden on book for the cast during rehearsals
Technical STAFF
Director - Mr. Schaefer
Production Asst - Elliot Williams
Director’s notes
I am so excited to present this classic comedy for the last show in our 2017-2018 Season of “Love and Murder”. Arsenic and Old Lace was written in 1939 and originally entitled "Bodies in Our Cellar." It has become best known through the film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra. The play opened on 10 January 1941. On 25 September 1943, the play moved to the Hudson Theater. It closed there on 17 June 1944 having played 1,444 performances.
It is nice to end on a comedy. This is a play that I have been waiting to direct for a long time. Way back in 1996 I studied this text and designed the production for a class project. It was always a favorite script of mine, but the opportunity to work on the show was never within reach. They always say that if you really want to do a particular show, just give it time and it will come to you.
This show is unique. It is a farce, with a bit of satire, and it also is a very clever parody. When you think you have it figure it out it adds just a bit of horror. Arsenic and Old Lace is not only a classic comedy - it is a superb black comedy. It has most definitely stood the test of time, and is as funny now as when it was written. I have really enjoyed living in the Brewster house with these wacky characters and I am thrilled to present them to you.
We have been fortunate to stage this piece in our new black box theater, and this will be our 2nd main stage show in this amazing space. We are happy to have some new talent involved in this show and also some true department veterans. I do hope you enjoy our production of this very famous play. Don’t get too relaxed…things will not be going as planned in the Brewster house tonight.
DESIGNERS and CREWS
Lighting Designer - Ethan Ryan
Lighting Crew - Amelia Griesdick / Advanced Technical Theater
Amelia and Ethan working on lights
Sound Designer - Sam Toskin
Sound Crew - Emerald Habecker / Charlie Richardson
Stage Manager - Connor Hanneken
Asst Stage Mgr. - Eva Berger
Stage Prompter: Katherine Ransden
Additional
notes provided by: Zia Massena
Properties Manager – Eva Berger and Eli Bent
Props Crew – Conner Hanneken, Katie Gilker and Mr.
Schaefer
Caroline and Eva the night of the final show
Costume Designers – Grey Ferber, Caroline Gillows, Tea Gardner, Mr.
S
Costume Manager - Caroline Gillows
Meredith and Kate keeping Fiona company while Grey does some "victory rolls"
Marketing Manager(s) - Kate Becker and Aidan Kurtz
Flyer and T-shirt Design by Kate Becker
House Manager - Aidan Kurtz
Aidan and Grace running the Box Office and concessions for the show
Banners - Zia Massena and Sean Mullins
Zia worked very hard on the banners
and each one looked awesome!
Program - Aidan Kurtz
THE SET
The technical Theater class and students who helped out afterschool completed the build. Mr. Schaefer was grabbing whoever he could find in the end to get it finished.
GO TEAM!
We had a great turn out for the painting portion of the project. Two different painting sessions got a good amount completed. This was a very detailed paint job, and it looked great in the end.
Thanks to everyone who came out and grabbed a brush!!!
The finished set under the worklights
We decided to make the wood a very dark brown to make the room seem a bit darker. It helped create shadows on the set which helped with the suspense. We also were able to use some stock furniture we already had to bring a turn of the century feel the house. The family was well to do, but we had limited space. In the end it appeared elegant and Victorian in it's charming atmosphere.
COSTUMES
Grey Ferber designed the costumes with assistance from Caroline Gillows, Tea Gardner and Mr. S.
Most of the characters had multiple outfits in the show and we had to use some of our stock and we also had to hit Savers. We were very clever in how we used the pieces to create a Victorian look out of modern clothing. Lots of lace riffles were added.
We had a lot of police officers in the show and we tried to make them all look like they were from a different rank in the force. Here Hank and Colin take Logan into custody and Jessica tries to make sense of it all...
Yusuf was a minister and Trevor had to play a man who thought he was Teddy Roosevelt
Yensen, Logan, Spencer and Fiona play the drama of the moment!
Sam Getz as old man Mr. Gibbs
LIGHTING
Ethan Ryan, Amelia and Mr. Schaefer worked hard to create daytime night time scenes with limited instruments. We achieved what we needed and gave the story exactly what it needed.
The show provided some opportunity to do back lighting through the doorways and windows and lots of onstage practicals. We were using our two scene preset board to run the show, and so we kept the cue somewhat simple.
The chandelier was a nice touch for the set and helped separate the dining area
PROPERTIES
Eva Berger was ultimately in charge of running the props for the show and had a lot of help getting the props ready before we opened. There were quite a few props needed in the show and the back stage area was limited.
The prop table was packed full and we also had props marked onstage and around the backside of the set for actors to grab for an entrance.
Some of the favorites were the torture weapons and the decanters of poison elderberry wine...
Fake dead bodies are the best!!!
...and we had to make two of them.
BACKSTAGE
There was not a lot of wiggle room backstage for this show and the actors and crew had to be very careful as they navigated the space so that they wouldn't make noise during the show. The window entrance was unique and it opened up bad sight lines for the audience to see backstage when we didn't want them to. The backstage area was directly routed to the classroom and dressing room for the actors to get out if needed.
The green room
We always have to fend off the fans!
We curtained off the backstage and provided the audience with an aisle to come into the house.
The backstage crew worked hard and the show ran smooth
The weather was warm, but the cast still wanted to go outside before the warm-ups to play around!
A Few More pics from the show
CAST PARTY
This was the last meal at Steak N Shake that would be purchased by our principal Dr. Jon Clark. He retired in July and had started the tradition tens years ago with the first show Mr. Schaefer directed. he had paid for every cast and crew since to enjoy a meal in celebration of their efforts in the production. It was an amazing tradition and we really appreciated his support of our hard work over the last decade.
The cast and crew (and some fans) at Steak n Shake
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Special Thanks
We would like to say thank you to all of the parents of the drama students and their support, Dr. Clark for all of his help over the years and most especially helping us get into our new space, To Debbie Genovese for her help with T-shirts for the cast, Mrs. Romo for her support on the show, Mrs. Hartmann for being our printing goddess, the custodial staff for all of their help in keeping the school looking great, and to you for coming out to see some LIVE theater.
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YENSEN SAYS, "GO SEE MORE PLAYS!!!"
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