{"id":16257,"date":"2025-10-07T21:23:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lamp-post-creative-learning-center-prepares-for-upcoming-arsenic-and-old-lace-performances\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:56:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:56:02","slug":"lamp-post-creative-learning-center-prepares-for-upcoming-arsenic-and-old-lace-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lamp-post-creative-learning-center-prepares-for-upcoming-arsenic-and-old-lace-performances\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamp Post Creative Learning Center prepares for upcoming \u2018Arsenic and Old Lace\u2019 performances"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The cast of Lamp Post\u2019s upcoming rendition of \u201cArsenic and Old Lace\u201d ranges in age from a high school senior to retirees. The show opens on Thursday. (Lamp Post\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Lamp Post Creative Learning Center will present the dark comedy \u201cArsenic and Old Lace\u201d at the former Rock Springs Church, 32171 U.S. Highway 160.<\/p>\n

Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. Additional shows are scheduled for Oct. 10\u201311 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 11\u201312 at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

The 12-member cast includes performers from high school age to retirees. The set depicts a two-story Victorian living room with a staircase, cellar door and window seat \u2013 all central to the plot.<\/p>\n

Written in the early 1940s, the play centers on two elderly Brooklyn sisters known for their generosity. Beneath their kind exteriors, they secretly poison lonely old men with arsenic-laced elderberry wine, believing it to be an act of mercy. Their nephew Mortimer uncovers the secret while confronting his own fears of inherited eccentricity.<\/p>\n

One nephew, convinced he\u2019s Teddy Roosevelt, buries the victims in the cellar, imagining he\u2019s digging the Panama Canal. A third nephew, a fugitive with a surgically altered face, escalates the chaos.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having a really good time,\u201d Lamp Post co-founder Corinne Sandner told The Journal. \u201cI got to be in here while they were practicing lines, and the ladies who play our sisters are just giggling at each other and having a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a comedy, it\u2019s a farce, it\u2019s a dark comedy and it\u2019s just kind of a look at, \u2018What makes someone insane?\u2019\u201d co-founder Nicholaus Sandner said.<\/p>\n

Rehearsals have run three nights a week for five to six weeks. Many of the adult cast members work standard 9-to-5 jobs or are teachers who can arrive by 5:30 p.m., when rehearsals typically begin. Retired participants also contribute, and their flexible schedules make planning easier.<\/p>\n

Lamp Post Creative also hosts weekly rehearsals for the Four Corners Community Band. Its first concert, \u201cHowls and Harvest,\u201d a free Halloween- and fall-themed event, is set for Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n

A 1940s-themed winter formal is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31, with live music from the Four Corners Community Band, a student jazz group and an ensemble of FCCB members. The event includes hors d\u2019oeuvres and a silent auction to raise funds for Lamp Post.<\/p>\n

The event will serve as a formal fundraiser supporting Lamp Post\u2019s capital campaign to purchase its property. Attendees can enjoy a silent auction, make donations and take part in a festive evening designed to encourage community support for the center\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

A musical is planned for February, featuring children through adults in a performance of either \u201cAnnie\u201d or \u201cMatilda.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of those will have a large cast of kids, which is the group that we\u2019re aiming for,\u201d Nicholaus Sandner said.<\/p>\n

Tickets, season passes and sponsorships for \u201cArsenic and Old Lace\u201d are available at www.lamppostclc.org. Season passes include two tickets to each of the four annual shows for $60, an $80 value. Tiered sponsorships are also offered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

will be held over the course of four days<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[363,1060,364,21,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-community","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16257"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20101,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257\/revisions\/20101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16257"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}