Spotlight: You Can't Take It With You

It's closing night for me, so what better way to celebrate than to talk about the show that I am in? Probably not the best way, but I'll try.

YCTIWY first opened in 1938, with a revival in the 80's, and a current revival as well. The show is zany and eccentric, with a lot of humor and heart.

The show runs in three acts, with a variation that is only two acts.

The story is based in New York. The show opens with the main family going about their daily lives. Penny Sycamore is writing plays on their typewriter, Essie Carmichael, Pennt's daughter, makes candy while practicing ballet. Paul Sycamore creates fireworks with help from a former iceman, Mr. de Pinna. Ed Carmicheal works on his printing press and plays the xylophone. The help, Rheba and Donald, who are also in love, set up for dinner. Grandpa, Penny's father, Martin Vanderhof, has just returned home from the commencements at Columbia.

Everything goes along in its strange manner until Penny's second daughter, Alice returns home from work. She informs the family that she has been called upon by a Mr. Anthony Kirby Jr., the vice president of the company she works at. She goes upstairs to get ready and tells everyone to call her when he arrives.

No sooner does the doorbell ring. Enters a man who everyone thinks is Tony, but rather a man named Henderson, who has come to collect twenty four years of income tax from Grandpa. Fustrated with his stubbornness, he leaves in a rage. The door bell rings again and this time it is Tony. Everyone oohs and awws over this new boy, and Alice cones down in a gorgeous blue gown. Just then, Boris Kolenkhov enters, a Russian who is also Essie's ballet teacher. Alice tells them they are off to the Monte Carlo ballet, and Kolenkhov proclaims he hates it. Alice and Tony leave and the rest of the family, including de Pinna and Kolenkhov sit down to dinner.

Later that night, Alice and Tony return from the show. After playful flirting, they are interrupted by different members of the family. Alice says they are the reason that they shouldn't be together, but Tony insists they are fantastic and proposes to Alice. Tony must leave but promises to spend every other moment he can with her.

In the next act, based a week later, Alice is preparing for the Kirby family, who will be coming for dinner the next night. Meanwhile, Penny is entertaining an actress who has come to tead one of her plays. After she becomes unbelievably drunk, she passed out on the couch. De Pinna come up from the basement with a painting. It is of home, in a Roman costume that Penny painted. Penny vows to finish the painting tonight. Kolenkhov enters to give Essie her ballet lesson. He discussed with Grandpa for a bit about random things and the Soviet government before Essie comes down.

Penny is painting De Pinna. Ed plays his xylophone while Essie and Kolenkhov dance. Grandpa throws darts. Rheba comes from the kitchen to answer the door. And then enters the Kirby's, who have showed up on the wrong night!

How does it all go down? Well, there's some turmoil, an innocent game turned ugly, and everyone's arrested. Oops. But it all calms down in the third act when Grandpa reminds Mr. Kirby that all the power and money he has doesn't matter because you can't take it with you. 😉

A great show that's been around since almost the start of The Great White Way, it's humorous and lighthearted, with cookiness to go around!

Comment below if you have a question, comment, or a show we can talk about next! Find us on Twitter as well!

Kendall