Coronado Playhouse's production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" wraps up its run Sunday, Sept. 6, with local reviewers praising the cast while noting the 1940s script hasn't aged well.
Director Kira Blaskovich assembled what The Coronado News reviewer Tony Le Calvez called one of the playhouse's strongest casts of the 2026 season. Amy Dell and Kat Fitzpatrick play the murderous Brewster sisters, Martha and Abby, and Le Calvez wrote that the pair command the stage from their first scene.
Paul Bonner anchors the story as nephew Mortimer Brewster, a theater critic drawn into his aunts' deadly secret. Le Calvez singled out Bonner's physical comedy, writing that "Bonner's facial expressions do more to elicit humor than anything in Kesselring's script."
Steven Jensen, a Coronado Playhouse board member, plays the menacing Jonathan Brewster. Joseph Vitti rounds out the leads as Dr. Herman Einstein. A separate review in the Coronado Eagle & Journal by Alessandra Selgi-Harrigan called the show "both entertaining and clever" and praised Vitti's facial expressions, German accent and physical antics.
Both reviews agreed the cast outshines the material. Le Calvez pointed to a reference to Boris Karloff that drew silence instead of laughter. Jokes tied to President Theodore Roosevelt also missed with younger audience members, he wrote. The playhouse faced a similar challenge earlier this season with "Barefoot in the Park," Le Calvez noted.
"I cast [these actors] because they're artists, so they helped me discover new things about the characters," Blaskovich told The Coronado News.
Written by Joseph Kesselring, "Arsenic and Old Lace" ran on Broadway from 1941 to 1944 and inspired a Frank Capra film starring Cary Grant. The Coronado Playhouse previously staged the show in 1990 and 1998.
Remaining performances are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $30 for adults and $24 for seniors 62 and older, active military and students with valid ID. Group discounts are available for parties of eight or more. The playhouse is at 1835 Strand Way. Tickets are available at coronadoplayhouse.org or by calling (619) 435-4856.
Coming up at Coronado Playhouse: The next production is "Into the Woods," a musical based on Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Dates and tickets have not been announced.
