Laughs, family, and a firework explosion live on stage—You Can’t Take It With You has it all. With hilariously quirky characters, a heartwarming message of family, a plot full of unexpected twists and turns, it’s a show that you won’t want to miss. Because the performances are on November 17th and 18th, you need to choose one night to see the Montrose Middle School Play and one night to head to Xaverian to catch Montrosians in this memorable comedy.

The play may be nearly 80 years old, but its timeless humor and universal theme of family values have insured its popularity and relevance to today’s world. The story centers around Alice Sycamore and her peculiar family: her mother, Penny, the not-so-successful playwright; her father, Paul, who manufactures fireworks illegally in their family’s basement; her sister, Essie, the aspiring (but extraordinarily untalented) ballerina; her brother-in-law, Ed, xylophone player and amature printer; and her grandfather, Martin, who refuses to pay his income taxes. When Alice falls for Tony, the son of prim and proper business owners Anthony and Miriam Kirby, Tony insists on their families becoming acquainted. The result is a family dinner like no other. Tony’s good intentions quickly escalate into a large mistake involving awkward party games, the Department of Justice, and yes, explosions.

A further reason you won’t want to miss this clever and entertaining performance is that it stars two of our own: Nora Cahill ‘19 and Olivia Hastie ‘18.  Olivia enthusiastically tells all: “This show is literally hysterical. Come see it for a laugh or to laugh at me, because my character gets roasted by her husband.”

And next year, if you want to perform at Xaverian, Olivia assures: “Performing with Xaverian is always so much fun, and an amazing way to make friends. Please, please, please come and see You Can’t Take it With You” to join in on the fun. It will be a blast!”