Masquers announces cast of ‘You Can’t Take It With You’

Play opens Feb. 14

SOAP LAKE — The classic tale of the sane girl in a crazy family, and her efforts to keep her sane boyfriend from the stuffy family, will open at Masquers Theater on Feb. 14. The cast for “You Can’t Take It With You” was announced this week.

The play will run for three weekends, with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.

Alice Sycamore (Cecily Hendricks) in the Masquers production is an office worker in late 1930s New York, dating Tony Kirby (Lui Navarro), the nice guy from the office. Not just any guy – Tony’s dad (Nick Mahaney) owns the office.

Tony’s family is a little stuffy, and Alice’s family is kind of crazy. Actually they’re really crazy. Grandpa Vanderhof (Bob Jasman) has a little money, especially since he hasn’t paid his income tax, ever. His daughter Penny Sycamore (Jessica Hogge) writes trashy but popular novels, and her husband Paul (Greg Becker) makes fireworks in the basement.

Alice’s sister Essie Carmichael (Emma Russell) has a popular candy-making business, but she really wants to be a dancer – alas, she can’t dance. Essie’s husband Ed (Andrew Covarrubias) is Essie’s candy distributor and has a printing business on the side – and he didn’t mean to threaten the president.

The feds, however are not amused, and neither are Tony’s dad and mom (Cecilia Monda) when they’re all arrested while at the Vanderhof house. But wait, are the feds arresting them for the threats, or because of Grandpa’s tax evasion?

The cast also includes Mark Beyer, LeAnna McNamara, Mistya Zaleski, Jesse Huntwork, Cynthia Beyer and Rosalee Chamberlain. Carrie Rutherford is the director of the Masquers production.

“You Can’t Take It With You” was written by the legendary Broadway team of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The play won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize and ran for almost two years on Broadway. It has been a popular play for regional theaters since it was released for production in 1939.

Tickets are $12 to $16 and can be purchased at the Masquers website, www.masquers.com.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.