by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
Department of Theatre & Drama
Power Center for the Performing Arts
December 7-10, 2006
Overview
The Story:
The Sycamore clan of Manhattan’s Upper West Side is not what one would call a typical family. A glorious collection of contented eccentrics, its members collect snakes, make fireworks, write but never finish plays, operate printing presses, and play the xylophone in their pursuit of self-fulfillment. Among this mix of zany characters is one normal daughter (and the only one with a job) who happens to be in love with her investment-banker boss’s son. Upon her engagement, plans are made to carefully introduce the two families. But when her fiancé and his parents accidentally show up a day early, the collision between the quirky Sycamores and the stolid Kirbys sets off a whirlwind of hilarious absurdities and improbabilities. Engaging and wildly funny, You Can’t Take it With You reminds us what is truly important in life – the wholehearted pursuit of happiness.
Artistic Significance:
Opening to instant critical and popular acclaim in 1937, You Can’t Take it With You was the third hit by the golden playwriting team of George Kaufman and Moss Hart. The play won the coveted Pulizter-Prize, a rarity for a comedy, and the film version the following year won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Kaufman and Hart wrote an amazing eight plays during their brief ten-year collaboration, each wildly successful including The Man Who Came to Dinner and I’d Rather Be Right. Their shows are unabashedly escapist theatre – filled with superb wit, intelligence, and perennial appeal. So forget about your troubles for a few hours, and join us for a madcap adventure. You Can’t Take it With You is simply irresistible.
The Cast
Lee Chrisman (Kalamazoo, MI), Wyatt Ewing (Keauhou, HI),
Kate Garfield (Livonia, MI), Beckah Gluckstein (Rochester Hills, MI),
Sari Goldberg (New York, NY), Daniel Kane (Northbrook, IL),
Ali Kresch (Hewlett, NY), Zac LeMieux (Traverse City, MI ),
Frank Maiorana (Sterling Heights, MI), Jessica Maynard (Altadena, CA), Kevin McCarthy (Atlanta, GA), Seth Moore (Larchmont, NY),
Zoe Palko (Ludington, MI), Marc Paskin (Wilmette, IL),
Pat Rourke (Port Huron, MI), Matt Semler (Glenshaw, PA),
Aaron Seeburger (Midland, MI), Alison Velasco (Monroe, NC),
James Wolk (Farmington Hills, MI)
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