Regional audiences enjoyed three outstanding shows at Clark College during the 2006-2007 season. Those productions -- Born Yesterday, The Will Rogers Follies and You Can't Take It With You -- join an impressive list of shows representing nearly 30 years of theatrical excellence.
BORN YESTERDAY
by Garson Kanin
Directed by Jay Mortensen
Part romantic comedy, part political satire, Born Yesterday is a razor-sharp comedy that combines a Pygmalion story with high stakes politics.
Set in the nation’s capital in the 1940s, Harry Brock, a self-made millionaire, gets more than he bargained for when he hires Paul Verrell, an idealistic reporter, to educate his beautiful but simple mistress, Billie Dawn.
A Broadway hit that was successfully adapted into an Oscar winning film starring Judy Holliday and William Holden, Born Yesterday is the timeless tale of an everywoman’s triumph.
Directed by Jay Mortensen, Born Yesterday delighted audiences at Clark College's Decker Theatre.
THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES: A LIFE IN REVUE
Book by Peter Stone. Music by Cy Coleman.
Music and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Directed by Tami Gray-Stipe
Humorist Will Rogers was famous for saying, "I never met a man I didn't like." Anyone who has ever seen The Will Rogers Follies" would agree that there has never been a man -- or woman -- who did not like The Will Rogers Follies.
Peter Stone, who wrote the book for The Will Rogers Follies, noted, "Will Rogers was a unique American who, though he died [over 70]
years ago, remains a beloved figure remembered for his humor, his wisdom,
and his just plain common sense. At the
heart of his populist philosophy was his most famous statement: 'I never
met a man I didn't like.' Rogers became the biggest, most popular, and
highest paid star of every existing medium of his time--stage, screen,
radio, newspapers, and public appearances. In fact, it is no exaggeration
to say that he was the greatest star this country has ever produced."
Subtitled A Life In Revue and told in the style of the Ziegfeld Follies, The Will Rogers Follies won numerous Tony Awards. With humor, charm, beautiful showgirls and great song and dance, The Will Rogers Follies is the story of a man who espouses respect and confidence in the goodness of his fellow man.
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
by George S. Kaufman
Directed by Patricia Rohrbach
A Pulitzer Prize winning play that became an Academy Award winning film, You Can't Take It With You is a screwball comedy about the story of the Sycamore household, presided over by Grandpa Vanderhof, a former businessman who has turned his back on commerce to enjoy life. At the Sycamores, everyone does what he or she pleases. The one normal member of the household is Alice Sycamore, who is in love with wealthy Tony Kirby.
Naturally, when the stuffy, aristocratic Kirbys come to the Sycamores
for dinner, the event is a disaster. But Grandpa Vanderhof teaches
everyone a vital lesson about life when he observes, "You’ve got
all the money you need. You can’t take it with you. . . . Don’t you
think there ought to be something more....We haven’t got too much time,
you know -- any of us.”
One admirer of the show has noted, "It's set in the Depression
era, but one of the reasons this type of play ages so well is because
the situation of being a human is always the same. This play has
a lot of chatter about paying taxes, and the frothy, slightly absurd
observations are pretty classic....It's the worlds that clash in 'You
Can't Take It with You'. The human beings both worlds embody are
the same. It shows that the broader our tolerance, the larger our circle
of friends can be."
The film version of You Can't Take It With You won the 1938
Academy Award for Best Picture and has delighted audiences for generations.
