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‘Born Yesterday’ is a blast at Actors’ Summit
Reviewed by: FRAN HELLER Contributing Writer I didn’t want it to end.
That’s how much I was enjoying “Born Yesterday,” at Actors’ Summit through May 18. In between the belly laughs, Garson Kanin’s 1946 hit comedy about greed, power politics and democracy American-style remains right on the money today. The buoyant production, under the sharp-shooting direction of MaryJo
Alexander, hits the bull’s-eye. Alexander’s staging, pacing and attention to
detail are brilliant. Add a superb cast whose comic timing is
pitch-perfect.
With a little help from World War II, Harry Brock has turned a junkyard
business into an empire. Now Brock has descended upon the Washington scene,
looking to become even richer and more powerful. With him is his mistress, the
strikingly beautiful but profoundly dumb ex-chorus girl Billie Dawn.
Worried that Billie won’t mind her “P’s and Q’s” in D.C. society, Brock hires the young, idealistic reporter Paul Verral to teach her the ABCs. More than educating her, the two fall in love, and together they work to save the public from a political swindle. Alexander’s fast-paced production doesn’t miss a beat. The corny humor
might not cut the mustard in a more sophisticated and jaded age, but never has
such silliness been so much fun.
Indeed, the characters are broadly drawn and over the top, but this is an
instance of the more, the merrier. These actors seem to be having as much fun as
the audience. It shows.
The play may be oozing left-leaning liberalism, but for this kindred
spirit, Paul’s wry comments struck me in the solar plexus: “When you live in
Washington,” he reflects, “it’s enough to break your heart. You see a perfect
piece of machinery, the democratic structure, and somebody’s always tampering
with it and trying to make it hit the jackpot.”
The original Broadway show put Jewish playwright Garson Kanin and Jewish
actress Judy Holliday (né Tuvim, which means “holiday” in Hebrew) on the map. It
was Holliday who created the archetypal “dumb blonde” from which all other
impersonations have flowed.
With her moon-shaped eyes fixed in a state of sublime incomprehension, a voice like a siren, and her deadpan non-sequiturs, the blonde-bewigged Alicia Kahn is Holliday reincarnated. It is not easy to play dumb, but the actress does it to perfection. Dressed in a pinstriped suit and outlandish tie, his fedora cocked to one
side and a camel’s-hair coat draped over his beefy frame like some Hollywood
gangster type, A. Neil Thackaberry bursts on the scene as the crass, self-made
millionaire Harry Brock.
The two-story hotel suite (set design by Alexander), where Brock and his
henchmen conspire to create an international cartel, has just the right touch of
elegance.
Alexander’s directorial prowess gives the comedy its oomph. Note, for
example, the card game in which a fulminating Brock and a cool Billie play gin
rummy or how Brock struggles to lip-sync one of Billie’s books; both are gems of
comic acting. Using real shaving cream in the short barber sketch is yet another
touch that adds pizzazz to this breezy production.
Peter Voinovich is perfect as bespectacled journalist Paul Verral, who believes that democracy still stands a chance if only its citizens would take responsibility for it. Paul’s trenchant observation about the curse of civilization, “don’t care-ism,” which lets powerful people like Brock get what they want, resonates in the present. A bemused Dana Hart is the picture of cynicism as Brock’s boozy lawyer Jim
Devery, a promising Harvard grad who sold out and has been hiding behind a haze
of alcohol and sarcasm ever since. Daniel H. Taylor is a shoo-in as the
spineless Eddie, Brock’s kin, bodyguard and a doormat who responds to Harry’s
barking like a lap dog.
In brief but indelible performances, Steve Ryan is true to type as the
pliable, lily-livered Senator Hedges; Linda Ryan’s visible consternation as the
flummoxed Mrs. Hedges is priceless. Jocelyn Roueiheb fills the bill as the maid
Helen, and Scott Thomas does the same for the bellboy/barber.
The only thing outshining Alexander as director is Alexander as costume
designer; she provides a mouthwatering parade of outfits for Billie, from a
fur-trimmed cocoa-colored sheath and flowing white peignoir, to gray plaid
suiting and a wrap skirt draped like a peacock’s tail. All yummy.
In a strong season for Actors’ Summit with such notable shows as “Proof” and “Golda’s Balcony,” this production of “Born Yesterday” joins ranks with the best of them. Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. |