You are going to laugh when you watch this show," said Nicholas Margerum, describing "You Can't Take It With You." "There is no doubt. You will laugh."

In fact, the cast members of Manheim Central's fall play said they were giggling from the start of rehearsals.

"I remember the day we did the first read-through and all of us were just cackling over the script," said Annika Shull, a senior who portrays Penny Sycamore in the show. "Even without seeing anything on stage, we were just laughing. It's been a lot of fun for us to do this show, and it will be a lot of fun for the audience to see it, too."

"You Can't Take It With You," written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, tells the story of two very different families: the straight-laced Kirbys and the quirky Sycamores.

"The daughter, Alice Sycamore, starts going out with Tony, who is the son of the Kirbys, and the families meet, and it's this big clash," explained Annika. "You never know what's going to happen next. It kind of leaves you on the edge of your seat."

The show will be the first play performed in the newly renovated auditorium at Manheim Central High School, and the cast members are excited to work in the updated space. The school recently completed a nearly $65 million renovation project, which began in mid-2021.

The students said it's also been fun working with Tyler Shull, a Manheim Central social studies teacher who is directing his first show at the school.

"I love the way rehearsals are organized," said senior Eden Marcott, who portrays Alice Sycamore. "A great thing that's been new this year is off-book challenges, where we've been challenged to put the book down and actually be in the scene and involved and thinking, 'How would I react to this?' That's something I've really enjoyed."

She also noted that the cast has bonded as a group. "It's been fun getting to know everyone and create some great friendships," she said. "It's also been cool to work on specific scenes of the show but then see the whole show come together."

For Nicholas, a senior who plays Grandpa Martin Vanderhof, the show has been fun to work on but also challenging, because each character has a lot of dialogue.

"This show doesn't have one main character. The whole family is the main character," he said. "Everyone has a lot of lines to memorize."

"You Can't Take It With You" opened on Broadway in 1936. It was an instant hit, running for more than 800 performances and returning to Broadway five times, including in 2014. The New York Times praised it as "one of the most persuasive works of pure escapism in Broadway history."

The Manheim Central production will bring some modern touches to the play.

"One thing that's really cool about this show is we're able to add our own bits of humor," Annika remarked. "The show is funny in itself, but the director has given us a lot of freedom to act things out in a way that we find funny. We get to put our own little spin on this and put our own generation's humor into this older show."

She noted that there are references to time-period-specific pop culture in the show that the students didn't understand at first, including comparing characters to Porgy and Bess. "I had no idea who that was," Annika said.

Being able to ad lib on stage has been fun, Eden said, but also a bit tricky for the cast members. "It's quite difficult to stay in character, especially when you're not expecting something that someone does or says," she shared. But she noted that adding their own humor has made the show even more fun for the cast members.

The actors have also enjoyed performing stunts and indulging in physical comedy on stage, which complements the funny script, they said.

And, although the play is a comedy, it still packs an emotional punch through its three acts, Annika commented.

"It's a very action-packed show that ends with a heartfelt ending," she stated. "You get very attached in my opinion to these families and very invested in the storyline."

"You Can't Take It With You" will be performed in the high school auditorium, 400 E. Adele Ave., Manheim, at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 21 and 22, as well as at 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/4tp623bv.