I'm with stupid

When I first heard that the 1946 Garson Kanin comedy Born Yesterday was being revived on Broadway, I thought, "Another one?" How many vintage musicals and plays have been brought back lately, and what does that say about the state of the theater? What does it say about audiences that they seem to take increasing comfort in seeing shows that were originally staged in another era? Or is it about skittish producers not wanting to take chances?

Without probing those questions, I have to say I came out of Born Yesterday happy that I'd given it half a chance—because it's very good, whether you're one of those talkers or would be interested in a little action.

The play's plot (which many of you will know from the 1950 Judy Holliday movie or even the 1993 remake starring Melanie Griffith) follows a crooked, blowhard businessman, Harry Brock (Jim Belushi), and his beyond ditzy "concubine" Billie Dawn (Nina Arianda) as he breezes into Washington D.C. in order to shore up senatorial support for policies that will benefit his myriad of shady operations. Unbeknownst to Billie, all those confusing papers she's been signing have been part of his plan to keep the feds off his trail and protect his liability.

Harry perceives Billie as having one major liability when it comes to D.C. society—she'll never blend with her foghorn Queens accent and unrefined manners. So he enlists the aid of a reporter meant to interview him, Paul Verrall (Robert Sean Leonard), paying him $200 a week to tutor Billie on the finer things, etiquette and, um, "couth."

It's no easy task considering Billie's knee-slapping exclamations, but it's one Verrall welcomes thanks to Billie's endearing innocence and hourglass figure.

The machinations of the Senate read as contemporary, with Sen. Norval Hedges (Terry Beaver) being not-so-discreetly lobbied by Harry and his legal eagle Ed Devery (Frank Wood), and Billie's dawning intellectual curiosity is a timeless pleasure.

"Gin!"

Kanin's script is as funny as ever, but made funnier by Arianda, who seems guaranteed to receive a Tony nomination for her fully committed performance as a dumb broad whose natural smarts are just buried under some cobwebs. Looking very much like Christina Aguilera at times, her shrill voice summons Cyndi Lauper, Jennifer Tilly and Edith Bunker, often at once. She is never one-note. For example, her judicious use of just a few tinny but quiet words during the play's most inventive scene—a game of gin that reveals Billie's brains—shades a character that in the hands of a lesser actress (did I mention Melanie Griffith earlier?) could be a mere cartoon. She's absolutely hypnotic, owning the stage whether she's crassly embarrassing Mrs. Hedges (Patricia Hodges), vamping it up for Paul's benefit, sulking in silence or taking her lumps from her ogre of a boyfriend.

Belushi surprised me with his aptitude for this role. At first, I felt he was simply doing a whole lot of yelling, which is certainly called for. But as the play moved along, it was clear he, too, was bringing his character to life with just some adjustments to the boom of his big, big voice.

Robert Sean Leonard is perhaps too remote as Billie's tutor and fan, but as their relationship moves away from the strictly professional, it's easier to see why his social and political convictions might inspire Billie. Her eventual transformation is deeply satisfying—and a real hoot.

The only reservations I had were minor, such as the awkward staging of the play in three acts (with no intermission between the last two, just a brief closing of the curtain) and the disappointing reality that the sumptuously designed set (which drew gasps upon its reveal when I saw the show) must necessarily remain static throughout.

Dumb blondes have a tendency to sneak up on you if your expectations are too low. Don't forget the original film netted Holliday an Oscar over Bette Davis and Anne Baxter in All About Eve, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Eleanor Parker in Caged. So don't take for granted the prospect of seeing this play about a dumb blonde; Born Yesterday is sharp as a tack and as witty as it is pretty.

Check out some notes and video from the night I saw the show here.