Theater Review: Born Yesterday

by Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions

Elke Sommer toured extensively the dinner theatre circuit in the late 1970’s playing Billie Dawn in the play Born Yesterday. Don’t scoff. There was a time Dinner Theatres were respected and attracted quite a bit of talent. No, they weren’t the mega-stars that toured, but it was the second-tier talent, the up and coming talent, or the talent whose fame had dropped a notch. Elke Sommer fell into this last category for she’d been the Golden Globe-winning, world famous pin-up model, very sought after actor in the 1960’s, who because she was now in her 30’s was finding herself no longer as desirable in film and had turned to the stage. Everyone agreed that this German lady, who spoke 7 languages, was very talented; it’s just that she was over the hill since she was in her late 30’s. Thankfully times have changed and we don’t hold this perception any longer. I was fortunate to see her perform this role while I was visiting family in Chicago. Her performance was bravura in comic timing. She did not mimic the “other” famous actor who had done the role. She used her accent effectively and had made it her own.

The “other” actor is Judy Holliday. This is her most famous performance and it was directed by brilliant George Cukor. Ms. Holliday originated the role on Broadway. For a play Born Yesterday was a tremendous hit running a span of two years. In film she went on to win the Academy Award that year over Gloria Swanson’s mind-blowing performance of Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis’ jarring performance in All About Eve.

Any attempt for an actor to play the role of Billie Dawn is bound to fail, because comparisons will be made unless they decide to take a fresh approach to this character, which is exactly what Loree Westbrooks did. Very smart. My first impulse when she first appeared was to feel like she wasn’t capturing the character. I then realized I was being biased, I was comparing her to the two previous actors mentioned. I focused on what Loree was doing and guess what? She does one heck of a job with her Billie. She plays her not like a dumb blonde, she plays her as street wise, but uneducated blonde. This approach works.

Garson Kanin’s script about a mobster coming to Washington to corruptly influence a senator and whose plans get ruined by his moll because she was so uneducated he hired a crack reporter to teach her some culture, still triggers lots of laughs. Think of this play as a devious re-telling of My Fair Lady. Though the play is over half a century old, its observations on politics, corruption, etc. are still current. Some scripts don’t age well; some are like fine wine and improve over time. This one remains a sharp and biting satire. The trick is can you get the actors on stage to deliver the lines, trigger the laughter and still keep the social and political commentary without sinking the ship? Repertory Company Theatre is able to do it. I’ll be honest, this will not be my favorite version of this play since I saw Ms. Sommer’s version. This said, you will not leave disappointed when you leave the theatre. At intermission and after the show the comments overflowing from the audience were “That was so good,” “What a delight!” “I so enjoyed it!”

Jimmi Wright plays Harry Brock with salty delight. His New Jersey accent never slips, and he is truly a thug who has managed to get too much power. He is threatening and scary, but at the same time Jimmi makes him extremely funny. Not an easy balance. The only question I had was the “silver” splash of hair color in his hair. I know Brock is supposed to be older then the actor portraying him. But, honestly this make-up effect was a bit distracting, and unnecessary since Jimmi is a strong enough an actor that he’s able to come across as being older by his performance. When he turns violent, I nearly jumped out of my chair. When he slaps Billie, it was convincingly scary. Jimmi had made Harry so likable, we were beginning to forget how evil he could be. The scene put everyone in the audience on edge. It was thrilling theatre.

The rest of the cast turned in well placed performances. Many of the roles are small, but the actors were able to find delicious comic moments. Margaret Lyman though, stole the show. I’m not saying this because she’s been an acting student of mine. I’m saying this because the entire audience roared repeatedly at her performance and she was the talk during intermission. Margaret plays Mrs. Hedges, the prim, proper, and uptight wife of a senator. Her rigidity melts slowly away as she sips her cocktail. We watch her slowly nursing her cocktail, feel the waves of alcohol run through her bloodstream, and methodically slump into a drunken stupor. She ends up smashed. She has few lines to deliver, and as written she’s not the focus of the action, yet everyone couldn’t keep their eyes off of her for she was absolutely hysterical.

Debra Carter was responsible for the secure and solid direction of the show as well as the costuming and the set design. It goes without saying, she is very talented. There was a few oopses in timing at the very top of the show, but it wasn’t due to her direction; for a moment the actors tripped up on their cues and lines and had a few pauses that weren’t quite right. This happens in all theatre at some point, and it wasn’t in her direction. I doubt it would happen again, it was just one of those things that occurs in live theatre and that’s what makes it so exciting!

If you haven never seen Born Yesterday then here’s your chance to catch it.

Oh, if you want to watch the film version be sure and NOT rent the 1993 version with Melanie Griffith. She won the Worst Actress Golden Raspberry award for her performance. I didn’t think it was that horrible, but it definitely wasn’t good.

The show runs until April 27. Tickets may be purchased by calling 972-690-5029.