You won't find the Cleavers in this play

You Can't Take It With You, a 1936 comedy about an eccentric bunch, opens Friday in Tarpon Springs.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 23, 2000

Who could be more appealing at this particular time of year than an irascible old codger who has never paid any federal income taxes as a matter of principle?

That's Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, the patriarch of an eccentric group of relatives sharing a home near Columbia University in the 1936 comedy You Can't Take It With You. The two-act play, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, opens Friday at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center and continues weekends through March 12.

"This is a marvelous play, with interesting characters and great language," said Diana Forgione, director of the Avenue Players, the troupe doing the show.

The wholesome, wholly American play was made into a movie in 1938 and won Academy Awards for best picture and for Frank Capra as best director, and received four additional nominations.

In the play, Grandpa (George Kolitsas) has long ago given up his lucrative job, opting instead to live life his own way. At present, that means enjoying his rocking chair as his good buddy Mr. DePinna (Zolman Cavitch) and his son-in-law Paul (Sumner Gochberg) make holiday fireworks in the basement.

Daughter Penny Sycamore (Karen Hayden) spends her time writing risque plays and painting Mr. DePinna wearing classic, but skimpy, Roman togas. Granddaughter Essie (Christine Curtin) practices her ballet, accompanied on the xylophone by her unambitious husband, Ed (Todd Evans), and tutored by a boisterous Russian, Boris Kolenkov (George Miller).

The only seemingly normal one in this wacky bunch is granddaughter Alice (Jessica Phillips), who works for the stuffy Mr. Kirby (Fred Butler) and is in love with the boss' level-headed son, Tony (Anthony Casale).

But how could the conventional Tony ever manage to marry into and be happy with Alice's unusual family?

The question gets trickier when Alice invites the oh-so-proper Kirbys to meet her family and the Kirbys show up on the wrong night -- just after a bevy of even more outlandish friends show up on the Sycamores' doorstep.

How this all works out is the lesson for both the play's characters and its audience: You (really) Can't Take It With You.

The 17-member cast includes a long list of Avenue Players veterans, as well as several experienced actors who are new to the troupe.

Kolitsas, who plays Grandpa, is a seasoned actor who has appeared at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, American Stage and a long list of other venues. Ms. Hayden, who plays Mrs. Sycamore, has performed with several acting companies in the Northeast and Wisconsin. She is communications director for United Way of Pasco County.

Casale, who portrays the boss' son, is an award-winning actor with Stage West Community Playhouse and returns to the Avenue Players after two roles in the troupe's recent Mask of Moriarty. Ms. Curtin, the granddaughter/ballerina, is an award-winning player at Richey Suncoast Theatre and has appeared at the Show Palace.

Ms. Phillips, the young love interest Alice, won acting awards while at Palm Harbor University High and has been accepted to Flagler College, where she plans to major in theater and deaf education. She is making her debut with the Avenue Players.

Butler, the stuffy Kirby, has had major roles in several Avenue Players comedies and dramas. Cavitch, who plays DePinna, has been in several Avenue Players shows, including Sunshine Boys, Solid Gold Cadillac and Would-Be Gentleman.

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