Tuesday, November 26, 2013
You Can't Take It With You at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
Theater Reviews + Features | Pittsburgh City Paper: When You Can't Take It With You opened on Broadway in 1936, it took the theater world by storm, earning a Pulitzer for playwrights George S. Kaufman (a Pittsburgh native and Fifth Avenue High grad) and Moss Hart. It was timely, funny and edgy — just the sort of classic comedy the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama would select to celebrate its centennial.
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7 comments:
As I was not around in 1936 to enjoy the opening of this show, I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought this production was highly amusing. I didn't find it too hard to understand most of the references, although I am not sure how much of an impact sitting through a week of rehearsal might have had on that. I thought the set and the abundance of props were polished and well done, and the costumes well fitting to the show. It's true that it's quite a challenge for young actors to portray people over twice their age, but the cast definitely put its best foot forward and I thoroughly enjoyed myself when I went to see it opening night. I congratulate them for working so hard on a production so open to criticism because it has been done so many times, and I believe CMU did itself proud.
I thought CMU's production of YCTIWY was very engaging, while staying true ti the historical time period. I can totally agree with the statement that this production would have a much stronger impact if I were to see it in 1936. The references and topics might have been more controversial and shocking to an audience back the, but now YCTIWY has no shock factor when compared to other shows like Book of Mormon or Avenue Q. I would also have to agree with Michelle Pilecki that some actors where much more committed to the world of the play and the uniqueness if the production. I love the last line," Though not quite the chucklefest it once was, You Can't Take It With You is an enjoyable cultural milestone, and you won't see a better one than at CMU." Pilecki is a strong supporter of the CMU school of drama and is confident in her final statement.
While I thought we actually did a very good job of producing YCTIWY, I was shocked by the amount of racism that it has in it. I've heard the excuse: "it's of a certain time period so you have to forgive the racism" but I don't buy that and if we are going to a play that is racist why are we not making a comment about that racism. Furthermore why are we holding YCTIWY up as one of our main stages to celebrate the 100th year and great American theater. Everyone that is not Anglo-saxton white in this play is a stereotype of their race, is that something that CMU is ok advocating?
YCTIWY has been one of my favorites since I was a kid and I was thrilled to hear that CMU was going to be putting it in on. The show to me was done very well and I am proud to be a part of the school that put it on. The show is outdated though and some parts of the show may not have translated from the 30's very well. This was a big show to put on and it turned out wonderfully, the combination of the set and all the props that had to be put in worked out so well, seeing the set it truly looked like someones home.
I enjoyed that the review did not say anything good about the show, except at the end where she says "you wont see a better one then at CMU" (in reference to the performance). I disagree with some of the basic things she was saying but only in part. She said that the actors were hard to believe because of their young age, I only saw that in one character. I though everyone passed for what they were pretending to be except the father of the girl getting married (sorry the names are escaping me). I thought he played it well but he just did not look old. However I think the reviewers comments about the actors struggling with the absurd characters hit the nail on the head, and it makes sense to. CMU does a lot of tragedy, and drama with very little comedy. It is not surprising that our actors would struggle with being able to master comedic timing.
dI thoroughly enjoyed YCTIWY. I actually thought it was refreshing compared to what CMU usually takes on. To do a sort of light hearted old-school comedy was really quite lovely. I had no trouble following who people were despite the ages of the actors and actresses being different from the characters they were supposed to portray…and I don't think it's just because I'm used to this sort of thing in the school setting. Despite the time period and various characteristics of the time that are hard to relate to in modern day, I felt like in the end we could still relate to the story of two families, two young lovers, and their silly, heart-warming struggle to come together. It's a familiar story and one that I don't really get tired of. It's charming, light-hearted, and easily enjoyable.
I thought that is production was very interesting. It was really weird to see a classic play done in the way that it was originally intended. Here at CMU, we are taught to think out side the box in a very innovative manner. I find it funny that our challenge was to do a classic in a classical manner. What does that say about us? Anyway, I think the production was done very well, but there were several moments that I thought were over worked. In the end, i would say that it was a successful production.
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