ESC'S DARRYL MAXIMILIAN ROBINSON REMEMBERS HIS ROLE AS RUSSIAN BALLET INSTRUCTOR BORIS KOLENKHOV IN A 1981 REVIVAL OF GEORGE S. KAUFMAN'S AND MOSS HART'S PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING COMEDY "YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU"!:
"Boris Kolenkhov ( Darryl M. Robinson ) a loud, aggressive man and very, very Russian, comes to dine, expound and teach Essie ballet steps...Robinson definitely was the aristocratic Russian and dominated the stage. His electric presence and professional bearing added much to the production." -- Bill Burnett, 'Farce a confusing, but enjoyable, romp,' The Pioneer Press Oak Leaves of Oak Park, Illinois, February 25, 1981.
"You Can't Take It with You" is a 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, later adapted into a 1938 Academy-Award winning film starring Lionel Barrymore and Jimmy Stewart, and a forgotten 1987 syndicated television series.
Set during The Depression, the plot is centered around the lives of the quirky household of the Sycamore family. The household includes eccentric but kind patriarch Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff, his daughter Penny, an amateur playwright, her husband Paul, who is a fireworks engineer with his friend Mr DePinna, and their two daughters Alice, the only same person and Essie, an amateur ballerina trained by a crazed Russian, Boris Kolenkhov, and wife of Ed, a printer and xylophone player.
Also in the house is the black maid, Rheba, and her boyfriend, Donald. The main conflict of the work involves Alice falling in love with Tony Kirby, and how Tony's wealthy banker father, Anthony P. Kirby and his snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match, especially after a disastrous Dinner Party where the families were supposed to become acquainted.
Throw into the mix a drunken actress, Gay Wellington, an exiled Russian Countess, Olga Katrina, and various FBI and IRS agents, and you have a play beloved by theatre groups and drama organizations around the country.
45 years ago, In 1981, veteran American stage actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson portrayed the eccentric Russian ballet master Boris Kolenkhov in a revival production of George S. Kaufman’s and Moss Hart’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, "You Can't Take It With You."
Performance Details:
Production: Staged by The Act IV Community Theatre of Forest Park, Illinois.
The Role: Robinson played Kolenkhov, the boisterous and larger-than-life wrestling and ballet enthusiast who famously declares "Life is kind of stinks" while frequenting the madcap Sycamore household.
Critical Reception: His performance was highlighted in a February 4, 1981, feature story in the Northwest Herald of Chicago and positively reviewed in a February 25, 1981 notice in the Pioneer Press Oak Leaves of Oak Park, Illinois.
Career Context: This role was part of Robinson's prolific early career in the Chicago and Midwest theater scenes. Other notable highlights from his 50-year career include:
Awards: He is a 1997 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award winner for his role of Sam Semela in Athol Fugard's "Master Harold... and the Boys" and a multiple-time ( 2019 and 2024 ) BroadwayWorld Award nominee.
Historical Milestone: He is noted as the first Black actor to portray a trio of specific classic dramatic roles, including King Henry II a revival of James Goldman's "The Lion In Winter."
Leadership: He founded and led The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago for 15 years, and since 2017, has led The Excaliber Shakespeare Company Los Angeles Archival Project.
Chicago-born and Los Angeles-experienced Theatre Artist Darryl Maximilian Robinson enjoyed one of the best comedy character roles of his early stage career in 1981 ( a period during which he was working days as an actor / instructor under a CETA Contract for The Aspiring Artists Production Company, Inc. on the South Side of The Windy City ) when he donated his professional performance services to The Act IV Community Theatre of Forest Park, Illinois and appeared in the role of the Russian ballet instructor Boris Kolenkhov in Director Jim Leonard's revival staging of The late, greats George S. Kaufman's and Moss Hart's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy "You Can't Take It With You." Darryl Maximilian Robinson shares this recollection as he has found memories of the part.
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