A Welcome Dose of ‘Arsenic’

For many years following its hit bow on Broadway in 1941, Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic and Old Lace” was a staple of summer stock community theaters. You don’t see much of it lately, so for the most part, it is a delight to see it on the stage again at Huntington Beach Playhouse.

The play is almost foolproof.

The loony plot is simple. Two elderly Brooklyn sisters, Abby and Martha Brewster, do their charitable bit when they come across lonely, elderly bachelors, by dispensing them with a glass or two of their homemade elderberry wine, laced liberally with arsenic. Of course, being right-thinking ladies, they provide the gentlemen with a proper funeral, according to each man’s religion, and the gents are buried in the Panama Canal. That is, in the basement, by their nephew Teddy, who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt.

All is peaceful and correct, until another nephew, theater critic Mortimer, discovers what’s going on. Actually, he discovers the latest gentleman friend in the window seat. That is nothing to the complications that arise when the murderous third brother, Jonathan, arrives, transformed by plastic surgery into a Boris Karloff look-alike, and accompanied by the eerie doctor who performed the operation.

It’s all done in outrageous fun, and most of the laughs are intact, thanks to the well-paced and affectionate direction of Terri Miller Schmidt. She hasn’t tried to bring a 1990s sensibility to the production, leaving it firmly planted in the era just before Pearl Harbor, where it belongs.

Her only missteps are in not restraining a few of the performers.

Bill Carden, playing both Mr. Gibbs, a possible victim that Mortimer saves, and Mr. Witherspoon, a sanatorium official come to take Teddy away, seems to be doing another play altogether--possibly “King Lear.”

Michael Ross, as Teddy, is fine throughout, except in some moments when others are exchanging dialogue, during which he is continuously, and distractingly, busy fussing with props to call attention to himself. Melanie K. Jacobson, as Mortimer’s fiancee, is also very good at those moments when she is reserved and charming, but when roused to pique, she screams and shrieks her lines unintelligibly, making one wonder why Mortimer wants to marry her.

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As central figures Abby and Martha, Louise Tonti and Joanne Underwood are perfect in every way--sweet and accommodating, quaintly dingy and almost making one believe in their crusade. Thom Gilbert’s physical shtick never goes overboard as Mortimer but gets close. His restraint gets him his laughs in all the right places.

Robert J. Murphy’s makeup doesn’t approach Karloff, but he manages to be quite frightening just the same, and his slow takes are very funny. As his sidekick, the only slightly evil Dr. Einstein, James Ward is marvelous, an honest characterization, and amusing, in a difficult role.

Al Underwood is solid in his small role as the neighboring clergyman. As the two police officers, who love the ladies and can’t believe they have 12 bodies in the basement, Greg Dunham and Tim Roberts are very good, and very much like cops used to be back then, as is Frankie Carrera as Lieutenant Rooney, who thinks the idea of all those corpses under his sweet ladies is a riot.

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* “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Huntington Beach Playhouse, 7111 Talbert Ave. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 27. $10-$13. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Louise Tonti: Abby Brewster

Joanne Underwood: Martha Brewster

Thom Gilbert: Mortimer Brewster

Robert J. Murphy: Jonathan Brewster

James Ward: Dr. Einstein

Melanie K. Jacobson: Mortimer’s fiancee

Michael Ross: Teddy Brewster

Greg Dunham: Officer Brophy

Tim Roberts: Officer O’Hara

Frankie Carrera: Lt. Rooney

Al Underwood: Rev. Dr. Harper

Bill Carden: Mr. Gibbs/Mr. Witherspoon

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production of Joseph Kesselring’s comedy. Producers: Dawn Conant and Ana C. Fluck. Director: Terri Miller Schmidt. Scenic design: Christopher Wuebben. Lighting design: Chad R. and Terri S. Brook. Sound design: Billy Bingham. Costume design: Tom Phillips, Larry Watts. Stage manager: Kelly Tickner.