Theatre and Dance at Wayne Opens 2016–17 Season With YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU.

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance is pleased to open what promises to be an exciting and invigorating season. On Friday, September 16th, the annual President's Preview Event will be held with notable individuals from the community who support and patronize the arts.

The event has become a staple for the Wayne State community's "Welcome Back" given by President M. Roy Wilson himself, that celebrates the start to a brand new year. The evening also welcomes audiences from all over the Metropolitan area into the Hilberry Theatre's doors, as the 54th season jump starts with You Can't Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. Running September 16th-October 2nd, this screwball comedy of family dynamics excites audiences with laughter, as a young woman tries to control her eccentric family when her fiancé's uptight parents come to dinner.

Family is the one social paradigm that we can't choose for ourselves. It is the very essence of our background as individuals. You Can't Take It With You, though written during The Great Depression era, has a message that remains true today, as it highlights the importance of family over the materialistic qualities that come from the abundance of wealth. Within the familial structure, it's important to find the opportunity to pursue true happiness in whichever shape or form that may take.

Alice, the young woman at the center of the story, is the only "normal" member of her family. She finds herself conflicted with the outrageous qualities that her family exhibits in the midst of her fiancé's conservative parents. When humiliation strikes, her plan is simple-to leave her family. Alice soon learns that even if she leaves her family, they will still be her family.

Esteemed faculty director, Blair Anderson, returns to the stage to direct You Can't Take It With You. Blair Anderson, Ph.D., is in his thirty-eighth year at Wayne State University. Anderson notes, "The phrase, 'You can't take it with you,' is most often used to justify the spending of your money before you die. You can't take wealth with you, so your priorities in life should be on living and sharing with others-not accumulating selfishly. Kaufmann and Hart explore a timeless family dynamic where idiosyncratic individuals do indeed live in the present and are accepting of one another. The most precious wealth that any extended family can share is time, time together. As Boris notes in the play, 'Love is all that is left in the world, Grandpa.' Every family has unique individuals, and audiences will be enthused to see reflections of their own families in the characters on stage.

You Can't Take It With You is an exhilarant kickoff to the 16-17 season at Theatre and Dance at Wayne and The Hilberry Theatre. It has laughs, fireworks, absurdity and just the right amount of escapism to get away from it all. Traditional subscriptions for the whole season and tickets for You Can't Take It With You are now on sale to the public.

New this year are memberships that include all-access to the entire Theatre and Dance at Wayne season. See any show, any date, as many times as you wish for only $25/month for 6 months! Tickets are available by calling the Hilberry Theatre Box Office at (313) 577-2972, online at Hilberry.com, or by visiting the box office at 4743 Cass Avenue at the corner of Hancock Street.

About the Hilberry Theatre Company
Wayne State University's Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance serves students as a nexus of performance, production, and research in the fields of dance, theatre, and performance studies. It provides a wide variety of degree programs that allow students the flexibility to study these disciplines broadly or to concentrate more specifically in performance, design, or management. The Hilberry Theatre hosts a professional theatre company that is staffed by graduate students. The company performs and produces an annual season of six plays, including high school matinees for nearly 6,000 students.

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