Take In ‘You Can’t Take It With You’

Theatre Palisades Kicks Off 100th Production with Kaufman & Hart Pulitzer-Winner

Celebrating its 100th performance, Theatre Palisades launched ‘You Can’t Take It with You,’ George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic play, on November 7. The winning dysfunctional-family farce arrives just in time for the holidays and plays through December 14. Consider Alice Sycamore Marilyn Munster to the eccentric Sycamores’ Munsters, the only ‘normal’ member of the family of dreamers. Alice (Ivy Khan) is in love with Tony Kirby (Brett Chapin), the son of Mr. Kirby (Tom Forrester), a successful businessman and employer of the lovebirds. Tony anxiously wants to marry Alice and introduce his parents to her family, but Alice is very self-conscious about her offbeat relatives, which include matriarch and failed playwright/painter Penelope (Cindy Dellinger), aspiring ballerina Essie Carmichael (Sarah Mahoney), her vibraphone-playing husband Ed (Steve Shaheen), and Paul (Bud Sabatino) and his buddy, Mr. DePinna (George Lissandrello), who experiment on creating fireworks in the basement. When Tony brings his parents to the Sycamore household prematurely before an appointed dinner date, comedy ensues as the uptight, well-to-do Kirbys realize that their prospective daughter-in-law is related to a bunch of kooks. Essentially an immigrant clan vs. WASP-y family t’te-a-t’te, Kaufman and Hart’s play capitalizes on humor centered on what people of all ethnic stripes can relate to”crazy relatives”and goes into ‘Meet the Parents’-style comic overdrive by Act II. The highlight of this production is Gene Smith, as Penelope’s income-tax allergic father, Martin Vanderhof, a.k.a. Grandpa. Adorable and the recipient of the play’s best one-liners, Smith (who, incidentally, has lived in Pacific Palisades for 50 years) fits his role. Mahoney energetically plays Essie as a chirpy and vacuous Victoria Jackson ‘Saturday Night Live’ character, athletically pirouetting around the stage, while Khan as Alice, the sturdy straightwoman in a family of veritable circus freaks, does a good job of navigating through the folly. Seasoned character actors Sabatino and Lissandrello provide nice comic relief, while Forrester and Cynthia Rothschild are excellent as the prickly purebred Kirbys. Sherry Coon, who will alternate her role with Julia Whitcombe, entertains as Olga. Good production values overall, with classic recordings of ‘Just A Gigolo,’ ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,’ and ‘Pennies From Heaven’ setting the mood. As the original production opened on December 14, 1936 (and played for 837 performances), the material may feel dated in places for younger audiences, as frequent references abound to Stalin’s Soviet Union, Trotsky, and the 48 United States. Yet, as are guaranteed with Kaufman and Hart, sparkling wit abounds, and the Theatre Palisades players keep the farcical antics bouncing along. Good family fare for this family-minded time of year. The Pierson Playhouse is located at 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. For tickets: (310) 454-1970; www.theatrepalisades.org.