The moral of the 1936 comedy 'You Can't Take It With You' is pretty simple: Don't work too hard, and life is for living. Paint, write, manufacture illegal fireworks in the basement — do whatever makes you happy. Not all the actors on the Showboat Majestic, however, embrace this message.  

If God really did create people so he'd have an endless supply of stories — to quote a line from the likable 'How? How? Why? Why? Why?' now at the Playhouse — then the heavens must be smiling down on Kevin Kling. The playwright/performer well known to fans of National Public Radio seems to have been born, raised and divinely ordained to spin a tale.  

If God really did create people so he’d have an endless supply of stories — to quote a line from the likable How? How? Why? Why? Why? now at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park — then the heavens must be smiling down on Kevin Kling. The playwright/performer well known to fans of National Public Radio seems to have been born, raised and divinely ordained to spin a tale. Through March 14 at the Playhouse.  

Smart calculation: In the wintry depths of the Great Recession, Know Theatre of Cincinnati brings a bleak chamber opera based on an anti-capitalist play from the 1920s, in which an outsourced drone gets revenge on the boss.  

A stolen locket. In the end, this bagatelle is all that stands between Oliver Twist’s miserable childhood and the loving home to which he should have been born. The Carnegie Arts Center’s Oliver! has a fine pedigree of its own — a first-class pit, a young star, a pro in the key role of Fagin — and nearly wins a place in our hearts. But this production has bigger problems than a misplaced bit of jewelry.  

In this botanically themed retelling, it’s a thorn, not a spindle, that puts Briar Rose out of commission. And yes, a new non-Elvis prince (newcomer Will Selnick, appealing in both guises) arrives just in time to riddle-solve and aria his way to her salvation. At Ensemble Theatre through Jan. 3.  

Compared to last year's ETC holiday show, 'Alice in Wonderland,' 'Sleeping Beauty' is prettier and less zany, as the source material would suggest. Its operatic soul lies uneasily with such crowd-pleasing gimmicks as an Elvis-inspired prince and a sock-puppet dragon who likes to play hide-and-seek.  

Sometimes those with the least to offer bestow the greatest gifts. Ask O. Henry or Charlie Brown — or Jesus himself (born in a barn). No wonder the best performance in 'Sanders Family Christmas' comes from the one character who supposedly has no talent for music: June (Tess Hartman), the plain, non-singing daughter of the Sanders clan, who were celebrity guests on Christmas Eve 1941 at the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.  

Want to feel younger, instantly? Head to the Covedale on the West Side for 'Meet Me in St. Louis.' If this nostalgic show, based on the 1944 Judy Garland film and full of playful tunes like "Skip to My Lou" and "Under the Bamboo Tree" doesn’t make you feel like a kid again, the audience will.  

It’s 1903 and all five Smith children have plans, romantic and otherwise, dependent on the World’s Fair coming their way the following summer. Father has other ideas: He’s taking a promotion and moving the family to New York City after Christmas. We know this tragedy will be averted, just as we know Tootie will outgrow her morbid phase and stop burying dolls in the backyard. This is musical theater at its most reassuring, with an ad for the Cincinnati streetcar as a bonus. At the Covedale through Oct. 18.