Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday
New York Calling
William Wolf
March 23, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
By William Wolf
One of the season's finest performances by an actress can be found in the spirited revival of Anita Loos's 1946 hit play "Happy Birthday," being incisively presented by TACT (The Actors Company Theatre), celebrating its 20th anniversary, and superbly directed by Scott Alan Evans. The gifted lady is Mary Bacon, who is thoroughly captivating playing Addie Bemis, a repressed spinster who comes to life and finds love in a liberating drunken night out. There are multiple shadings to Bacon's marvelously entertaining and heartfelt performance, which is a joy to behold.
Events begin quietly as we meet some of the characters in the Jersey Mecca Cocktail Bar in Newark, N.J., operated by by Gail Hosmer, played assertively by Karen Ziemba. Scenic designer Brett J. Banakis gives us a cheerfully tacky setting, complete with a typical juke box of the time. Bank employee Paul Bishop (Todd Gearhart), is there meeting his pain-in-the-neck girlfriend Maude (Victoria Mack). Addie, a timid librarian, has found Paul attractive in her trips to the bank. But everything in her up-tight life under the control of an abusive drunken father would seem to preclude doing anything about her romantic feelings.
But on this occasion she gets the nerve to venture into the lounge, and although she never drinks, one thing leads to another and she becomes sloshed. The alcohol begins to free the repressed spirit within, and she really lets go. In this inebriated state she summons the courage to make a move toward Paul, who, played to perfection by Gearhart, gradually becomes attracted to her. An under-the-table kissing scene is delightful, although it looks as if the two will not get together again. But wait.
Director Evans handles all of this with taste and humor, providing a few visual surprises along the way. His stages the final moments especially effectively, and the supporting cast does a nice job embellishing the situation throughout. As for Bacon as Addie, she covers emotions involving reticence, anger, sexiness unchained and wistful hope for a drastic change in her life. She thoroughly embodies the clever Anita Loos's vision of a woman liberated in the context of her tine. Helen Hayes won a Tony for playing the part on Broadway. I can't imagine that she was any better than Ms. Bacon. At The Beckett Theatre, Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street.