'You Can't Take It With You' Is Back Again and As Dazzling as Ever

Kristine Nielsen and Mark Linn-Baker are oddballs who live under a strange roof in "You Can't Take It With You." Photos by Joan Marcus.

BY TAMARA BECK

LONG before the sitcom came into everyone's living room, there was a great American comedy deeply ingrained in theatrical tradition.

"You Can't Take It With You," in a beautifully staged and spectacular revival at the Longacre Theatre through 4 Jan. 2015, is a bright and shining part of that heritage.

"#YCTIWY," as it is widely advertised, is George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's Pulitzer-winning play, written in 1936 and first produced at the Booth Theatre from December of that year until December 1938.

The show has been on Broadway stages often over the years since, most recently in 1983. As reincarnated here with a gorgeous set by David Rockwell and under the expert guidance of Scott Ellis, "#YCTIWY" is as sparkly and modern a rom-com as any seen in years. (See video below).

Rose Byrne is the face of normalcy and James Earl Jones is the indulging patriarch in "You Can't Take It With You."

The Sycamores, mother Penny (Kristine Nielsen), father Paul (Mark Linn-Baker), daughter Essie (Annaleigh Ashford) and her husband, Ed Carmichael (Will Brill), live under Penny's father's beneficent roof. Grandpa is Martin Vanderhof (James Earl Jones) who indulges all their eccentricities and has some of his own.

Penny writes plays. Paul builds fireworks, with the assistance of Mr. DePinna (Patrick Kerr), another of grandpa's houseguests. Although her talents are limited, Essie dances under the tutelage of the boisterous Boris Kolenkhov (Reg Rogers.)

The household is regulated by the family's maid, Rheba (Crystal A. Dickinson) and her live-in beau, Donald (Marc Damon Johnson.) Only Alice Sycamore (Rose Byrne) seems immune from the unconventional.

Unlike the rest of the gathered brood, she holds an ordinary job as a secretary at a Wall Street firm. There, she and the boss's son, Tony (Fran Kranz), have fallen in love.

When Tony's straitlaced parents, Anthony Kirby, Sr. (Byron Jennings) and his wife and Tony's mother, Miriam (Johanna Day), drop in for dinner the antics of the Sycamore extended clan threaten Alice and Tony's happiness.

Rounding out the assembled visitors and residents is Olga (Elizabeth Ashley), Kolenkhov's friend and a grand duchess. She drops by to make blintzes and add to the madcap. An IRS agent named Henderson (Karl Kenzler) also stops in, along with a few Justice Department chaps (Nick Corley, Austin Durant and Joe Tapper).

Elizabeth Ashley is a grand lady with a recipe in "You Can't Take It With You."

The performances in "You Can't Take It With You" are universally grand. RR and EA provide the over-the-top and slapstick elements. JEJ, especially, gives an affecting and subtle performance as the patriarch. RB and FK are charming lovers.

The teamwork on display in this brilliant ensemble is wonderful to watch.

Visit http://www.youcanttakeitwithyoubroadway.com/ to learn more about “You Can't Take It With You.”

'Me, Myself and I' and Other Strange Bedfellows

Elizabeth Ashley, Brian Murray, Zachary Booth, Preston Sadleir and Natalia Payne, above, in "Me, Myself and I." Photo by Joan Marcus.

BY TAMARA BECK

"Me, Myself and I" is one of the latest works by America's greatest living dramatist, Edward Albee, who famously gave us "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

Identity, the self as other. The self as outsider. The self as twin. EA doesn't curry favor, but the audience at Playwrights Horizon – uneasy at times with the absurdist plot ably directed by Emily Mann – gives him laughs.

Here are OTTO, the adept and excellent Zachary Booth, and his twin brother, otto, sweetly played by Preston Sadleir who make up the trio of the title. OTTO addresses the audience directly, breaking the fourth wall. He is disrespectful. He is inconsiderate. He also has charm to spare. The protagonist, self-professed evil twin, OTTO, doesn't like his family and has some far-fetched plans to escape it.

Grande dame Elizabeth Ashley, taking over the role Tyne Daly originated when “Me, Myself and I” debuted in 2008 at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ, is their slovenly and perplexed Mother. She is also as sexy and slutty as a dame of a certain age can be. To add to her confusion, she gave her sons the same name but with different cases, and the names are spelled the same backward and foreword (palindromes and twins). She doesn't know to which son she is speaking.

Mother’s bedmate, the Dr., played by multiple Tony and Drama Desk award winner Brian Murray, is the perfect foil. "You mean metaphorically," he says, when it is clear she means literally.

Identity, the self, ego and the other – all serious issues – are taken seriously, despite the shenanigans.

Lest this reviewer reveal the various plot turns and twists – most of them tight – she will conclude by asserting an appreciation of “Me, Myself and I (extended through 31 Oct.) for its cheeky presentation and theatricality.

Visit http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/mainstage.asp for more information about “Me, Myself and I.”

Tamara Beck is President, Clean Lists Associates, Inc, an association management firm. And an avid theater-goer.