An American Daughter
by Wendy Wasserstein
ICT Mainstage
*REVIEWED 03/16/07 PERFORMANCE
Directed by Coy Covington
Scenic Design by Dennis Canright
Lighting Design by Michael Campbell
Costume Design by Suzanne Cranford Shankle Sound Design by Steven-Shayle
Rhodes
*CAST:
LYSSA DENT HUGHES…………..……..Mary Margaret Pyeatt
QUINCE QUINCE…………………....…….Stephanie Hall
JUDITH B. KAUFMAN………..………….Laura Warner
WALTER ABRAHMSON……...…………..Dennis Canright
MORROW MCCARTHY……….....…………David Meglino
TIMBER TUCKER………………....……….Chip Wood
SENATOR ALAN HUGHES…..………..Harry Reinwald
CHARLOTTE "CHUBBY" HUGHES……Connie Lane
JIMMY………………………………….........Joshua
Moore
BILLY ROBBINS………...………………….John
Biggan
CASEY……………………………......………..Casey
McDaniel
_______________________AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER (AAD)__________________
We are all not perfect & have had our share of embarrassing mistakes.
or some, there is the added trauma of having video and/or photographs to capture that
moment of stupidity to live on forever. And just like it happens every time, you are about
to accomplish a major feat in your life, only to have those pics or video pop back up in
every media outlet, especially the internet to destroy what you are trying to achieve.
Lyssa Dent Hughes (Mary-Margaret Pyeatt) has been nominated by the President to become
the first woman surgeon general, only to have a simple mistake (or was it?) pop up back
into her life, jeopardizing her nomination. This is the beginning of AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER,
written by Wendy Wasserstein, who sadly passed away in January 2006.
AAD opened on Broadway at the Cort Theater in April 1997, only to play for 89
performances. It would receive (and eventually win) only one Tony Award nomination-Best
Featured Actress in a Play, which Lynne Thigpen won.
Wasserstein also penned her play into a television script that became a TV film in 2000
starring Christine Lahti and Tom Skerritt. The tele- film did receive a Golden Globe
nomination for Lahti for Best Perform -ance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion
Picture Made for TV.
The central problem with this play is alas Wasserstein's script. She throws so many
political issues, statements, theories, and arguments into her writing which are mostly
never fully developed or explained.
She then adds a second layer of the true duties of the media, gay issues, abortion,
power hungry women, biological clocks ticking, extra -marital affairs, & a family tree
into the mix. All of these elements swirl high above and around Wasserstein's characters
with only a precious few landing with resolution. Too many others are left unresolved,
leaving you perplexed and even frustrated.
There are several, long scenes involving elitist, rich, highly educated, and
politically savvy characters talking on and on about this and that, without any true,
solid, organic connection between the characters and their long winded dialogue. You get a
sense of Wasserstein trying so hard to make political statements with punch lines, but
never connecting the heart & soul of these characters to the material.
In lesser hands, this play could be hard to watch, but under Coy Covington's rich
direction and the majority of his cast do indeed rise high above the material.
Covington keeps the pace brisk and moving with purpose. This piece can easily dive into
long, endless pauses, but Covington never lets his cast lose its pace and organic flow.
His blocking and staging has purpose with an aura of naturalism. Characters move with
determination or organic truthfulness, without false pretense or never looking like lost
kiddies on the playground. His direction is quite detailed in the sense that you feel like
real life is being explored on stage, making the audience feel as though they are in the
actual Hughes living room, and not in the theater. Some of the finest directors around
town are those who are also superb actors, thus you can easily add Covington to that very,
very short list with this production.
Visually the piece looks clean, slick, and elegant. Michael Campbell's lighting design
is superb. For some reason when it comes to plays (not musicals), lighting designers use
bland beiges and whites to light them, but Campbell's palette steers far away from this.
Using blues, pinks, oranges, and other dark hues to give the piece a classic, Broadway
look. He has special spots that are lit beautifully to give the emotion and staging
purpose and unique indivi -dualism. Campbell's design is some of the best I've seen for a
play so far this season.
Dennis Canright's scenic design is the perfect compliment to Campbell's lighting. For
the walls he has fashioned crème satin fabric into individual hanging sections to become
the walls. They reflect the light with shimmering effect. There is tile and bone colored
floors and a fireplace that give the set warmth. Canright has designed in the middle of
the set double wide doors and steps that give the piece a very waspy look that works like
a glove with Wasserstein's dialogue.
