You Can't Take It With You

A classic comedy from the 1930s, You Can’t Take It With You is the funny tale of an eccentric family, tax evasion and love!

Tony Kirby and Alice Sycamore, newly engaged, decide to invite Tony’s parents to dine at Alice’s family home. The Sycamores can’t seem to see what he sees in Alice and her mad-cap family — including her eccentric grandfather, her mother (who writes erotic plays) and her father (who manufacturers fireworks…in their basement!). Though Tony and Alice are very much in love, the differences between their two families make Alice wonder if a marriage would ever work. Will love trump family loyalty, and can both families learn a little something from each other?

You Can’t Take It With You premiered at the Booth Theatre in New York City on Dec. 14, 1936, and played for 838 performances before closing on Dec. 3, 1938. A great success on Broadway, the play won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A film adaptation, directed by Frank Capra, followed in 1938. With a cast featuring James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Lionel Barrymore, the film received seven Academy Award nominations and won two Oscars: one for best picture and one for best director.

You Can’t Take It With You is presented through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.