Susan Granger’s review of “Born Yesterday” (Cort Theater)
Marilyn Monroe once said, “It takes a smart brunette to play a dumb blonde.” I can’t vouch for Nina Arianda’s natural hair color, but she’s the most captivating and utterly delicious dumb blonde to grace the New York stage in many years in the revival of Garson Kanin’s sophisticated 1946 comedy.
Arianda plays Billie Dawn, the ditsy, platinum-blonde girlfriend of an uncouth, unethical junk dealer, Harry Brock (Jim Belushi), who is visiting Washington, D.C. with big plans to wield influence in Congress. Billie’s a former “Anything Goes” chorus girl from New Jersey, and when it becomes obvious to Harry that her appalling ignorance is a social liability, he hires an idealistic New Republic journalist, Paul Verrall (Robert Sean Leonard), to educate her. Or, as he brusquely puts it: “to smarten ’er up a little,” so she won’t embarrass him as he wheels-and-deals with U.S. Senators. Over an eight-week process of reading newspapers and American history books, Billie realizes how dishonest Harry is and begins to question the many documents Harry’s lawyer (Frank Wood) asks her to sign.
I bring baggage to this production: my father (S. Sylvan Simon) produced the 1950 movie, starring Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford and William Holden. I remember being on the set as George Cukor directed the ‘gin rummy’ scene and stuffing a handkerchief in my mouth so I wouldn’t laugh out loud. That having been said, I found watching Nina Arianda and Jim Belushi hilarious. Exuding warmth and naiveté, Arianda is a natural comedienne with exquisite timing. And, under the direction of Doug Hughes, Belushi is a superb foil, capturing the crass, dominating arrogance of Brock’s bellowing self-made millionaire. While Robert Sean Leonard looks the part and oozes sincerity, his ardor for Billie, unfortunately, never really comes across.
What’s surprising is how timely and relevant Garson Kanin’s acerbic civics-and-citizenship script is today, given the deadlock in Congress as lobbyists push their special interests. And Harry Brock is not unlike the bankers and brokers who brought this country to the brink of financial ruin in recent years.
John Lee Beatty’s luxurious hotel-suite set is perfectly ostentatious, while Catherine Zuber’s costumes are sheer eye candy. I found “Born Yesterday” the most scintillating revival this season.