Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s comedy “You Can’t Take It With You” opens on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Gering High School auditorium.

The comedic action takes place in New York in 1934. “This is about a family that’s a little eccentric, to say the least,” said show director Jason DeMaranville. “One of them enjoys mask making and playing the xylophone. Another likes dancing and baking cookies. And the mother is a playwright, but only because someone had accidentally delivered a typewriter to their house. They do what they like to do.”

Into this eccentric family of loving people comes a young man who falls in love with one of the daughters. The girl has a hard time explaining her family to the straight-laced banking family she’s about to marry into.

“Things really start happening when the young man and his family come over for dinner," DeMaranville said. “It turns out to be the wrong night, so they find the family busily engaged in their hobbies and pastimes.”
As with any show performed in the time period in which it was written, finding set decorations and props can sometimes be tricky.

“Some of that stuff you just can’t find anymore,” DeMaranville said. “Some of it we had to fudge to make it work, but visually it looks good.”

He added that a cast of 16 is a larger show than he usually directs. And with a few scenes where everyone is on stage, it’s a challenge to get everyone in the right place to be seen.

Starring in “You Can’t Take It With You” is Kendall Thompson as Penelope Sycamore, Liz Berge as Essie, Jessica Scott as Rheba, Nick Brady as Paul Sycamore, Colin Chatterton as Mr. DePina, Connor Prickett as Ed, Taylor Sestak as Donald, Tyler Simmons as Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, Mariah Busch as Alice, Darin Gonzales as Henderson, James Schwartzkopf as Tony Kirby, Keaton Bell as Boris Kolenkhov, Allison McMann as Gay Wellington, Royce Massie as Mr. Kirby, Erika Neugebauer as Mrs. Kirby, Mollie Bueide as Olga Katrina, and Justin Grimm, Jordan Tjaden and Rey Castro as the G Men.

DeMaranville said that as in past shows, it’s a challenge to get all the cast members together for rehearsals because of all the conflicting schedules and people participating in sports and other activities.

Kendall Thompson is playing the part of Penelope Sycamore, who writes plays. “Penny is kind of an oddball,” Thompson said. She has a very caring heart and doesn’t concern herself with what others think. I can relate to that. It’s the motherly part that appeals to me, as I tend to mother my friends.”

Thompson said she relates to the moral of the show: don’t take life too seriously and live it to its fullest.

Royce Massie plays the role of Mr. Kirby, the Wall Street banker whose son has fallen in love with one of the Sycamore daughters.

“I like the diversity of the cast,” Massie said. “It’s really funny and has some historical humor. The moral I got out of this show is don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things. Spend you life doing the things you want to do.”

“You Can’t Take It With You” plays at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, Nov.20 and 21 in the Gering High School auditorium. Tickets are available at the door for $5 starting at 7 p.m.

Essie (left, played by Liz Berge) shares a moment with her mother, Penny (played by Kendall Thompson) during the opening scene from “You Can’t Take It With You,” which plays Friday and Saturday evenings at Gering High School.: Photo by Jerry Purvis/Gering Citizen