On June 1-2, the BCA Theatre Department put on three performances of You Can’t Take It With You,by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. Right from the start with Penelope Sycamore (Lauren Henning) sitting at a desk, to the final scene with Martin Vanderhof (Joseph Nasta) saying a dinnertime prayer, I was hilariously engaged and felt as if I too were part of this whirlwind of an adventure taking place onstage.
I was lucky enough to attend the performance on the night of Saturday June 1st, and I loved it. For two hours, I was sucked into the hilarious and touching love story of Tony Kirby (Bennett Kosma) and Alice Sycamore (Leah deGruchy), and how in the end, they cast aside their large family differences to be with each other.
Oh, I laughed a lot too.
Where to begin? Why not Kolenkhov (Sumner Perera)? She drew out so many laughs with her ridiculous outfits, unreserved bluntness, her in-your-face personality, and very strong Russian pride. Then Paul Sycamore (Jaymes Ngo), an eccentric, mad-scientist with a fascination of explosives, that kept the audience exploding with laughter (pun intended). Plus, he kept the audience on the edges of their seats, nervous for a possibly terrible, accidental explosion of all of the rockets and fireworks in the Sycamore home at a very inconvenient time when the G-Men (Danielle Rifkin, Katherine Luetters, & Matthew Digeratu) are investigating the home- by the way, which of course happened.
This play was performed not in your typical endstage configuration but rather in-the-round with risers set up in a circle on the auditorium stage. Director Mr. Kaplan discussed the benefits of this setup, saying, “It allows the audience to really be up close and personal with the action [and] to be more involved and invested in the performance.” This was most certainly the case throughout the night because the actors and actresses at times would sometimes be an arm’s length from a member of the crowd, or I would hear the offstage dialogue right behind from where I was sitting, making me feel as if I was in the home of the Sycamore family.
There was a lot of effort put into this spectacular show as Sumner Perera stated, “Art is only achieved through perspiration.” However, that does not mean that the rehearsal process was grueling.
“I genuinely enjoyed every minute of this rehearsal process. I never felt like I’d rather be somewhere else, and I never dreaded going,” said Assistant Director Eden Tayar.
Stage Manager Jason Kooistra added that “Everyone always enjoyed coming to each rehearsal, and you can’t say that for every play produced at BCA.”
In addition, the combined effort of members of the student body and faculty made this show a reality. Director Mr. Kaplan said that, “In the six years I’ve been here, the production elements have gotten stronger and stronger because of Mr. Danieli’s constant upgrading of our facilities and the amazing guest artists we have coming in to design and work. We also have more options for students to get involved with Mr. Pavlu’s Stagecraft classes and Ms. Pero’s Design for Theatre and Costume Design projects and electives.”
All of this hard work surely paid off, and in the end, the BCA Theatre Department put on a spectacular showing of You Can’t Take It With You.
“After the last show I felt this wave of pride come over me for the BCA Theatre Department,” said Eden. “We do such amazing work in such a professional setting, and the end result is always great.”
And judging by the smiles on the audience members’ faces as I walked out of the auditorium on Saturday night, I’m sure many agree with Eden’s statement.