The Manatee Performing Arts Center will kick off its September schedule with a dark comedy as its 2026-27 season gets underway in downtown Bradenton.
Arsenic and Old Lace will take the stage in the Kiwanis Theater from Sept. 3 through Sept. 20, 2026. The production is part of the Performing Arts Center’s Black Box series for the new season.
The classic comedy centers on a drama critic who discovers that his seemingly sweet and charitable aunts have been hiding a deadly secret. What follows is a mix of murder, mistaken identities and increasingly complicated family chaos.
Written by Joseph Kesselring, Arsenic and Old Lace has been a popular stage comedy for decades and was also adapted into a well-known 1944 film starring Cary Grant. The story combines elements of a murder mystery with farce as its main character attempts to deal with his eccentric relatives and their unusual activities.
The September production is the first of five shows scheduled for the Kiwanis Theater during the Manatee Performing Arts Center’s 2026-27 season. Upcoming Black Box productions include Carrie the Musical from Oct. 15 through Nov. 1, The Da Vinci Code from Jan. 14 through Jan. 24, Appropriate from Feb. 18 through Feb. 28 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? from April 8 through April 18.
The center’s Main Stage musical season began in August with Fame the Musical and will continue in October with Dear Evan Hansen. Other Main Stage productions scheduled during the season include Anastasia, Come From Away, Alice by Heart and Guys and Dolls.
The Manatee Performing Arts Center will also offer its Tribute Tuesday Concert Series beginning in October, featuring tribute performances celebrating the music of Queen, boy bands, Motown, Shania Twain and Toby Keith, and The Beatles, along with a performance by Old Time Sailors.
Tickets and additional information about Arsenic and Old Lace and the 2026-27 season are available through the Manatee Performing Arts Center at 941-748-5875 or its website.
