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Teacher Renda Crowe is celebrating a series of firsts as theater teacher at William Blount High School.

She will produce her first play with the William Blount Vagabond Players (many who are in their first production) in her first year teaching there, but she is no stranger to the WB hallways. Crowe was a member of the WBHS Class of 1980, its first graduating class.

She has been conducing rehearsals for several weeks for this production of "You Can't Take it With You," a Pulitzer prize (1936) winning play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The public is invited.

Crowe said she chose this particular play for a few reasons.

"I picked it based on the set and the simplicity," she said. "And it's appropriate for today's economy. The play is set in the Depression, and people were having the same types of problems we have today in this sagging economy."

The play centers around a humorous encounter between a conservative family and the crazy household of Grandpa Martin Vanderhof. There is chaotic activity from beginning to end, with witty one-liners, all balanced in three acts.

There are 25 sophomores, juniors and seniors who have given much time during and after school to make this three-act comedy one to remember. On a day earlier in November, Blount County students had the day off -- but not these actors. They arrived at school at 10 a.m. and were practicing lines until 8 p.m. None seemed to mind the sacrifice.

Before coming to William Blount, Renda Crowe taught for eight years at Carpenters Middle School. She volunteered with the theater there and has drummed up quite a bit of excitement among her high school students, many who are being cast in their first main stage production.