Student thespians discuss the characters in the comedy, why they enjoy being in the Drama Guild
OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School Drama Guild is staging a comedy this week at the William and Nancy Hughes Performing Arts Center.
The Drama Guild production has two casts for “You Can’t Take It With You,” a play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that debuted on Broadway in 1936, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1937 and was turned into an Academy Award-winning movie in 1938.
The casts will alternate in performing the play in three acts about two families – one whose priority is money and the other an eccentric collection of family members concerned more with pursuing their passions.
“I think it’s a really good time for this play,” said director Robert LeMaire. “The main character is all about relaxing and enjoying life, realizing that you don’t have forever and that you can’t take it with you. I think it just reflects where we’re at over the last couple of years, all of the stress we’ve piled on ourselves. I just love this show. I love Kaufman and Hart shows so it was an easy choice for me.”
He said the cast and crew have been really focused and working hard. They’re enjoying the show and the rehearsal schedule and are excited for perform,” he said. There are are lot of jokes in the play, he said, but noted some are “very 1930s.” He is going to put a little glossary in his director’s notes so people will understand some of them. “It’s a quick-paced, rapid-fire show with a lot of wit and it’s a good laugh.”
Ryan Mulraney of Upper Township portrays Tony Kirby. “He is the son of a rich man, the love interest of the leading lady of the show. Basically his family is supposedly really normal, but they end up going crazy at the dinner party,” Mulraney explained.
The sophomore, who has been doing drama for seven years, said the best part of being on stage “is the audience reaction. When you tell a joke on stage and people laugh, it’s just an amazing feeing.” Mulraney said he would love to make a career out of acting, “but if that doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”
Sophomore Kristiana Bauer, who was born and raised in Ocean City, is one of the two actors who portrays Alice, “the daughter of the Sycamore family. She is getting married and is supposedly the only normal one in the family. She has everyday contact with the outside world. However, even though she is the normal one, she loves her family dearly and is really living her best life in her 20s.”
Bauer said she is having fun playing this character “because I enjoy her personality. As crazy as her family is, she’s still a sweet person. And I can relate to that because my family is a little crazy, but I still love them with all my heart,” she said, laughing.
Bauer said she loves acting “because you can go on stage and forget about everything for minute. And I love being able to be with my friends and get away for a little bit. I’ve always loved reading and fantasy writing and so getting away is a wonderful experience for me.”
She noted she has been thinking lately of becoming a teacher. “I thought that drama would help with my public speaking. I don’t think I would do it as a career, but I am a musician. I play the saxophone so I do like the arts department.”
Natalie Argento of Ocean City is the other actor cast as Alice. “I really like Alice because she has a bit of a sassy side and I’ve never had a chance to play a character like that before,” she said.
Argento is a four-year member of the Drama Guild and is guild president now during her senior year. Talking about her roles in school plays over the years, she laughed and said, “I started off as a little boy and now I’m an elegant woman. It’s very different but it makes me learn a lot.” (She portrayed a little boy in the Drama Guild’s production of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”)
Argento said being president of the guild entails being a leader for everyone, answering questions and organizing fundraisers “which is easy. I work alongside my mom who is president of the Drama Guild Boosters.” She also helps out where needed with the cast and hands out awards.
The best part of Drama Guild, she said, “honestly is the friendships. I’ve made so many and the memories on stage and to be able to play so many different roles. It’s just a great community.”
Argento hopes to minor in theater while in college, where she plans to major in psychology.
Charlie Costal of Upper Township may be a junior at OCHS, but he’s going to age up considerably portraying Grandpa in the production. “He’s a very knowing guy. He’s very supportive of his family first, but he’s also a little bit of a man-child,” Costal said of his character. “He was involved in business and now isn’t anymore. That gave him a lot of experience and a lot of that old-man charm. At the end, that all comes out. That is really fun to portray.”
Costal has been involved with the Drama Guild all three years of high school. “I just love being on stage, that feeling. It’s something that I don’t think I’ll ever lose and I want to keep pursuing it.” He is considering acting as a career.
The Grandpa in the alternate cast is Jakob Pender, a senior who is acting in his second to last show – his last fall show. Pender, who is a School Choice student from West Cape May, likes the character because of how “it embodies a natural older man from the 1930s who is just fun-loving and doesn’t care about any of the world’s problems. It’s almost a contrast to who I am as a person because I am usually worried about all of the world’s problems. It’s great to try to play someone who is almost the polar opposite of who I am. It’s a lot of fun.”
As a virtual student during the pandemic, he wasn’t able to take part in plays last year, but he did in his freshman and sophomore years “and is very excited to be back on the stage my senior year.”
“It’s really been a hobby and passion of mine since I was young,” Pender said about acting. “I’ve always loved … theater and going onto a stage and projecting my voice, being someone who I’m not, is a great part of my life. It’s a great escape from what life really is about.”
Pender said he doesn’t plan to make acting his career, but he always wants it to be part of his life.
Ethan Bond, a junior from Upper Township, is part of the stage crew. “I love everything, the family aspect of it, and being a part of the theater.” He enjoys building the sets and doing the work behind the scenes. He said there are times he misses being in front of the audience, “but I think doing the stuff backstage is a lot more rewarding than being on the stage.”
The roles and performers in the two casts are:
Penny – Estelle Gimbel and Taylor Stauffer; Essie – Siena Eden and Marley Lind; Rheba – Olivia Schmidt and Ferguson Kurilko; Paul – Vincent Piraino and Matt Murray; De Pinna – Cadence Casas and Kariana Mora-Lloyd; Ed – Anthony Ginsberg and Eli Watson; Donald/Donna – Jax Allison and Isabella Pero; Grandpa – Jakob Pender and Charlie Costal; Alice – Kristiana Bauer and Natalie Argento; Henderson – Lauren Knopp and Callie Bellwoar; Tony – Chris Katity and Ryan Mulraney; Kolenkhov – Bridget Breeden; Gay – Katie McAlister and Joey Mangam; Mr. Kirby – Robert Neville and Nate Ginet; Mrs. Kirby – Ava DiBabbo and Vivian Maucher; Person 1 – Lauren Kopp and Erin Cantwell; Person 2 – Alessandra Lucasti and Madison Ferretti; Person 3 – Avery Salva and Keira Reilly; Olga – Alex Kelley and Reagan DeVlieger.
Times for “You Can’t Take It With You” are 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18-20, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and senior citizens and free for children under 12. They are available at the door or online at https://ocschools.booktix.com
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff