Well, the Boise Little Theater has been
a staple of the Boise Community for
75 years and as much as the Volunteer
Base productions are tradition,
so is bringing back the famous
show arsenic and old lace.
We visited the BLT stage to get
the details on how you 2 can be a
part of this impressive history.
Frank, what is the significance of this
year's season for Boise? Little view?
Wow, there's a loaded question.
It's it's really a a landmark year.
It's our 75th anniversary.
75 years as a community theater.
All volunteer. One of the oldest
theaters in the western half of the
United States continually on operation.
All volunteer staff. It's amazing.
It's one of those places you go and
you see wait a minute. On stage.
Isn't that the isn't that the the
lady that checked me out at the
grocery store this morning. Holy cow.
Your family friends. Neighbors.
Your your children's best friends.
The school teacher at school.
That's who we're here on stage the people
that that love to bring the story to
life and share it with the community.
I love that you made that
personal relation right.
Like you just you don't know
people's hidden talents. You don't.
Yes. And it's amazing when you can
actually see them here on the stage.
Speaking of stages,
we're actually here on the.
Of arsenic and old lace.
So tell us about this
great play that's coming
up. Arsenal release is
one of my favorite plays.
It's an iconic play for sure,
written in 1939, opening Broadway.
In 1941, Frank Capra picked it up and shot
Cary Grant to fame in the movie in 41.
It ran three years to sell out crowds
in in in in New York City and Broadway,
which was really unusual
for that point in time.
It's a story that plays as well to
audiences today, I swear as it did.
In 1941 on Broadway, it touches everybody.
It speaks to every audience.
It's a great story.
It's got a little bit of everything.
It's a romance and love and
murder and mystery and mayhem all
wrapped up into one single play.
It's got it all.
It's a great,
great production.
It's
a great production with a grand
history and a history too,
that exists here at Boise.
Little theater,
for sure, for sure.
75 years, 75 years.
This is our 75th anniversary now.
What's cool about this?
Is is that our stinking old lace?
Ohh. We used our sting on lace
as a play in our opening season.
Ohh. Seriously. Seriously.
First season in Boise, Little Theater,
arsenic and Old Lace was performed.
Yes. Wow. Now Fast forward 25 years later,
we bring it back. OK?
The audiences go crazy.
The community says Oh my gosh, we love it.
Where has this been all of our lives?
Right. 25 years later, 50th anniversary,
we bring it back again.
Sensing a pattern? Yes. OK.
You picked up on it, didn't you?
Yes. And here we are.
Here we are, 25 years later, yet again.
Yes. Bringing this iconic back,
iconic playback for our 75th anniversary.
And I am just this lucky
guy that gets to direct it.
A great cast,
great cast of 14 local community people,
friends, family and so forth.
Yeah, that's great. I love that.
So it's almost kind of the lucky play,
if you will, 75 years for boys.
Computer, that's an amazing milestone
and maybe has something to do with
the luck behind arsenic and old lace.
You never know.
But why should people come
here to the theater?
Why be in an in person performance
opposed to, you know,
watching a movie or stay
at home and watching TV?
That's a really great question.
Live theater is, is different.
You're pulled into the story differently.
I mean, we all love to go to the movies,
right? We all like to go see who over
our favorite movie star is on screen.
And it's a great experience, right.
We all love to buy the, you know,
$15 box of popcorn, the 25.
Market go. Live theaters, different.
You're pulled into the store.
You're here. It's different every show.
That's what's amazing,
because because it is live.
It's never perfect.
There's imperfection in it.
There's magic moments that
only happened that night.
The story changes.
You get to meet the cast after the show.
We all come back to the green room.
They come, we talk, we chat.
It's a great Q&A time for the
for the local audience members
to come in and talk to us.
Live is just different.
There's an energy in the room.
I'm so glad you said that because that's
what I love about coming to theater,
is that there's an energy on the stage,
but there's an energy in the room and
it's like we're all in it together.
The audience is participating,
even though as a viewer,
you know you're participating
in the experience that's
happening live in front of you.
Hmm. Yeah, you can feel
it. You can feel it.
Yes, you can feel it.
Feel it. Yes, yes.
And especially with this play,
I can only imagine
you're gonna pick up the the
romance and you're gonna be pulled
into the love story and then
the mayhem and then the murder,
and then the cops and then the,
uh, I don't want to give it away.
I don't want to give it away
stuff. So people want to
buy tickets and come here,
the Boise Little Theater and see
the iconic arsenic and old lace.
What do they do?
They could call me personally.
Or a much better idea.
Much better idea.
Go to boiselittletheater.org.
You'll see our entire season,
which this year is a phenomenal season.
Ohh my gosh, what a great season.
A little bit of everything
for everybody but Boise.
Littletheater.org.
Scroll down to arsenic and old lace.
Click on that 5:15 or 20 tickets.
Bring all your family and friends.
Love it.
Frank, thank you so much.
It's been my pleasure.
I enjoy every minute.