You Can't Take It With You

April 20-23, 27-29

You Can’t Take it With You centers around the Vanderhof clan, a loveably dysfunctional New York City family. Their patriarch is Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, a wise if eccentric man who lives according to his own philosophy – no matter what anyone else, including the I.R.S., may think. His daughter, Penny Sycamore, is a cheerfully frustrated painter, playwright, and whatever else may happen to strike her fancy that day. Her husband, Paul, experiments with making his own fireworks in the basement, alongside Mr. De Pinna –a milkman who came to the house eight years ago and has never gone home. Also living under Grandpa’s roof are Penny and Paul’s children: Essie Carmichael (an aspiring candy-maker and ballerina), her musician husband Ed, and Alice, a Wall Street secretary, and seemingly the only “normal” character in the household.

It’s a bit of a shock to the family when Alice introduces her new fiancé, Tony Kirby, her boss’s son and the picture of a normal, successful businessman. The family quickly takes to Tony, and despite Alice’s misgivings, a dinner party is planned for Tony’s family to come to the Vanderhof home to meet Alice’s family. Tony shows up with his parents in tow –but unfortunately, they arrive the day before the party is planned, and catch the Vanderhofs not on their best behavior but certainly at their zaniest.