Triton readies ‘You Can’t Take It with You’ as fall play
Triton’s Theater Department has put the finishing touches on the fall play, “You Can’t Take It with You” and are ready for public performances.
The play is a comedy in three acts written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The original production premiered on Broadway in 1936 and played for 838 performances.
The play features the very eccentric Sycamore family and their equally eccentric friends who march to their own drummers with hobbies that include collecting snakes, building fireworks in the basement, writing plays that are never published, and deciding as an adult to start taking ballet lessons to become a ballerina. Stress, paying taxes and jobs are not for them. But when practical young Alice Sycamore becomes engaged to the son of her company’s vice president, disaster predictably follows when the families meet.
With a large cast, the play was perfect for the Triton fall play, said Director Anne Schreiber. Too often, she said, the fall play has a cast of only five or six. There are 20 parts in “You Can’t Take It with You” but cuts still had to be made as 30 Triton students came out for auditions.
As usual, the cast is a mix of students who have participated in a play before and those who are experiencing being an actor for the first time.
For three juniors in the cast, two were taking to the stage for the first time, while one had previous experience.
Litany Peterson, who plays Olga, said this is her fourth play at Triton. Jairo Solano, who plays Mr. De Pinna, and Joaquin Lundi, who portrays one of the G-Men, are the newcomers.
Peterson said that how she portrays the character Olga has changed in the more than a month of rehearsals. As Olga is Russian, she said, she must have a Russian accent. She said she watched a video and “just kind of knew how to do it.”
Solano explained that he had first planned on trying out for “Annie” but was a “little busy” at the time. So, he thought “why not now” this time around. Lundi, who also plays soccer for Triton, said he had told himself that he wanted to do one play before graduating from high school. Now, he said, he might try a second play.
“There is a lot of talent in the high school drama department,” Schreiber said.
The eccentric characters in the Sycamore family show that there are more important things in life than worrying about the little things, Schreiber said and that was one of the things that drew her to the play.
Triton’s theater department was led for many years by English teacher John Schreiber who retired several years ago. His legacy continues with his daughter Anne taking over the duties. She said that this year her assistant director, Jennifer Ryg, is also a Triton High School graduate and performed in her first Triton play, “Adrift in New York” in 1993. Schreiber made her high school acting debut at Triton in 1999 in “Our Town.”
After weeks of rehearsals, the cast performed for an audience the first time on Wednesday afternoon at the free matinee performance for senior citizens. Regular performances are at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults.
The cast and crew:
Penelope Sycamore — Jenna Kenworthy
Essie Carmichael —Hanna Strom
Rheba — Lily Dearborn
Paul Sycamore — Tavan Radke
Mr. De Pinna — Jairo Solano
Ed Carmichael— Andrew Edge
Donald — Corey Lilledahl
Martin Vanderhof — Weston Haugen
Alice — Talia Kelley
Henderson — Nancy Fernandez
Tony Kirby — Liam Dostal
Boris Kolenkhov — August Johnson
G. Wellington — Gianna Lamb
Mr. Kirby — Caleb Chilson
Mrs. Kirby — Ashley Dominguez-Marquez
G-Men:
Mac: Raymond Anderson
Jim: Percy Furnari
Man 1: Joaquin Lundi
Man 2: Logan Tufte
Olga — Litany Peterson
Stage Manager: Anna Anderson
Costume Assistant: Lena Moe
Lights: Kaitlyn Krupa
Sound: Andrienne Liudahl
Stage crew: Axel Reiser, Anyely Dominguez-Marquez, Bryar Quimby, Frankie Gann, Jade Scovill, Ashley Romero,
Understudies / Stage Crew: Abigail Akkerman, Ava Cummings, AJ Kozisek, Kianna Peters, Damian Radke, Jessica Willette, Katya Wheeler, Miley Dostal, Sarah Jensen