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Arts & Culture
Actress and first-time playwright Holland Taylor stars in one-woman show “Ann,” making its West Coast debut March 22 at Pasadena Playhouse.
Holland Taylor brings inspiring Ann Richards to life
By Bliss Bowen Pasadena Weekly Contributing Writer
At the top of “Ann” — actress and first-time playwright Holland Taylor’s acclaimed one-woman show about legendary Texas Gov. Ann Richards — the politician is seen addressing the 1998 Democratic convention. mantra Taylor’s script shows arising from Richards’ modest background. “The person who holds this office really must have a conscience to know that how they direct this government dramatically affects the lives of real people who are counting on them,”
At the time, she was Texas’ state treasurer.
Richards establishes her spitfire bona fides while invoking the memory of Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who delivered a historic keynote address in 1976.
“Two women in 160 years is about par for the course,” Richards quips, jabbing at sexism in politics while noting she was only the second woman to give the keynote address.
It’s a winning introduction to both Richards — a recovered alcoholic, divorcee, and mother of four (daughter Cecile later became president of Planned Parenthood) — and Taylor, whose savvy portrayal is as earthy as it is elegant.
It’s also deeply informed by the three years of research Taylor conducted before the play’s first production in 2010.
“I could have researched for 10 years more and been happy as a clam, because learning her at the deepest possible level was one of the great pleasures of life,” the Philadelphia-born actress recalled during an animated phone discussion of the play.
From its Galveston debut, the play eventually wound its way to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and then Broadway’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre, where Taylor earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in 2013.
“Ann” was scheduled to receive its West Coast premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2020, but COVID-19 had other plans.
Directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein, it finally landed on the Playhouse stage Tuesday, March 22. It runs through Sunday, April 24.
“She is timeless, and her values are always necessary. The homespun truths that she lived by will always be true,” said Taylor, who channeled her sorrow over Richards’ 2006 death into the play.
“People found it very timely in New York in 2013 — some of the themes she discusses and also what she stood for. During Trump’s presidency in 2016, we took the play to Austin, and audience members who had seen it in New York said, ‘You did good little rewrites.’ I said, ‘No, there’s nothing new in the play.’ ‘But it’s so timely,’ they said. I said, ‘She’s timely.’”
Richards’ pride in establishing an administration reflecting the Lone Star state’s demographic diversity echoes the Biden administration: “More important than legislation, more important than vetoes and the bully pulpit, was our promise that we would put together a government of citizens that for once looked like the population of this state, where there would be no persons in all of Texas who did not see others serving in office who looked just like them.”
Life isn’t fair, but government should be, Richards reminds the audience more than once, a Richards insisted. “This play is not political; it is not partisan,” Taylor emphasized. “It isn’t really that much about politics; it’s about a woman. Now, she happens to spend part of her time as a politician. Full-time human, part-time politician.” Taylor, whose sharp comic timing has distinguished her work in film (“Legally Blonde,” “Romancing the Stone”) and television (“Hollywood,” “Two and a Half Men,” an Emmy-winning turn in “The Practice”), recounts the one time she met Richards at a hilarious lunch at Le Cirque in Manhattan with gossip columnist pal Liz Smith and a roomful of awed society doyennes and business hotshots. “I’ve said this a thousand times in interviews because it’s true: she could have been Mick Jagger. People were like, ‘Oh, my God!’” Asked what she considers Richards’ greatest legacy, she cited the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders and Richards’ talent for lifting people up: “She knew how to live. She lived a meaningful life that was very full of joy. “She had no training to be a great leader,” Taylor said. “There was nothing to make anyone think she would achieve anything special in life from what she came into in this world. So, it’s good to see somebody who has human faults and wonderful characteristics and came from an unassuming background who reaches for the stars and who also has a purpose to their life. I think that is the thing that inspires people.” At 79, Taylor said the prospect of “serving something bigger than myself” persuaded her to commit to such a taxing show. “It takes two months to learn the play; it’s a very, very long text. There’s no ad libbing. It’s very complicatedly written. It is very precisely written. I do not change a word,” she explained, adding that she repeats words to replicate Richards’ speech patterns. “I have two hours a day with somebody on FaceTime watching the script while I am doing it from memory. So, by the end of the two months leading up to rehearsal, you’re doing half the play every day. … It is a spiritual adventure, which is funny when you consider I’m not particularly spiritual. But it is definitely a quest, and it is a heart-filled quest.”
