SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Ann
| "For me, and a lot of public servants, - - it is almost a calling - - Not from 'on high,' - but from within…that in our core, we feel we can make life better for people, in a way beyond our own family." — Ann
|
Holland Taylor (Photo by Ave Bonar) |
It's a humdinger of a performance that Taylor gives of the formidable and just as often feisty and funny woman who realized that "A funny woman is tricky in politics," but also reminded noted that "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, she just did it backwards and in hi-i-gh heels!" There's only a bit more speechifying to come from the former governor of Texas as the screen disappears and we see Holland as Richards warmly welcomed to the stage of the auditorium of a fictitious college where she will address the graduating class. We hear the strains of Chariots of Fire theme as Richards, sartly dressed in a stylish white suit with gold buttons, ignores the podium, and instead uses the breadth of the stage making personal and persuasive contact with her audience.
A staunch Democrat despite her signature look, the immaculately coiffed white "Republican hair," (as it was aptly described by newspaper columnist and fan Molly Ivers) Taylor, like the woman she portrays, puts the audience (us) at ease from the get-go. "I notice that most you guys who tease me about my hair don't' have any." Richards is clearly not someone who is going to stick to or even consult her notes (although they are in evidence), but rather plunges right into her story-telling mode. The stage is therefore not a platform for a persuasive speech, but rather a field of dreams fulfilled for one of the most astonishing women to have ever exceeded her expectations. The size of the Vivian Beaumont Theater's stage is no hinderance to the feeling of intimacy that is created by Taylor. The way she effectively uses both the center as well as the outer reaches of the stage to corral everyone's attention is commendable
Literally, figuratively and certainly politically coming out of the left field, Ann Richards was not the candidate most likely to win the election in 1990 that made her the governor of Texas, only the second woman to gain that office in the most right-est state in the union. Despite a reality check that could define her as a former alcoholic and divorcee with strong feminist views, Richards wowed them in the lone star state with her often scathing humor and her cut-to-the-chase politics.
Despite serving only one term, it was enough for many of us to see what this astonishing woman was made of and stood for. She was definitely not to the manor-born, or as she was to describe her successor George W. Bush - "born with a silver foot in his mouth." She did come to the American people with an agenda, one that she apparently addressed in her autobiography Straight from the Heart: My Life in Politics and Other Places.
Taylor has a lot invested in this play that she based on Richard's writing, interviews with member of her staff, friends and family, film records, news publications, anecdotes, and imagination. Her heaviest investment is in portraying Richards with a loving informality and in a deliberately unpretentious manner. Well known for her work in such TV sitcoms as Bosom Buddies and Two and a Half Men as well as a long and significant stage and film career, Taylor easily disarmed us from the start with a well-honed Texas drawl. But it is spunky, sassy down-home image that she affixes to Richards that is most affectionately created.
Credit Taylor for capturing both the wizened harder-edged woman that Richards was to become as well as the embodying the uncommonly energized, optimistic younger Ann determined to measure up to the high standards set by both her father and mother. Filled with funny anecdotes, Ann makes no apology for the humor for which she became known. "My daddy was the greatest story teller. Awful, bawdy stories just the worst. It's why I developed such a taste for dirty jokes." You can be sure we are offered a sampling.
Although the play is book-ended by the graduation speech and marked initially by a recap of her family history and a touching epilogue, the centerpiece is the governor's office (a handsome setting by Michael Fagin) that glides forward. Richards is seen as fast talker who not only gets the first but the last word in the numerous phone conversations she has with various staffers and politicos during the course of one day.
Richards' description of herself as "strong as mustard gas" discards her shoes in order to get into full stride as Richards decides whether to sign a stay of execution, has brief chats on the phone with Bill Clinton and also gives hell to her speech writer and others as she aggressively paces around her desk.
The actress like her subject, keeps control of the ever coiling cord with the skill of rancher with a lasso. But this bit of officiating tends to become a little wearisome and try our patience as does an over-cooked through-line regarding the playing of charades, deciding who is bringing the ham and who is baking the pies for a proposed family outing.
The core of the play, affably directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein, allows plenty of time to cover Richards'struggle with alcoholism and the unforeseen dissolution of her marriage to civil rights attorney Dave Richards. Most exhilarating is her response to a pro-choice advocate, "tsk, tsk, tsk, we're going to make you have more children you can't afford."
Ann succeeds in some measure as a cornucopia of quotes from its eminently quotable subject, it succeeds as a testament to Richard's indomitable spirit — and to Taylor, the fine actor who has lassoed it to a chariot of fire.
|
Ann Written and starring Holland Taylor Directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein Scenic Designer: Michael Fagin Costume Designer: Julie Weiss Lighting Designer: Matthew Richards Sound Designer: Ken Huncovsky Projection Design: Zachary Borovay Running Time: 2 hours including intermission Vivian Beaumont Theater at LCT, 150 West 65th Street (212) 239 - 6200 Tickets: $75.00 - $125 Performances: Beginning March 11: Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at2pm, Sunday at 3pm. From 02/18/13 Opened 03/07/13; extend from original 6/01/13 closing to 9/01/13 -- which, after the Tony awards was moved to a 6/30/13 closing Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 03/06/13 |
| REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
Slings & Arrows- view 1st episode free
Anything Goes Cast RecordingOur review of the show
Book of Mormon -CDOur review of the show
