Kathleen Chalfant, Michael Urie and More To Star in Keen Company Benefit Reading of ARSENIC & OLD LACE

Keen Company Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein today announced the leads for the Gala Benefit Reading of the beloved classic comedy Arsenic & Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring, directed by Mr. Silverstein featuring an all-star cast. The one night only event will take place Monday, February 24th at 7 PM at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues).

Leading the cast will be Kathleen Chalfant as Abby (Angels in America - Tony Award nomination; Wit - Outer Circle Critics, Drama Desk, Obie, Lucille Lortel Awards; Keen's A Walk in the Woods - Drama Desk Award nomination; 2018 Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement), Marsha Mason as Martha (four-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actress: Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, Only When I Laugh; Keen's I Never Sang for My Father), and Michael Urie as the drama critic Mortimer (Torch Song, Buyer & Cellar - Drama Desk Award; The Temperamentals - Lucille Lortel Award, Theater World Award; Homos, Or Everyone in America - Obie Award). Additional casting will be announced shortly.

In Arsenic and Old Lace, we meet two charming but not so innocent spinsters who have been poisoning lonely old men, their brother who thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt, their nephew who looks strangely like Boris Karloff, and poor Mortimer who does his best to control his family's antics just long enough to announce his engagement.

"In honor of Keen Company's 20th Anniversary, we are thrilled to be presenting a one-night benefit reading of Arsenic and Old Lace with some of the theatre's finest actors. Throughout our history, Keen has produced many 20th Century classic comedies (The Second Man, The Voice of the Turtle, The Hasty Heart, among others) and Arsenic and Old Lace is one that has always been near and dear to our hearts. I am beyond excited to be working with Keen friends and longtime supporters Kathleen Chalfant, Marsha Mason and Michael Urie to bring this hilarious play to life. I am grateful to them for donating their time and talent to help raise funds to support Keen's 20th Season, including our unique educational programming, Keen Teens," said Silverstein.

"Let's not exaggerate. At some time there may have been a funnier murder charade than Arsenic and Old Lace, which was acted at the Fulton last evening. But the supposition is purely academic. For Joseph Kesselring has written one so funny that none of us will ever forget it," said Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times upon its 1941 opening.

Keen Company creates theater that provokes identification, reflection, and emotional connection. In intimate productions of plays and musicals, we tell wholehearted stories about people striving to do their best and the decisive moments that change us. Keen has been honored with eleven Drama Desk nominations, two Drama Desk Awards, two Drama League nominations, and two Obie Awards.

The performance will be at Theatre 3 of Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues). Tickets will be $100, $150 (Premium Seating), $250 (Premium Seating with post show toast & meet the cast).

To purchase tickets to Arsenic & Old Lace, visit the Theatre Row Box Office (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues), order online at Telecharge.com, or order by phone at 212-239-6200.

For more information, visit KeenCompany.org.

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