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Classic Theatre Opens Fall 2017 Season Friday

Autumn is near and arts institutions are beginning to crank up their fall seasons. 

The Classic Theatre, for example, will be celebrating its tenth anniversary season starting this Friday. 

"We are opening with You Can't Take It With You, a madcap comedy about love and meeting people with different values and how you get to know them and embrace them," executive director Kelly Hilliard Rousch says.

While the play dates back most of a century, the themes within are universal and timeless. 

"It was written in 1937 and won the Pulitzer Prize and I am amazed at how relevant it is today still," she says. "It's one of those stories that continues to speak to us throughout the ages."

As with much good theater, conflict provides the humor that propels the story.

"It's a family of happy-go-lucky non-conformists who pitted against a respectable, real world business family. And it leaves us all to ask what's important in life, and what makes you happy?," Kelly Hilliard Rousch says.

To pull off that mix of conflict, humor and drama, the right casting is key to the production, and she says they've got it, hands down.

"We have amazing performers such as John O'Neil, Catherine Babbitt, Andy Thornton, Byrd Bonner, Christi Eanes, and that is just to name a few," Kelly Hilliard Rousch says. "It's the next four weekends. Friday night, Saturday night at 8 o'clock and Sundays at 3 p.m."  

Opening night is almost sold out and there will be 11 additional performances.

For those who have yet to visit the Classic Theatre, the 99-seat black box is next door to the Woodlawn on Fredericksburg Road.  

Find more on You Can't Take It With You here

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii