BWW Reviews: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU at Little Theatre of Manchester Needs More Comic Fireworks

You Can't Take It With You
by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
Directed by Joseph Keach-Longo
Performed by Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road in Manchester, CT
http://www.cheneyhall.org

Anyone who has been out to dinner with me, or, worse, seen me in a bathing suit, knows that I love dessert. I have a major league sweet tooth that will eventually be the undoing of my gums, my waistline, and my complexion. After a meal, I may be stuffed, but I pretty much always find room for a sugary treat. The sad irony is nothing puts me in a crankier mood than a disappointing dessert. Yes, bad cake is worse than bad sex in my book.

When it comes to summer theatre, I could say the same thing. After offering up two solid courses of theatrical meat and potatoes with Who' s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Our Town earlier in 2013, Little Theatre of Manchester kicks off the warmer months with Kaufman and Hart's frothy comedy, You Can't Take It With You.

Is the LTM production of this 1936 classic a knockout, comic souffle? No. Is it a soul-crushing disappointment? Not at all. This You Can't Take It With You has all the right elements in place, but misses many of the opportunities that seem obvious to this critic (and fussy diner). With a first act that squanders much of the play's delicious set-up, the second act makes up for lost time with more than a few belly laughs. In other words, way too much cake and not enough frosting.

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's comedy tells a story that has since been repeated in various iterations over decades. The theme of an insular family of eccentrics being invaded by straight-laced outsiders may ring a bell with audiences that have seen The Addams Family, The Birdcage, The Royal Tennenbaums, and Arrested Development. In the play, the Sycamore/Vanderhof household is filled with a quirky cast of characters, minus the normal-seeming Alice. Alice has fallen in love with Tony Kirby, but frets about his Wall Street, well-heeled family meeting the kooky fruits and nuts hanging from her family tree. That's pretty much it.

Act 1 is mainly the set-up for the inevitable collision that will occur in Act 2. Director Joseph Keach-Longo keeps the pacing fine for the most part, but fails to sketch his characters more broadly. Although the play is not aiming for Marx Brothers-levels of anarchy throughout, the cock-eyed crew needs to tilt further toward the absurd than currently being played.

Some of the actors appear to get it from the outset, particularly Sal Uccello as the blowhard Boris Kolenkhov, Joe Van Allen as the besotted and gymnastic Donald, and Kristin Healey as the drunken Gay Wellington. Art Bradbury as the patriarch of the clan and Ginny Freese as his daughter, both rock back and forth between wanting to go there with the wackiness and retreating back to safer ground. The other members of the family are fine, but need to turn the dial on their eccentricities up to a higher pitch.

Oddly, it is the straight-laced outsiders that make a stronger impression. Abby Brooks as the arch, dry-as-toast Mrs. Kirby lands her comic bits. Steve Jordan as the stuffy 1-percenter Mr. Kirby is terrific in his role, and Mitch Hess rescues his character from being a bland love-interest. As the Kirbys don't appear until the button of Act 1, they tend to dominate the second act, forcing everyone onstage to up their game.

The production elements are top-notch, particularly the set designed by Keach-Longo and the costume designs by Julie Waxman and Liz Gawlik. I will reiterate my oft-complained complaint that LTM and its directors needlessly distance their audience by setting all of the action behind the proscenium while placing the first row of seating too far from the stage. Part of the joy of live theatre is proximity and intimacy. You are putting on the play for these folks, so let them near it! Again, it's just like dessert: it may be wonderful, but who can enjoy it if it is halfway across the table?

Photo of Sal Uccello, Glenn Gordon and Gayle Barrett by Chris Heustis of Photosynthesis.

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