The Long Beach Playhouse (LBPH)—now with a full season of shows after reopening—is serving up the 1936 sentimental comedy “You Can’t Take It With You,” continuing through May 7.
Though its story is both amusing and heartwarming, the most entertaining aspect of this production is seeing each of its 17 cast members immersed in their unique, even wacky, characters.
Written by playwrights George Kaufman and Moss Hart, “You Can’t Take It With You” won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama and a 1938 film adaptation by Frank Capra won that year’s Academy Award for Best Picture, albeit with some character changes and additional scenes.
With such a pedigree, one would expect quite a story—but the play is more unconventional than sensational, showcasing extremely diverse characters rather than a streamlined plot.
But as a play about an unusual American family, that would make sense, highlighting in a zany way how the clan chooses to “live, love and laugh through all that life tosses at them,” as Director Mitchell Nunn notes.
As head of the family, Grandpa (John Sturgeon) is also its guiding heart. Choosing to live free of both employment and paying taxes on his rental income, Grandpa’s joie de vivre spirit pervades the household, with each family member immersed in their hobbies and passions without regard to practicality.
Grown daughter Penelope (Tree Henson)—who opens the play grappling with writer’s block and dipping into a candy bowl—writes plays she never finishes, begun on a typewriter accidentally delivered to the home eight years prior.
Her husband Paul (Todd Rew) plays with model boats and makes experimental fireworks in the basement to sell for Fourth of July celebrations with the help of an assistant, Mr. De Pinna (Carl daSilva), who once came to deliver ice and never left, just like a milkman had done before him.
Penelope and Paul’s daughter Essie (Lyndsay Palmer) makes candy and is perpetually dancing—one of the joys of the production is seeing her endlessly moving from fingers to toes—accompanied by her sweetly unassuming husband Ed (Giovanni Navarro) on xylophone.
But older daughter Alice (Natalie Kathleen) is different—one might even say “normal”—holding down a job and coming home one day announcing her attachment to the boss’s son Tony Kirby (Hayden Maher). But she is worried about how he will react to her family’s unusual behaviors, let alone Tony’s very wealthy parents.
Other characters only add to the eccentric atmosphere of the house, including Essie’s larger-than-life Russian dance teacher Mr. Kolenkhov (Robb Tracy), a drunken actress and a Russian duchess (both played by Geraldine Fuentes). With the play set after the Russian Revolution and during the Great Depression, its story gets political, weaving in accusations of sedition and defrauding government assistance programs—all in good humor.
Each actor does remarkably well to stay in character—even the “normal” ones—amid the others’ eccentricities. And it is fun to hear the fireworks (literally) go off when Tony’s parents arrive unexpectedly for dinner a day earlier than planned.
While “You Can’t Take It With You” may not have you rolling on the floor laughing, its whimsical characters and quirky storylines will keep you chuckling. Above all, experiencing 17 actors enjoying their offbeat roles and fully inhabiting their characters brings home the joy of live local theatre.
“You Can’t Take It With You” continues at the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage Theatre, 5021 E. Anaheim St., through May 7, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $14 to $24 and can be purchased by calling the box office at 1-562-494-1014 or visiting LBPlayhouse.org.
1 comment
Comments are closed.