Drama teacher Jeff Tandler sat motionless, hands on his knees, in the front row of the auditorium after school on March 9. He was watching his cast preform the first act of “You Can’t Take it With You,” a comedy from the 1930s. They were going through a full rehearsal, no interruptions.

The only time he had gotten up was to kick anyone who wasn’t a part of the play out of the auditorium.

This was the first run-through without the script so, naturally, people were forgetting their lines.

“Things are going OK,” Tandler said. “We still have awhile to go, so I’m not worried yet.”

This is the last show the drama club will be hosting this semester, with the first being the “One Act” plays that took place between Jan 28-29. “You Can’t Take it With You” is the main spring show, and will take place April 8-10.

Tickets will go on sale for $6 in advance and will cost $8 at the door. For sophomore Grace Donaldson, this is her second show with the Drama club, and her first big play. Grace plays Mrs. Kirby, mother of Tony Kirby, one of the main characters in the show.

“She [Mrs. Kirby] is completely clueless,” Grace said. “I can’t wait for this show, I’m really excited.”

The cast has been preparing for the play for the past two months. Rehearsals have been held after school in the auditorium until 4:30 p.m. almost every day. According to Tandler, this play is especially difficult to memorize due to the large number of cast members on stage at any time.

“If you have a one-on-one conversation it’s a lot easier to play off [the other person],” senior Tori Stepanek said. “But with this play, you have at least 20 people in every scene, which is hard because you have to remember to interject at the right time.”

Not only is the large cast unique about this play, but the age of the cast members is as well. For the first time in several years, this play has more freshmen and sophomores in it than other plays produced at North.

“The program itself is very young right now,” Tandler said. “[This is] a younger cast, which is a good thing. That means in two or three years I’ll have a lot of seniors running around.”

Even with such a young cast and such a difficult play, Tandler is still confident the show will go well. But no matter how confident he is, he says opening night is always the

same.

“I’m always nervous for opening night when it comes,” Tandler said. “The hard part of being a director is that you can’t do it for them, you can’t guide them, you can’t tell them what to do. When it comes down to it, you just have to sit back and watch.