‘Born’ Again
“Born Yesterday,” Garson Kanin’s well-loved 1946 comedy smash, is like an American reworking of the “Pygmalion” tale with a dizzy dame instead of a Cockney.
A not-so-bright bombshell named Billie Dawn is the mistress of a rich junkman, Harry Brock. Billie embarrasses Brock with her ditzy, uneducated remarks, so he hires a young, liberal writer to tutor her and give her some class.
The problem? The writer tutors her so well, she soon recognizes Brock for the crass boor that he is. A comedy of reversed fortunes ensues.
“Born Yesterday,” which opens this weekend at the Actor’s Repertory Theatre, is one of the enduring comic tales of American theater. When it debuted on Broadway in 1946, it made an instant star out of Judy Holliday, who landed the part only after original star Jean Arthur quit during rehearsals.
Holliday later won the Best Actress Oscar for the 1950 movie version.
The play was also a major triumph for playwright and director Kanin, who went on to direct “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Funny Girl,” among many other notable stage hits.
The original Broadway production of “Born Yesterday” ran for nearly four years and was a hit with critics as well as audiences.
“Its bright lines, sharp character studies and superb performances made it capital theater,” said Gerald Bordman in “The Oxford Companion to American Theatre.”
A 1989 Broadway revival starring Madeline Kahn and Edward Asner wasn’t quite so successful, yet the play has remained a popular title in regional theaters.
The ARt production is directed by Tralen Doler, who directed last season’s “Dirty Blonde.”
Christina Lang, the Boise actress who played the Mae West character in “Dirty Blonde,” returns as Billie Dawn. Spokane theatergoers may also remember her as Keely in “Keely and Du” at Interplayers.
Michael Weaver plays Brock, the junk tycoon. Weaver is ARt’s artistic director and co-founder, and has appeared in dozens of shows at ARt and Interplayers.
Dexter Ankrom plays Paul Verrall, the writer. Ankrom was born in the Shetland Islands and attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He’s making his ARt debut.
The rest of the cast includes Patrick Treadway, John Oswald, Ann Russell Whiteman, Chris LeBlanc, Buddy Todd, Vera-Oro Winslow, Jimmy James Pendleton, Dan McKeever and Karynn E. Thompson.