“You Can’t Take It With You” Time: 7:30 p.m through Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Sunday Place: Kjer Theatre Cost: $7 for students, $13 for adults. Call 832-PLAY (7529) for tickets. |
As students creep closer to their college graduation, many often wonder whether it’s possible to aim for a job that brings happiness and a sizeable paycheck. In the play “You Can’t Take It With You,” which opened Thursday at Kjer Theatre, the towering question of working toward happiness versus working toward money is explored.
The play centers around two families; the Sycamores, who focus on what makes them happy and the Kirbys, who focus on making money, said senior Matt Simmons, who plays Ed Carmichael, the xylophone-playing, printing press-operating, mask-making husband of Essie, Alice Sycamore’s older sister. The main plot is the relationship between Alice Sycamore and Tony Kirby.
“You Can’t Take It With You” is put on by the Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild. Although shows performed by the CVTG are normally performed at the State Theatre, 316 Eau Claire St., this play is being done at UW-Eau Claire’s Kjer Theatre for seating reasons.
“With 1,100 plus seats, it is difficult to put on a non-musical in the State Theatre,” said Russell Zook, director of the play and Eau Claire alumnus. “Kjer Theatre is a smaller, more intimate space where you can better see how the audience is reacting.”
After graduating in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in theater, Zook said he took a little bit of something from each of his professors at Eau Claire. He was introduced to theater at a young age and chose to go into the profession he enjoyed.
“With directing, I get to meet a lot of different people and make choices of who I want to work with,” Zook said.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “You Can’t Take It With You” is an old-fashioned comedy filled with humorous and unusual characters. The 1938 movie version of “You Can’t Take It With You” won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
“The play is pretty well known and often done,” Zook said.
Writers Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman have created a piece emphasizing family values and the ties that bind.
“It’s a very silly and fast-paced play set in the late 1930s,” Simmons said. He has been involved in both acting and directing.
“My favorite part of being involved with theater is making connections — through art — with the cast, crew and audience,” Simmons said. “I think drama can show us a lot about living.”
Along with actors and directors, there are several behind-the-scenes people involved in the final production.
“There are set designers and costumers who work with the director,” said Ann Sessions, executive director of the CVTG. “In ‘You Can’t Take It With You,’ the costumes are made to fit the late 1930s theme.”
The CVTG also decides which plays to perform out of scripts sent in by various directors in the Chippewa Valley.
“We have a play reading committee,” Sessions said. “They pick out three slates of shows, which then are passed on to the board of directors. We decide in advance what the next season will bring.”
Sessions said she enjoys working with all community members. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure that people are involved in theater.”
“You Can’t Take It With You”
Time: 7:30 p.m through Saturday,
1:30 p.m. Sunday
Place: Kjer Theatre
Cost: $7 for students, $13 for adults. Call 832-PLAY (7529) for tickets.