“Ann” with Holland Taylor WHEN: Various times Tuesday, March 22, through Sunday, April 24 WHERE: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Avenue, Pasadena COST: Tickets start at $34 INFO: 626-356-7529, hollandtaylor.com, theannrichardsplay.com, pasadenaplayhouse.org
Trials” and original composition “To a Rose” with text by Eli Staub.
Hyomin Kim studies at KyungHee University in Seoul, South Korea, and continues practicing piano, cello, drums and song composition. Kim composed original music “Once Again,” with lyrics written by Kim and Rachel Yun.
Composer of many talents, Olivia Marie is a singer, dancer, actress, composer, lyricist, librettist, trumpeter, pianist and conductor. Marie has written the book, music and lyrics to four award-winning musicals and studies composition at University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Marie’s performed pieces include original composition “A Minor Bird” with text by Robert Frost, as well as a new arrangement of “Wayfarin’ Stranger.”
Princeton University student Prince Takano studies politics and music composition. His background includes classical and jazz. Takano’s musical area of interest is composing music for video games and films. His contributions include a rearrangement of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and original composition “Laudate Dominium.”
Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist Saunder Choi provided mentorship to student composers over the two-year endeavor. His works have been performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Sacra Profana, Tonality, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, World Youth Choir, Asia Pacific Youth Choir and many others.
As a tenor and SAF-AFTRA session singer, he sang in the soundtrack of the live-action remakes of Disney’s “The Lion King” (2019) and “Mulan” (2020). He is director of music at Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.
Student composers Olivia Marie and Arian Cázares attend a rehearsal for Pasadena Chorale’s 2022 Listening to the Future performance.
Student composers share their ‘future’ with chorale
By Pasadena Weekly Staff
Nine student composers will debut their works at the Pasadena Chorale’s Saturday, April 2, performance, “Listening to the Future,” at the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church.
The students composed 17 new pieces for the chorale within the last two years. Free tickets will be offered on a “Listen First, Then Give” basis.
Kicking off in 2015, the annual “Listening to the Future” program pairs Pasadena area high school students with professional composer mentors and culminates with performing the selected pieces in concert.
This concept has seen the creation of 62 choral pieces by 24 student composers who worked with six professional composer mentors.
While Pasadena Chorale was unable to gather, rehearse or perform during a 16-month period of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Listening to the Future” carried on its program, with student composers meeting over Zoom to continue writing the music audiences will hear this April.
LA County High School for the Arts junior Arian Cázares contributed a new arrangement of “Muñequita Linda” as well as original composition “The Old Green King.”
Cázares began his musical studies playing the viola at age 9 and continues to play in his high school symphony orchestra and string ensembles. In 2021, Cázares earned second place in the American Viola Society Solo Competition in Los Angeles and has also participated in statewide competitions.
Yoni Fogelman, 19, works with the nonprofit organizations Musicians at Play and the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles to promote music education in Southern California. He studies composition with award-winning composer Juan-Pablo Contreras and big-band arranging with acclaimed band director and Hollywood orchestrator Ladd McIntosh. Fogelman’s pieces include an arrangement of “American Spiritual All My
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 2 WHERE: Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena COST: Free; reservations required INFO: pasadenachorale.org
PET OF THE WEEK
Kahna (A501994)
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The adoption fee for cats is $100. All cat adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip and age-appropriate vaccines.
New adopters will receive a complimentary health and wellness exam from VCA Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for your pet.
View photos of adoptable pets and schedule an adoption appointment at pasadenahumane.org. Adoptions are by appointment only, and new adoption appointments are available every Sunday and Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by phone calls or email. 626-792-7151
