Fran Kranz, Rose Byrne, Johanna Day, Kristine Nielsen, James Earl Jones, Will Brill, Mark Linn-Baker, Annaleigh Ashford, Byron Jennings(Photo: Joan Marcus)
There is a musical aspect at the heart of "You Can't
Take It With You" that rhythmically and melodically transports us into
another state of consciousness. And I'm not talking particularly about the
joyous-to-watch actor Will Brill, who as the flitting and fluttery Ed, pounds
out Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and a little later Rimsky Korsakoff's "Scheherazade"
on an xylophone perched on the second floor landing of the Vanderhof home meanwhile
in the living room below his wife Essie (the hilariously comedic Annaleigh
Ashford) dances sur les pointes without any discernible talent or technique .
If the sound of music is designated to compete with the occasional
explosions of gun powder coming from the basement, let it be, as it is only a part
of the harmonious cacophony created by the wonderfully eccentric characters in
Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy. While it walks,
talks and looks like a musical, it isn't, although you could swear that
everyone is preparing to burst into song, mostly to fully express the play's daffy
"Depression era" philosophy.
Even without songs to enhance characters that have since become
icons of nonconformity, there is now on the stage of the Longacre Theatre an
assemblage of performers who individually or in concert swing and sway to the intrinsic
musicality of the play. This is one of those rare comedies in which each
lilting scene responds to the exacting beat of a metronome, as in this case, determined
by director Scott Ellis.
This is the first Broadway revival of this classic since
1983. It seems like on only yesterday that we were invited back into the home
of a family of good-hearted, tax-dodging, laws-avoiding loonies who stand their
ground, persevere and incredulously succeed. The deliciously inane behavior of
the Sycamore family has become an American legend in the past 78 years, thanks
to the innumerable stock, regional and school revivals. Charismatically
attracting strangers into their midst - - - who manage to stay on after
visiting hours are over, the Sycamores demonstrate the contagious joy of
self-expression.
The innocently anarchic philosophy of Grandpa Vanderhof (James
Earl Jones) acts as an inspiration for this close-knit family. Jones has been an imposing dramatic force on
the stage ever since his debut in 1957 with his Tony Award-winning performance
in "The Great White Hope." makes crafty use of his well-being and brings
a keen sense of a man willing to sacrifice a lot in the pursuit of happiness...that
includes attending college commencements and collecting snakes. Kristine
Nielsen, who only last season charmed audiences in "Vania and Sonia and
Masha and Spike," is a delight as his slightly ditsy daughter Penny, who took
up playwriting one day when a typewriter was delivered by mistake. Her husband
Paul (a fine performance by Mark Linn-Baker) has discovered how exciting making
fireworks can be, as assisted by a now-permanent house guest Mr. De Pinna,
played by the wonderfully comical Patrick Kerr.
It will be a long time before I forget the entrance and the coming-right-at-you
gaze of Elisabeth Ashley the Grand Duchess
Olga Katrina aka the blintzes Queen of Russia,. Reg Rogers is terrific as the
impassioned Russian dance teacher who makes no pretense about how he feels
about his pupil Essie, whose dancing, except for her fevered entrechants, is
likely to evoke the image of a dying ostrich. What more can one say about Julie
Halston, who plays the stupefied alcoholic actress whom Penny met on a bus and
brought home, but that she is HILAROUS.
Rose Byrne, who is best known for her role in the TV series
"Damages," is making a disarming Broadway debut as Penny's daughter
Alice who becomes increasingly mortified by the thought of having her family
meet her suitor Tony Kirby's (excellent performance by Fran Kranz) family. The
stuffy Kirby's are played with earnest aplomb by Byron Jennings and Johanna
Day.
The spectacle and detail within designer David Rockwell's cluttered
living room setting adds to the pleasure we experience. Director Ellis has done
something much more than direct another successful revival of a classic. He has
allowed the play the freedom to expand into a life it has never known before,
at least to these eyes. There may be
some truth in the saying "You Can't Take It With You," but certainly
the memory of it will linger for a long time, and possibly until the next
revival comes along.
My memory of "You Can't Take It With You" also
goes back to 1965 and the production directed Ellis Rabb for his A.P.A. Phoenix
Repertory Co. He also directed the 1983 Broadway production. How wonderful it is to see that the glorious
Rosemary Harris, who played Alice in the A.P.A. production, is back in New York starring in Tom Stoppard's
"Indian Ink."
"You Can't Take It With You" at the Longacre Theatre,
220 West 48th Street (212) 239-6200
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