×

Perfect cast serves up ACT’s ‘You Can’t Take It With You’

Winter has gone on long enough here in Northeast Michigan, so any chance to temporarily escape its grip is welcome.

A few hours spent at Alpena Civic Theatre enjoying “You Can’t Take it With You” – set in the midst of a sweltering summer in New York City – does the trick. It’s light, it’s amusing and it’s extremely well done.

Director Jay Kettler assembled the perfect cast to act out this 1936 period piece that garnered multiple awards back in the day. Karl W. Heidemann, always a local favorite whether appearing in Alpena or Rogers City, stars as Grandpa Vanderhof, who 30 years ago chucked his high level job in favor of spending his days doing exactly what he wants, including raising snakes, attending commencement ceremonies and generally being quirky but eternally pleasant.

Grandpa’s house is frequented by an equally quirky mix of relatives and others who came to visit, then just never left. Diane Lozen shines as his daughter Penny, a writer of melodramas. Penny’s husband, Paul, spends a lot of time in the basement crafting fireworks along with Mr. De Pinna, who used to be the family iceman. Nick Hartman and Randy Bouchard provide their fair share of hilarity as these two characters.

And then there’s Boris Kolenkhov, the Russian immigrant still obsessed with his mother country. Matt Southwell in this plum role couldn’t be any funnier with his thick Russian accent and effusive gesturing. He also serves as a ballet teacher to Grandpa’s granddaughter, Essie. Rachel Taratuta does a nice turn as Essie, a childish candymaker with dreams of becoming a ballerina.

Essie’s married to Ed, played by Nick Stone, who’s capable of knocking out a Beethoven classic on the xylophone and operating a small printing press. Grandpa’s other granddaughter, Alice (Amanda Hulsey), appears to be the only “normal” one in the bunch. She works for a major company and has fallen for the boss’s son, Tony Kirby (Kevin Bey).

These two, very much in love, plan a dinner so that their two family’s can meet, though Alice is considerably worried about what Tony’s parents will think of her eccentric clan. It doesn’t help that Tony’s parents show up for dinner on the wrong day and in the midst of her family’s usual ridiculous behavior.

The young couple’s future relationship looks dubious once the seemingly straight-laced Mr. and Mrs. Kirby arrive on the scene. Donna Gilmet-Reinke and Bruce Michaud as the Kirbys add their own fun touches to an already funny show.

So do Jackie Herbert as the family’s maid, Rheba, and Scott Edgar as the handyman, Donald. He’s the one who gets to rush out to the nearby grocer for hotdogs, canned corn and other delectables to serve to the unexpected Kirbys.

Rounding out this fine cast are Janet Romas as the very inebriated Gay Wellington, an actress who stops by to read one of Penny’s play; ACT newcomer Karen Bacon as Grand Dutchess Olga Katrina, a friend of Boris Kolenkhov’s from their days together in Russia; James Shultz as Henderson, an IRS agent come to collect from Grandpa Sycamore, who hasn’t paid his income taxes in years; and Ted Rockwell as a G-man intent on investigating Ed over Communist leaning quotes he’s printed on his small in-house press.

This may sound like a lot of different characters to keep track of, but all of them bring a little something special to their parts and add to the overall comedy of the show. As director, Kettler encouraged them to make their characters their own as long as they stayed true to the essence of who they were playing. That solid direction seemed to work very well.

Behind the scenes, William Powell helped out as assistant director. For the final show of the season, “Kitchen Witches,” their leadership titles will be flipped around with Powell as director and Kettler as assistant director.

Kettler not only directed “You Can’t Take It With You,” but he also designed the handsome set and lighting. Other key production team members included Judy Beyer and Jackie Grulke as stage managers; Marilyn Kettler, Virginia Hulsey and Mary Ellen Crawford as costumers; and Andrew MacNeil as sound designer and lighting technician.

Remaining performances of the show written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman run through this week only with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. For reservations, call the ACT box office at 354-3624.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today