Submitted by North Thurston Public Schools
When Leslie Van Leishout began leading the theatre department at River Ridge High School 15 years ago, one of the first productions she did was Kaufman and Hart’s Pulitzer Prize-winning You Can’t Take it With You. Now in a “Season of History,” the award-winning Van Leishout once again brings this delightfully, belly-laugh of a farce to the River Ridge stage.
The play introduces us to the lovable, if eccentric Sycamore family. When Alice Sycamore brings her fiancé and his stodgy parents to dinner on the wrong night, chaos and comedy erupt. And that’s all before the FBI, the fireworks, the man in the toga, and the communist printing press appear. Grandpa Vanderhof teaches us a few lessons along the way. If we choose money over happiness, we will become stuffy and miserable just like the affluent Mr. Kirby. There are many pathways to happiness, make certain you follow your own. A film adaptation by Frank Capra won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Van Leishout, who was awarded the Outstanding High School Drama Program in the Nation this summer, chose this play for the season as a celebration of theatre at the school. The musical on the season, Once on this Island, was produced the first year the school opened twenty years ago in 1993. Also StudentWorks, an evening of student –written, -directed, and -choreographed plays and dances celebrates its 20th year of performances.
You Can’t Take It With You opens October 26 and plays weekends through Nov. 3. Tickets are available at the door. You may not be able to take your money with you, but come see You Can’t Take It With You and take away a few wonderfully delightful memories.
