RCSJ Theatre program presents Arsenic and Old Lace Nov. 16-19

Rowan College of South Jersey’s (RCSJ) Cumberland Campus presents the comedy Arsenic and Old Lace November 16-19, 2023, at the The Guaracini Center located at 3322 College Drive, Vineland, N. J. Evening shows begin at 8pm and the Sunday matinee begins at 3pm.

Arsenic and Old Lace is a comedy written by Joseph Kesserling. It takes place in a house in Brooklyn, New York in the 1940s. The play is the story of Mortimer Brewster, a NY newspaper theatre critic who is about to marry the preacher’s daughter. He visits his sweet spinster aunts to announce the engagement and realizes his dear aunts have been poisoning lonely old men for years! He always knew his family had a bit of a mad gene - one brother believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt and when the other brother - a psychopathic gangster - shows up, the body count rises.

RCSJ theatre productions consist of students, staff, alumni, and community members and are directed and produced by former Broadway performer, Professor Deborah Bradshaw. Arsenic and Old Lace is made possible in special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. The cast and crew of Arsenic and Old Lace include:

• ABBY BREWSTER: Anne Buckwheat
• MARTHA BREWSTER: Bev Beardsley
• MORTIMER BREWSTER: Xander Schmidt
• JONATHAN BREWSTER: Kevin Kolva
• TEDDY BREWSTER: Micah DeSanto
• DR. EINSTEIN: George Scully
• DR. HARPER & MR. WITHERSPOON: Richard Mooney
• ELAINE HARPER: Britney Jones
• MR. GIBBS: Jake Golley
• LIEUTENNANT ROONEY: Maddie VanMeter
• OFFICER O'HARA: Anthony Carastro
• OFFICER KLEIN: Randy Hernandez
• OFFICER BROPHY: Ian Volz-Price

Ticket prices range from $15 to $5. All sales are general admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm sharp Thursday-Saturday and doors open at 2:30 pm Sunday. In person ticket sales will be available 1 hour prior to the start of each show. To purchase tickets online visit, https://tinyurl.com/RCSJ-AOL-Tix. To reach the box office, call 856-692-8499.

CLUE Onstage honored with One Perry Award, Four Nominations

In the fall of 2023, The New Jersey Association of Community Theaters (NJACT) Perry Awards ceremony was held at the Strand Center for the Arts in Lakewood, N. J. The NJACT Perry Awards are given for outstanding achievements in New Jersey Community Theater. The awards are named in honor of William Perry Morgan. Perry, as his friends have always known him, was a gifted director, actor, composer, and musician who was once a driving force in New Jersey community theater.

Rowan College of South Jersey’s Cumberland Campus production of CLUE Onstage was nominated for four Perry Awards. They are:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play, Ian Volz-Price; Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play, Patrick Ahern; Outstanding Costume Design of a Play, Deborah Bradshaw and Brooke Luciano; and Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play, Chris Miller. Miller won the Lighting Design category for his work in RCSJ’s CLUE Onstage.

NJACT bestows Perry Awards in 33 performance and technical categories based on NJACT reviewer scores. Candidates with the top seven scorers in each category are considered nominees. The nominee with the highest score in each category receives the Perry Award.

For more information about RCSJ’s theatre program, please visit https://www.rcsj.edu/ccpa/theatre-acting-afa-cumberland.