You Can't Take It With You- 2008
You Can’t Take It With You
Opens January 11
The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1937 is the next offering at the Racine Theatre Guild. You Can’t Take It With You, a classic comedy by the playwriting team Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, opens January 11 and plays weekends through February 3. It has been delighting audiences since it opened on Broadway in 1936, with its loving look at an eccentric family and their adventures through three days.
The Sycamore family may be a bit odd, but they are all happy and each one has a hobby a little out of the ordinary. Mother Penny writes plays on a typewriter that was delivered by mistake. Daughter Essie aspires to be a ballerina while her husband Ed accompanies her on the xylophone when he isn’t selling homemade candies door to door. Father Paul makes fireworks in the basement with his friend Mr. De Pinna. Donald spends a lot of time at the house, since he is “on relief” and is a friend of the cook Rheba. Grandpa likes to attend commencement ceremonies, go to the zoo and pursue happiness instead of the job he walked away from 35 years ago.
Add a Russian ballet teacher, a tax collector, three government men, a drunken actress, and a Grand Duchess from Russia, who all arrive at the Sycamore house. Then there’s Alice, the daughter who is the most normal member of this crazy family. She works as a secretary at the Kirby Company and has fallen in love with the boss’s son. She dreads bringing Tony to meet her family, but he loves her so much, he accepts them all. But will his parents?
Just as Act One closes, we meet Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, who come for dinner on the wrong night. How will these uptight members of the upper class react when they see the chaos that is the Sycamore family? Will Alice give up on Tony? Or will love find its way?
You Can’t Take It With You was made into a film in 1938, directed by Frank Capra, and won the Academy Award for best picture. Successful Broadway revivals in 1965 and 1983 illustrate the play’s ongoing appeal.
Critics have admired the play’s humorous encounter between the conservative Kirbys and the family of individualists who pursue happiness with energy and enthusiasm. It has been praised for the witty one-liners, the visual theatricalism, and the balanced construction. In various productions of the show, adjectives like “riotous,” “hilarious,” “delightful,” and “wildly entertaining” have been used to describe it.
Kaufman and Hart’s shows have always been popular on our stage. You Can’t Take It With You was produced at the RTG in 1941 and again in 1967. Kaufman and Hart’s 1939 show, The Man Who Came to Dinner, was produced at the RTG in 1945 and again in 2000.
You Can’t Take It With You opens Friday, January 11, and runs four weekends through February 3. For information or to reserve tickets, please call the Theatre Guild Box Office at 633-4218. You won’t want to miss this classic comedy that will show you why the humor of Kaufman and Hart has proved so popular for the past 70 years.
From the Managing/Artistic Director - Doug Instenes
Comedy that Doesn’t Grow Old
Kaufman and Hart’s You Can’t Take It With You is clearly one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, and, like all classics, has an enduring appeal. We are thrilled to be presenting this comedy on the RTG stage.
This show illustrates how good shows never die. The kookiness, the crazy characters and silly situations still make people laugh. Yes, it is a period play, set in the 1930s, but the juxtaposition of a non-conformist family against the conservative Kirbys is like a good sit-com, able to entertain generation after generation.
Because the RTG produced this play twice before, we thought it would be a good idea to revive it in our 70th anniversary season. This show and our theatre were born at nearly the same time. And we hope our newest production of the show will illustrate that what provokes laughter stays the same through the decades.
This is a challenging show, with a large cast of 19 people, period costumes, a multitude of props, and almost every part is a character role. Guest director Michael Snider has been having great fun in bringing it all to life with the cast and crew.
We think it’s a great way to kick off the new year, with an old-but-beloved comedy. We hope You Can’t Take It With You will entertain you with its humor and its underlying message that we should all enjoy life to its fullest. Gather your friends and relatives to come and see the show. The subject matter is suitable for people of all ages.
And there’s a lot to be excited about in the future. Jean’s Jazz is coming up soon along with our two remaining Packy Plays.
Happy New Year to all!
You Can’t Take It With You
by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman
Sponsored by Northwestern Medical Center
CAST
Penelope Sycamore ..... Barbara Tylla
Paul Sycamore .................. Phil Lyden
Rheba ...................... Marshlli L. Ford
Grandpa ............... Richard F. Wenzel
Essie .................... Teri Christensen
Alice .................... Vanessa Schroeder
Mr. DePinna .... Ricardo A. Morales
Ed ................................... Max Geliche
Donald ........................... Scott Kruger
Henderson .......... Len Hedges-Goettl
Tony Kirby ................ Michael Hauck
Mr. Kirby ........................... Art Dexter
Mrs. Kirby .................. Carol Larsen, Anne Mollerkov
Boris Kolenkhov ........ Mike Kishline
Gay Wellington . Anne L. Mollerskov, Shawn Britten
Duchess Olga ........ Mary Jane Carter
G-Men ........ Brad Bliss, Matt Rangel, Jeff Kauzlarich
CREW
Prod. Stage Mgr. ..... Fran Macenelli
Stage Mgr. .................. Jill Dexter
Asst. Stage Mgrs. ......... Ellen Dexter, Cindy David & Karen Hamilton
Light Design .............. Mike Kurhajec
Light Tech. ............... Suzanne Sikora
Sound Design .............. Eric Goodwin
Sound Technician .......... Bob Hansen
Props ............................. Dana Strauss & Rodrigo Maldonado
Costumes ......................... Amber Fay
Makeup ................ Nicole Monaghan