ANN

First things first—since that one simple three-letter word may not explain what I’m reviewing, Ann is a theatre piece that just opened at the Pasadena Playhouse. A wonderful theatre piece.

It’s a one-woman show, (with one extra voice for a bit,) about late former Texas Governor, Ann Richards. And it’s performed by the equally impressive Emmy winner and Tony nominee, Holland Taylor.

And let me tell you–Ms. Taylor is perfection. There’s no one else in the world who could have brought Mrs. Richards to life as spectacularly as she does.

But it gets even better–Holland Taylor wrote the play, too!!! OMG! How is one person allowed to have that much talent???

You know that I don’t read press releases or other reviews before I see something for myself, (nor even the program before the show,) so going in, I had no idea that she was both the star and playwright. While I was watching her on opening night, I was marveling at how perfectly it was written to begin with. I kept thinking that the author must be so thrilled that he or she had found Holland to perform it. (Admitting how goony I am, I kept thinking the role was “Taylor-made” for her.)

So imagine my amazement when I sat down to write this review, and discovered her dual talents. I can’t even express how impressed I am with the entire endeavor. (But I’m trying.)

I neglected to mention up front that I usually eschew one-person shows. I just can’t muster-up attention for them. But Ann is a master class on how to do them.

All I ever knew of Holland Taylor before this show is as the mother on Two and a Half Men; Mr. X and I always perked-up when she entered a scene because we knew it would be special. So reading her bio in the program has been eye-opening. [On a side note, Holland and I have two things in common, most notably our January 14th birthday! No wonder she’s so fabulous! And we’ve both worked with Patti LuPone, although I have a feeling Patti liked Holland a zillion times better than she liked me. At least, for Ms. Taylor’s sake, I hope she did! Let me put it this way—I beat her once at musical chairs, and she’s never forgiven me.]

As to Ann Richards, I always knew I was a fan of hers, based solely on her keynote address at 1988 Democratic National Convention, but I just never dug deeper. So I appreciate that this presentation told me just about everything I need to know about the dynamic politician.

I’ll leave you to discover the show for yourselves, but this is the basic set-up: First up is a very quick clip of Ann Richards’ star turn delivering that now-famous speech, to give the audience a little reminder of how awesome she was.

Then Holland Taylor, as Ann, comes out to give a commencement address at an imaginary school. I assumed that would be the setting for the entire show, which I would have been okay with, (even though I usually need more visuals than that,) only because I adore both the subject and the performer.

During that presentation, Ann gives us a brief synopsis of her upbringing, her marriage, and how she got into politics, keeping us rolling in the aisles the whole time.

And then, after about twenty-five minutes, a set of Richards’ office rolls out, and the action takes off from there. It’s a lovely surprise.

The whole thing is quite brilliant. Ann Richards was known for her sense of humor and fun, so Ann is the perfect tribute to her.

The Holland Taylor-penned script is filled with great lines, such as, “I was the poster child for functioning alcoholics everywhere. And I functioned all over the place.”  The notes I usually take when reviewing theatre are the deets of performance, set, lighting, and things along those lines. (And, of course, how annoying many of the audience members are, with their talking, looking at their phones, and reeking of perfume.) But just about every one of my copious notes this time was of the lines I loved, to share them with Mr. X, who couldn’t join me that night.

My fave line is delivered on the phone to her son who apparently is reluctant to play yet another game of Charades at the upcoming family get-together because he’s not good at it. Ann yells at him, “Charades is just a game—no one could have gotten ‘the Rob Lowe sex tapes!!!’” If I had been drinking water during that one, I would have done a spit take; Mr. X and I still talk about how awful an old friend is at the game from a decade ago, so that witticism really got to me.

Even through the masks on the entire opening night assemblage, (which I was thrilled to see,) constant guffaws were heard.

Holland Taylor gives us a little taste of everything about Ann Richards’ life, especially from the office portion of the set. She accomplishes that through a slew of phone calls, (during which only her side is heard,) and dialogue with her unseen secretary, (who is the other voice I referenced earlier.) We learn a bit about Ann’s children, her friends, her passions, and most importantly, the serious struggles of her job as Governor of Texas. (And, if you’re a worried Republican, you can safely see Ann because the show is not very about politics. You’ll be fine.)

Since I knew that Ann was all set to go at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2020, right when the pandemic hit, I felt bad for Taylor to need to have the lines on her mind for all this time.  So when opening night went flawlessly, I was relieved. But later on, I discovered that she’s been performing the show for…a dozen years! (Minus the past two, of course.) No wonder the long delay hasn’t thrown her for an obvious loop. (For comparison, if that had happened to a show Mr. X was doing, he would have told me to not talk to him for the entire twenty-four months, so he could still work on his lines the whole time!!! No exaggeration. Some other time, I’ll tell you about the time he had to do a tribute to Greer Garson—you will not believe it.)

By the way—I was very happy to return to the Pasadena Playhouse itself, and found something interesting. In the past, I had never realized that it has great sightlines all over. I’ve never sat that far back before as I did this time, but it was totally fine. What a lovely discovery! No wonder it’s the State Theatre of California!

And I was impressed that the entire audience kept their masks on for the duration, as we were required to. And we all had to show proof of not just the original vaccines, but of a booster, as well. I actually felt safe the whole time I was in there.

As for the technical aspects of Ann, I appreciated the clever set design.  I had expected it to be boring, due to it being a one-person show, but it is not. They are projections in the first section, then that actual fabulous office, and then one more little setting for when Ann leaves office. It all works.

I just wish that the costume designer had chosen for the character’s suit to be blue. Or actually any other color than the white it is, which makes it the same color as her hair, and even her very light skin blends in a bit. Perhaps they chose white to not look political. Or to really pop-out from the set. I’m just partial to blue because I think we all picture Richards in her iconic blue dress from that trademark keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.

My only other teensy-tiny nit to pick is one I didn’t want to express because the whole show is so outstanding. But since I heard many other opening nighters voice my own thoughts out loud on the way out, I feel I’d be remiss if I neglected to mention it.  Here it is:  With a running time of two hours and fifteen minutes with one intermission, (despite the Playhouse website saying it’s a half hour shorter than that—I literally timed it,) the show is about twenty minutes too long.  There’s one natural end point, it seems, when Ann steps away from her office and looks back, and there was even a smattering of applause that night, like none of us knew if it was really the ending.  But then she moved on to the next stage of her life.  As entertaining as that final section was, with a good definitive ending, perhaps they can find a few other minutes here and there to trim.  Just saying. (But I doubt that’s going to happen—as I said, Taylor has been doing this show for over a decade now, and Pasadena Playhouse is the final stop. So why trim it at this late date?)

But no matter how long, or the color of her attire, Ann is thoroughly entertaining.  If you see only one show in California this month, I highly suggest it be this one. No matter your political leanings.

Ann running through April 24, 2022
Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Avenue Pasadena 626-356-7529  www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org