Elmhurst, IL – GreenMan Theatre Troupe is proud to announce “Born Yesterday” written by Garson Kanin as the opening play of their 13th Season. Production dates for “Born Yesterday” are September 23-October 9. Performances will be presented at the First United Methodist Church, 232 S. York St., in Elmhurst. Tickets are $17, $15 for students and seniors. For more information about the production or to buy tickets, call 630-464-2646, or visit www.greenmantheatre.org.
“Born Yesterday” opened in 1946 on Broadway and ran for 1,642 performances. The original Broadway cast included Paul Douglas, Judy Holiday, Gary Merrill and Frank Otto. The 1950 film adaptation of “Born Yesterday” starred the powerhouse film actor Broderick Crawford as the uncouth and corrupt business man Harry Brock. Judy Holiday reprised her stage performance in the film as Harry’s showgirl mistress Billie Dawn, and William Holden played the Washington reporter who Harry hires to “educate” Billie. Kanin was a well known film writer and director who co-wrote the films “Adam’s Rib” and “Pat and Mike” with his wife and well known actress Ruth Gordon. Both films starred Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn.
“Born Yesterday” is the story of a classless and ruthless business tycoon, Harry Brock, who goes to Washington, D.C. with his brassy girlfriend, Emma “Billie” Dawn, and his crooked lawyer, to “influence” a politician or two. The lawyer also presses Harry to marry Billie on the grounds that a wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband if caught engaging in nefarious activities. Harry becomes disgusted with Billie’s ignorance and lack of manners, even though he himself is much worse. So he decides to hire a tutor for her—journalist Paul Verrall. Blossoming under Paul’s encouragement and her own hard work, Billie learns about literature, history, politics and the law, and turns out to be much smarter than anybody knew. She begins to think for herself and apply her reading and learning to her life situation. The two begin to fall in love. Meanwhile, Devery has persuaded Harry to sign over many of his assets to Billie to hide them from the government. When Harry needs to get them back, he comes into conflict with Billie’s new-found independence. She and Paul use her leverage to escape from Harry’s domination. She promises to give him back his property little by little as long as he agrees to leave them alone. This, in turn, allows Paul and Billie to get married.
Denis Duffy (Arlington Heights) who plays Harry Brock in GreenMan Theatre’s production sees his character as a man who only cares about three things: himself, money and being seen as the Top Dog wherever he goes. As Denis sees it, Brock is nothing more than the all too familiar neighborhood bully. Yet, as the play goes on, we see his insecurities more and more. Denis is thoroughly enjoying this acting challenge. The biggest part of the challenge, he feels, is playing a character who is so completely different than he is as a person.
Maureen “Mo” Denhof (Schaumburg) loves playing Billie Dawn. Just as with Denis and his Harry Brock, Mo’s Billie Dawn is so different than herself. Mo loves the challenge of having to completely mold who she is as her character. She has also thoroughly enjoyed her quest to perfect the voice and accent of Billie. Judy Holiday had a very distinct voice and to try and craft a similar sound requires dedication. Mo admits that of all the challenges in creating Billie Dawn, the biggest is to find and mold those moments during the play where the audience can see Billie’s growth. Mo realizes that it will be a real challenge to portray that clearly.
Erick Sosa (River Grove) plays the Washington D.C. reporter Paul Verrall who Brock hires to “smarten up” Billie. Erick sees more of simplicity to his character. He feels that because the year is 1946 and World War II has just come to an end, Paul is one of many Americans who is hungry for change and truly believes that he can make a difference and be part of something positive and bigger than us. As a reporter in Washington D.C. he is anxious in his resolve to take on political corruption among other things. Harry Brock will soon become his challenge. Erick sees Paul as a very confident man in most everything he encounters….except romance. The scenes with Billie will be exciting for Erick as an actor, challenging his balancing act between being a crusader and a lover.
GreenMan’s season will continue this fall with “Spooky Stories of the Season” in October and “Nickel and Dimed” in November. GreenMan’s annual murder mystery, “The McAddams Family: Spring Break” will open in February, and the 13th season closes with “A Tale of Two Cities” next May.
