Theater Works' Born Yesterday
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 7/15/00
(out of )The 2000 summer season seems to be a time of drag and chestnuts. In the spirit of light, entertainment-driven fare, Theater Works is mounting the 1946 patriotic comedy, Born Yesterday. It was this play that launched the career of the vastly talented Judy Holliday, and which is a star vehicle for the wonderfully talented Trish Kiser. Ms. Kiser takes the role of ex-chorus girl and stereotypical dumb blonde Billie Dawn, and carries this production nearly single-handedly. While her two male leads work well with her, and the ensemble threatens to drag this production into the depths, it is ultimately Ms. Kiser who makes this an evening worth attending.
The post-WWII plot centers on Billie Dawn, an ex-chorine of the musical Anything Goes who is being kept by shady and gruff junk tycoon Harry Brock. They are visiting the nation's capital while Harry tries to win a lucrative government contract by greasing the palms of an influential Senator. In order to make Billie more "presentable" to this high-browed crowd, he hires a bookish Washington Post reporter, Paul Verral, to smooth out her rough edges. Of course, teacher and pupil soon fall for each other, and the newly enlightened Billie decides to extricate herself from the questionable dealings put in motion by Harry and his hired guns, intellectual Devery, and muscle Eddie.
Director Jay Horne should be commended for his casting of four of the five leads. Besides the incomparable Ms. Kiser, he has done well by including the easygoing Anthony Nelson as mousy Paul, braying Jim Driskill as the egocentric Harry, and smooth Spencer Dooley as the ever-present Eddie. The four work well together, when not forced to deal with the surprisingly substandard ensemble. Mr. Horne has obviously concentrated on the leads, and it shows. When the scene centers on any and all combinations of the four, the evening moves along at a wonderful clip. Include in the mix, though, the awful performance of Irv Rothman as the permanently sloshed intellect Devery, or any of the actors with smaller roles, save for Walter Cronkite-sound-and-act-alike Bill Grauer as the Senator-on-the-take, the evening grinds to a halt like a pernicious filibuster.
Fortunately, as difficult as those times are to endure, they are overcome by the sparkling presence of Ms. Kiser, and the great one-on-ones with her male counterparts. Her authentic "New Yawk ack-a-centd" is hilarious, and she wisely plays more unenlightened than genuinely dumb, which makes her two-month conversion easier to believe. Whether offering annoying, shrill-voiced nit, alluring vixen, or avenging crusader, she keeps the audience in the palm of her hand.
Mr. Nelson underplays Paul to good effect, just as Mr. Driskill overplays Harry in a way that accentuates the comedy. Each man serves to counterbalance, and when the spotlight focuses on them, they rise to the occasion. Mr. Dooley takes a role that could easily be broadly handled, and instead strong-arms it with finesse, a welcome choice on both his and the director's part.
Gregory Jaye offers a magnificent set that is a sumptuous array of marble, red velvet and gold, and Scott Campbell does an excellent job of lighting the vast living room of the expensive 1946 hotel suite. Rebecca Avery's costumes and Laura Durant's sound design work very well, too.
Anyone who remembers the original production, or the 1950 movie that netted Ms. Holiday an Oscar, will want to see this enjoyable evening. While it takes its time to get up to speed, once the detritus of the ensemble is swept away, and the leads get the chance to take over, this is an enjoyable show for a midsummer's evening.
Production Details:
Born Yesterday by Garson
Kanin
Theater Works,
Peoria
(623) 815-7930
July 14th - 30th, 2000