Greenbrier Valley Theatre presents ‘You Can’t Take It with You’
Greenbrier Valley Theatre (GVT), the State Professional Theatre of West Virginia, presents the heartwarming comedy “You Can’t Take It with You” Apr. 15-16 and 21-23 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee performance Apr. 23 at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $30 for general admission, $27 for seniors and $20 for children/students. For tickets or more information, call GVT’s Box Office at 304-645-3838 or visit www.gvtheatre.org.
The award-winning comedy by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart is the story of three generations of the eccentric Sycamores, led by the lighthearted Grandpa Vanderhof. Daughter Alice invites her fiancé and his straight-laced parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, to dinner but personalities collide when they meet the oddballs she calls family. What happens next will have you bursting with laughter.
Neal Arluck leads this cast of crazy characters as Grandpa Vanderhof. Arluck, who has been lucky enough to meet both Kaufman’s daughter Anne and Hart’s wife Kitty Carlisle, is well-versed in Kaufman’s work and appreciates the values Kaufman and Hart have given to Grandpa and the Sycamores.
Arluck sees Grandpa Vanderhof as a relaxed and happy old man who feels pity for stiff and unhappy Mr. and Mrs. Kirby.
“Grandpa feels sorry for Mr. Kirby,” Arluck said. “[He] endangers his health by continuing in the rat race that Grandpa got out of years before.”
That’s not all Arluck sees in his character. Arluck brings the deep affection Grandpa Vanderhof feels for his family, even Alice who wants to have a normal life, to the stage with perfect comedic timing.
“Grandpa is as proud of Alice as he is of everyone else in the family since she is doing what she wants to do,” Arluck said.
The most enduring theme in this play is the importance of the pursuit of happiness instead of wealth. Grandpa Vanderhof, the Sycamores and all of their crazy acquaintances manage to show the Kirbys just how important that is.
