BWW Reviews: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, a Classic Comedy Given a Classic Production

Kaufman and Hart may not have invented the comic chestnut of a meetup between an eccentric family and a more conservative one when young lovers nervously announce their intentions, but they sure perfected it with their 1937 Pulitzer-winner, You Can't Take It With You.

With its classic screwball antics and large cast full of fun characters, this hilarious gem has been a staple of American high school and community theatres for decades, so a big Broadway production like this one, filled with terrific stage actors, all in excellent form, is a real treat.

As the audience enters they see the stately exterior of the New York home owned by Martin Vanderhof, but the fun begins as soon as the stage revolves to reveal the cuckoo's nest inside and the hearty laughs and endearing sentiment don't stop until the final curtain call.

James Earl Jones is the charming center of director Scott Ellis' zippy production. As Martin Vanderhof, a sunny dispositioned grandfather who gave up a successful business career so he could enjoy living, Jones twinkles with light-footed charm and philosophical zest.

Martin has never paid income tax because he doesn't believe in it, a point the authors use for a bit of satirical commentary.

Kristine Nielsen is all sweet and jittery fun as his daughter, Penny, an aspiring playwright who spends her days working on several unfinished dramas. She's married to Paul (a folksy Mark Linn-Baker), who makes fireworks in the basement with the help of his assistant, Mr. DePinna (deadpan Patrick Kerr).

Annaleigh Ashford offers the evening's funniest performance and literally dances off with the evening as Penny and Paul's daughter, Essie, who's always seen prancing around the living room in her toe shoes. Reg Rogers is great fun as her wildly artistic Russian dance instructor.

The less colorful member of the family is Penny and Paul's other daughter, Alice, a Wall Street secretary who has been dating an executive's son, Tony. Rose Byrne and Fran Kranz are very likeable as the young couple. When Tony proposes, Alice is afraid that a meeting between their two families would be a disaster. It almost is. Byron Jennings and Johanna Day are perfect foils as Tony's conservative, well-off parents, who are not only flustered by the antics of their hosts, but allow a party game to let some uncomfortable relationship issues surface.

Other visitors include Elizabeth Ashley as a grandly regal deposed Russian noble who escaped the homeland during the revolution and is now a waitress at Childs' and Julie Halston as a drunken actress Penny recruits for one of her plays.

Underneath it all is the simple message of enjoying what life has to offer instead of continually trying to earn more money. After all, as the title says...

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