‘Can’t Take It With You’ . . . Take It to the Bank

The Pasadena Shakespeare Company’s charming revival of “You Can’t Take It With You” handily fulfills the fundamental challenge presented by this venerable Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman comedy: recognizing that its enduring appeal lies not in screwball antics but in its delicately nuanced characters.

A well-cast ensemble shows that director David Paul Needles understands the distinction perfectly, ensuring the comic sparks fly as intended in the romantic difficulties between Alice (Lisette Bross) and Tony (Brian Rohan), the son and heir of her banker boss. The cause of friction is her lovably eccentric and nicely rendered family. Dad (Jerry Neill) obsessively manufactures fireworks in the basement with his laconic friend (Brad Slocum); Mom (Linda Larson) is a malaprop-spouting novelist; Sis (Cindy Baer) is a dedicated but untalented ballerina, and her husband (Henry Kemp) runs an amateur printing press.

On the surface, this clan of dilettantes hardly seems suitable in-law material for Tony’s snobbish parents (Robb Tracy and Christine Avila, who also doubles as a Russian aristocrat turned waitress). Tara Thomas, Terry Woodberry, Edgar Allan Poe IV, David Fruechting and Marcia De Rousse supply the supporting characters.

Wilfred La Voie shines in the plum role of Alice’s grandpa and clan patriarch Martin Vanderhof, articulating the play’s wryly subversive message about taking time to enjoy our lives; if anything, his caution is even more relevant in today’s achievement-driven culture.

A rambling plot and some slapstick bits haven’t aged as gracefully. While production values reflect impressive period detail, shoehorning the large cast onto the intimate Fremont Centre Theatre stage necessitates some occasional awkward blocking.

The timing is also a little unfortunate, as Chris Hart’s staging for Actors Co-op last fall ranks as a definitive contemporary interpretation. But for those who missed it, this revival is a splendid way to experience the breezy wit of a bygone theatrical sensibility.

* “You Can’t Take It With You,” Fremont Centre Theatre, 1000 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends July 16. $18. (626) 564-8564. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.