May 7th - 25th, 2008 

Beth Hopp & Marylin Ocker

You Can't Take It With You  

(Houston Press) 5-15-08

The time has never been better for a revival of George Kaufmann and Moss Hart's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy. Written at the end of the Great Depression, the charming play focuses on an unconventional family and their collective ability to celebrate life without lots of dough. Mother Penny (Marylin Ocker) writes plays, daughter Essie (Beth Hopp) makes candy and dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, and father Paul (Albert Baker) builds fireworks in the basement. Everything's lovely until Essie's sister Alice (Kay Allmand) invites her fiancé and his very conventional parents to dinner. When they arrive on the wrong night...well, let's just say the meeting is explosive. Kaufmann and Hart were one of America's best comedic teams, and their 1930s play feels completely relevant in the capable hands of director Craig Miller and his stellar cast, headed by Jim Salners as the wise and irreverent Grandpa. Especially funny are Steven Fenley's histrionic Russian dance teacher Kolenkohf and Lyndsay Sweeney's down-to-earth Rheba. But truly, there isn't a wrong step in the show.  — LW