Large crowd auditions for You Can't Take it with you, NLC's fall play

Recently, North Lake College Theatre announced a casting call and got a powerful response. When a whopping 36 people showed up to audition for the fall production, instructor Alice Butler knew she had to make some changes to her semester plans.

“I abandoned the plays that I was looking at that had smaller casts,” said Butler.

Her actors chose Kaufman and Hart’s You Can’t Take it With You as their production for the fall semester. Of the 36 who auditioned, 19 were cast.

You Can’t Take it With You brings us the eccentric Sycamore family who seem to think that people should only do what makes them happy. Daughter Alice brings her boyfriend’s straight-laced parents to visit the family home and the situation gets lively. For a play from the 1930s, You Can’t Take it With You remains a popular and relevant story.

Butler has begun to work with the cast, teaching them how to analyze the character they will portray.

“We do a complicated character analysis,” said Butler, adding that she encourages students to consider their character’s circumstances, relationships, obstacles and goals.

“There’s a specific technique that we teach…it gives very good tools to the actor because it gives them specifics, ” she said. Adding lessons on dramatic conflict teaches the group to combine all elements to convincingly embody their characters and interact on stage.

The NLC program is unique in that it develops theater directors as well as actors and stagecraft experts. Few drama programs at the community college level are turning out students able to step into producer and director roles, even as they continue at a four-year school.

Butler is a 30-year employee of the Dallas Community College District and has taught at NLC since it opened. While working with the students on the stage during the auditions, there was a fun and light-hearted atmosphere, allowing her actors to fearlessly explore their craft. There was much laughter in the Performance Hall between some serious character study and seriously silly vocal work. These folks play well together.

Look for You Can’t Take it With You at the end of October.