Mary-Margaret Pyeatt portrays the leading female role, "Lyssa Dent Hughes",
whose family tree traces all the way back to President Ulysses E. Grant. Ms. Pyeatt
delivered a sensational performance earlier this season in LEONARD'S CAR.
Unfortunately here she gives the character an icy, cold demeanor that never truly
melts. This is a problem because the audience never really warms up to her or her
problems. Pyeatt struggled a lot in the first act to get into sync with both her
characterization and the other cast members around her. She is robotic and simply was not
getting into the subtext within the skin of her role. But in the second act, something
changed within her performance. Her entire scene involving a television live interview was
pure brilliance. She finds the sturdy ground of her characterization and delivers a
marvelous performance; I just wish that she had that same emotional connection in the
first act as well. This could also be the script itself. For what she lacks in Act One,
she makes it up in abundance in Act Two.
The majority of the cast deliver glowing performances.
David Meglino portrays "Morrow McCarthy", who happens to let slip out by
accident (or did he?) during brunch in front of a reporter that Hughes lost a jury duty
summons years ago. Wasserstein fails miserably in giving the character the real reason why
he said this. Nonetheless Meglino gives the character a robust, wicked sense of humor and
lively disposition. While the character is gay, Meglino does not stereotype the role,
which is wonderful to see. This is Mr. Meglino's Dallas debut performance, and he is
smashing.
Another fun performance to watch is Harry Reinwald as Senator Hughes.
The character could have easily become cliché, but both director and actor steer
clearly way from this. Reinwald is humorous, engaging, and shows honest love and support
for his daughter. The actor gives the character dignity and restraint, but also the voice
of a loving father and husband. I thoroughly enjoyed Reinwald's performance very much.
Add Dennis Canright to the list of gratifying performances in this company. Canright
shows in equal amounts the loss of his fame as a noted writer and his support for the rise
in his wife's career. He is supportive, but also must deal emotionally with the affair he
had with a former student. This is another failure in Wasserstein's writing in that we
never get the full story, but Canright achieves organic truth and conflict without the
written word. From chain smoking to trying to grasp hold of his marriage, Canright stays
in complete character from beginning to end. He is terrific in the production.
Connie Lane, Laura Warner, and Meglino supplied the loudest and best laughs of the
evening. Ms. Lane's performance achieves some of the biggest laughs of the evening as the
Senator's wife "Chubby". She is endearing, charming, warm, loving, and full of
life. Always dressed impeccably, Lane would continually steal scenes with her solid
comedic timing, pace, and delivery that is matched with her facial expressions.
But it is Laura Warner, who walks away with the show & the audience's heart in a
brilliant, entrancing performance as "Judith B. Kaufman".
Judith is Lyssa's best friend and also happens to be a woman's oncologist. She is also
black and Jewish, in her 40's, & desperately struggling to conceive a child. Warner is
the warmth and heart of the play. She is angry, but also so alone, trying to find a reason
for her life. Warner connects honestly and beautifully with everyone on stage, bouncing
the "ball of actor energy" between them all, never once dropping the ball.
Warner's stage presence, organic naturalistic approach to her acting gives her an
exquisite performance from beginning to end.
Finally, a standing ovation to ICT Mainstage to tackle a difficult, adult piece like
this. Many theater companies are playing safe in producing productions that won't offend
or alienate their subscribers.
AAD does contain some adult language and situations that would not sit well with the
older generations. At Friday's opening a couple of white haired grandmas and grandpas did
get up and walk out. Which just wants you to scream, "Oh grow up!" Must
everything being mounted on stage come from from the 1940s-50s?
I sincerely hope this does not influence ICT to just stick to the old war horses. I
totally understand that you need to pacify your older, paying customers, but you also need
to grow artistically, and with this production ICT has grown artistically! While the
script has its severe problems, visually and artistically ICT has a smash on their hands.
Bravo ICT, Bravo!
GRADE: B
____________________________________________________________________
AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER By Wendy Wasserstein(Metroplex Premiere) ICT MainStage Through
March 31, 2007
Dupree Theater, Irving Arts Center 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd.
Fridays & Saturdays, March 16 - 31, 2007 at 8 pm.
Thursday, March 29 2007 at 8 pm.
Sundays, March 18 & 25 2007 at 2:30 pm.
Tickets:
Friday
