Written in 1946, the post World War II play follows the life of an odd couple.
Set in post World War II Washington, D.C., the play tells the story of an unscrupulous millionaire (Harry Brock) who becomes embarrassed by his girlfriend’s (Billie Dawn) ignorance that he hires a reporter (Paul Verrall) to tutor her.
In 1950, the play was brought to the screen by Columbia pictures and starred Broderick Crawford as Brock and Judy Holliday as Dawn. The film was remade in 1993, starring John Goodman (Brock), Melanie Griffith (Dawn), and Don Johnson (Verrall).
A revival of “Born Yesterday” is currently on Broadway with Jim Belushi (Brock) and Robert Sean Leonard (Verrall).
Dennis Feehan, a veteran musician and Pierce College alum, will be staring in the roll of Harry Brock. “The process of learning a song is similar to learning a script,” said Feehan. “It just takes longer.”
The roll of Billie is being portrayed by Sarah Ryan. Ryan has years of experience on the stage and has had bit parts in many TV shows. “In the play, Billie reads the book ‘David Copperfield’ by Dickens so for research I started reading it myself,” said Ryan.
What is a millionaire without a “minion” to do his bidding! Veteran stage actor, Dana Craig, plays Ed Devery, a corrupted U.S. Senator. “They print the auditions in a professional publication called ‘Backstage’ and I’m always checking for auditions,” said Craig.
Feehan, Ryan, and Craig all agree that rehearsing for the play is a lot of fun and working with Valorie Grear, the plays director, is a wonderful experience.
The play will run April 1 – 10 on the Mainstage at Pierce College theater department. For Ticket information call (818) 719-6488.
Denis Freehan and Sarah Ryan break from their characters as Harry Brock and Billie Dawn at rehearsals for Born Yesterday as they receive feedback from the director of the production, Valorie Grear, in the Performing Arts building at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. The satirical, screwball comedy Born Yesterday is the first spring production of the Theatre Art’s Department 2011 Season and is scheduled to run the first two weekends of April.
