Casting is complete for the Alley Theatre's production of Joseph Kesselring's classic screwball comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace. The production will welcome the return of veteran theatre and screen actress Dixie Carter (last seen in the Alley's world premiere of Be My Baby) as Abby Brewster.
Carter is currently nominated for an Emmy for her guest work on the hit ABC show Desperate Housewives and will be profiled on the CBS News Sunday Morning airing on September 16, the morning of the Emmy Awards.
Alongside Carter is Tony and Drama Desk nominated Mia Dillon making her Alley debut as the role of Martha Brewster. Audiences may remember Dillon for her work in the PBS television broadcast of Westport Country Playhouse's production (which subsequently played Broadway) of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, playing opposite Paul Newman. Directed by Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd, Arsenic and Old Lace begins previews Friday, October 5, opens officially Wednesday, October 10, and runs through Sunday, November 4.
"Coming back to the city of Houston and the Alley Theatre – to Gregory Boyd and the entire Alley family – what a joy! And to be part of this timeless play – I'm tickled pink, blue, red, yellow and purple," beams Carter.
Joining Carter and Dillon in Arsenic and Old Lace are Alley Theatre Company Actors James Belcher as Teddy Brewster, James Black as Jonathan Brewster, Elizabeth Heflin as Elaine Harper, Paul Hope as Officer O'Hara, Chris Hutchison as Officer Klein, Charles Krohn as Reverend Harper/Lieutenant Rooney, David Rainey as Officer Brophy, John Tyson as Dr. Einstein, and Todd Waite as Mortimer Brewster. Making his Alley debut is Colin McPhillamy as Mr. Gibbs/Mr. Witherspoon (Westport Country Playhouse's Sedition).
Arsenic and Old Lace introduces audiences to the Brewster sisters, their nephew Teddy – who believes himself to be Teddy Roosevelt, and their drama critic nephew Mortimer, who is as surprised as anyone to learn that his maiden aunts have taken it upon themselves to commit murder – with a glass of arsenic-spiked elderberry wine.
Arsenic and Old Lace is generously sponsored by Enbridge, Inc. Additional support is provided by JPMorgan Chase and Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. The Alley Theatre is supported by the 2007-2008 season sponsor Continental Airlines, the official airline of the Alley Theatre.
DIXIE CARTER is returning to the Alley Theatre, having appeared here in the fall of 2005 with her husband Hal Holbrook in Ken Ludwig's Be My Baby. In 2006 she and Mr. Holbrook starred at the Coconut Grover Playhouse in the two character play, Southern Comforts, by Kate Clark. In the 2005 summer she played to standing room only at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. as Mrs. Erlynne in Oscar Wilde's play, Lady Windermere's Fan. She has starred previously there in another Oscar Wilde play, A Woman of No Importance. Ms. Carter received an Emmy nomination in July for her portrayal of Gloria Hodge on the ABC hit Desperate Housewives. In addition to the role of Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women, she has starred in seven other television series: Family Law, Family Man, Fired Up, Filthy Rich, On Our Own, Out of the Blue, and Diff'rent Strokes. She and Mr. Holbrook met while filming the CBS-TV movie, The Killing of Randy Webster. New York credits include 11 seasons at The Café Carlyle. On Broadway, she has appeared in Thoroughly Modern Millie (at the Marquis Theatre), as Maria Callas in Master Class (the John Golden Theatre), Melba in Pal Joey (Circle in the Square) and in Sextet (the Bijou Theatre). Off-Broadway she has appeared in The Winter's Tale at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Taken in Marriage, Fathers and Sons, Buried Inside Extra, Gogol and Jesse and the Bandit Queen at the Public Theatre, Carousel, The King and I, and The Merry Widow at Music Theatre of Lincoln Center, and A Coupla' White Chicks Sittin' Around Talkin', Upstairs at the Downstairs (two seasons at Astor Place Theatre. Her regional theatre credits include Paper Doll (Jacqueline Susanne) at Long Wharf Theatre; Names (Stella Adler), A Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche DuBois), The Apple Cart, Kiss Me Kate, A Little Night Music, Mame, Babes in Arms, Oklahoma, Brigadoon, The King and I, The New Moon, The Student Prince, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night. Ms. Carter travels extensively as a public speaker and appears in concert across the country. Born in McLemoresville, Tennessee, and Valedictorian of her high school class, Mr. Carter attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Rhodes College in Memphis (Honorary Doctorate). Carter has received career awards from the Southeastern TheatreConference, National Corporate Theatre Fund, and The Shakespeare Theatre Millennium Recognition Award, as well as a Theatre World Award for Jesse and the Bandit Queen, a Drama Desk nomination for Fathers and Sons and a Dramalogue Award for Names. The Dixie Carter Performing Arts opened in December 2005 in Huntington, Tennessee and in March, 2007 received the Tennessee Governor's Award for excellence in the arts. Most recently Carter received the Evangeline Booth Award in April 2007 for her work as national spokesperson for the Salvation Army. Carter and her husband reside in Los Angeles. Her daughters reside in New York and Los Angeles. Carter is a member of the President's Committee for Service and Civic Participation.
MIA DILLON is a veteran stage actor, her Broadway credits include Our Town, The Miser, Hay Fever, Crimes of the Heart (Tony nomination, Clarence Derwent & DramaLogue Awards), Agnes of God, The Corn is Green, Once a Catholic (Drama Desk nomination), and Da. Her Off Broadway credits include The Exonerated, New England, and The Three Sisters at Manhattan Theatre Club, and Come Back, Little Sheba for
Roundabout Theatre Company. Among her many regional credits are Sylvia, Molly
Sweeney, Private Lives, Wonderful Tennessee, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Cherry Orchard, Speed-The-Plow, Heartbreak House, and Much Ado About Nothing. Ms. Dillon's film and television credits include Gods & Generals, A Shock to the System, The Money Pit, Terms of Endearment, the upcoming First Born, all three Law & Order's, and a recurring role on The Jury.
The design team for Arsenic and Old Lace includes Tony award-winning costume designer Judith Dolan (Broadway's LoveMusik, Parade, Candide, Alley's Leading Ladies, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), scenic designer Hugh Landwehr (Broadway's Frozen, A View from the Bridge, Alley's Doubt, Witness for the Prosecution), Tony award-winning lighting designer Pat Collins (Broadway's Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Doubt, Proof, Alley's Journey's End, After the Fall) and sound design by Joe Pino (Alley's Doubt, The Crucible). -- www.alleytheatre.org
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