Susan Granger’s review of “Ann” (Vivian Beaumont Theater/Lincoln Center 2013 season)
What began as my review of writer/actress Holland Taylor’s “Ann” at Lincoln Center has become an unadulterated fan letter:
Dear Ms. Taylor,
A one-person show is, to me, the purest form of theatricality. As writer, you have inventively – and affectionately – captured the essence of Ann Richards, the brassy, outspoken one-term Governor of Texas, who has emerged as one of the most colorful and provocative contemporary political figures.
Directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein, your play opens at a Commencement address, as indomitable Ann, who served from 1991 to 1995, has recently been defeated at the polls by George W. Bush.
“I’ll bet some of you probably remember me just ‘cause of my air,” Ann says, tartly observing, “I notice most of you guys who tease me about my hair don’t have any.”
As Ann addresses the graduates, she recalls her Depression-era childhood, adored by her father and chafing under her domineering mother. Married at 19, she ran for county commissioner and then so electrified delegates at the 1988 Democratic National Convention with her keynote address that she was catapulted into the Texas Governor’s office. Advocating for a greater role for women in politics, she said, “…if you give us a chance we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did; she just did it backwards and in high heels.”
As a divorced mother of four and recovering alcoholic, Ann ran herd on her often recalcitrant children with the same crisp, if comical and often salty efficiency that she worked the telephones, convincing politicians to actively combat their racial/ethnic prejudice and do the right thing.
Dressed in a white suit with a diamond Lone Star brooch and carefully coiffed gray wig, as an actress, you boldly embody the essence of Ann’s witty, feisty image, and your plain-talking Texas twang is rhythmically perfect. Broadway has missed you in the past three decades, while you’ve been entrancing and amusing television audiences in “Two and a Half Men,” “The Practice” and “Bosom Buddies.”
Welcome home, Ms. Taylor, you’re back on center-stage where you belong.
With awe and admiration,
Susan Granger