ANN Review: Three amazing women on their feet!
What a coincidence that the night I go and see ANN, the Democratic Senator from Texas, Wendy Davis becomes a social media sensation by advocating for women’s health filibustering a restrictive abortion bill. Davis was on her feet for 11 hours straight. These are the shoes she wore.
That same night, Gloria Steinem (American feminist, journalist, social and political advocate) gave a talk back about her relationship with Ann Richards. She also discussed the politics of current women’s rights. I felt so lucky to be in the audience of this historic event. Three Amazing women on their FEET!
To be honest, I had never heard of Ann Richards before. Who was this woman? Turns out she was a pretty revolutionary lady. Most people consider Ann Richards the first female Governor of Texas, since the legitimate first governor Miriam ‘Ma’ Ferguson is often discounted for being a proxy while her husband, James ‘Pa’ Ferguson was being impeached. During Ann’s time in office, she reformed the Texas prison system, instituted the Texas Lottery system and attempted to make funding more equitable in the Texas school system. She’s most known for her charismatic personality, her care-free sense of humor and her notorious whispy hair-do.
Ann Richards Holland Taylor
Holland Taylor wrote and created this one woman show about Ann Richards. I believe she successfully gives us a taste of Ann’s personality. Set in present time, Taylor crafts the opening as a graduation speech to an imaginary private college, then seamlessly into her office on the Hill, then to her post-governorship in New York, then back to her direct address to graduating seniors.
What I liked about ANN:
Holland Taylor’s amazing ability to keep the audience engaged by being purely spontaneous, especially during her scenes when she’s in her ‘on the hill‘ office. She manages to juggle holding an imaginary phone conversation, talk to her secretary (well done voice over by Julie White), ignore the screaming public outside Richard’s window, sign documents on her desk, apply red lipstick, sew the fringe on her Texas flag and CARRY A ONE WOMAN SHOW! She gracefully conquers her Governor duties while doing 10 other things at the same time.
What didn’t work for me:
The first act was way too long. I’ll admit I fell asleep within the first 10 minutes but quickly came back to life once she was in her office (it could have been the New York heat and not Taylor’s acting). Taylor kept establishing that she was playing Ann Richards who was giving a college graduation speech, except it went on and on. I understand the set-up. Direct address immediately engages the audience, breaking the fourth wall, but there was no new information being passed out, so I literally passed out.
In conclusion, I appreciated that I Holland Taylor didn’t make me feel stupid for not knowing anything about Ann Richards. The well crafted script helped me follow Ann’s career path to becoming governor. Taylor seems to have written a beautiful eulogy to Ann. The final image after Taylor’s bow is a 12 foot portrait of ANN that comes down from the ceiling as Taylor blows Ann kisses of gratitude. Ann’s life was cut short by cancer. I can now add to my list of heroes Wendy Davis, Gloria Steinem, Ann Richards and Holland Taylor. Thank you for the Magic of theatre...
Shout outs:
Michael Kingsbaker's company The Shelter who produced Lily & Kosmo Live about a young girl’s adventure into space told in the style of an old time radio show.
Kinky Boots: Huge shout out to the fabulous drag queens who carried the show! I give it a solid B. I saw it with my dad in high hopes that it would live up to its TONY for BEST MUSICAL, but, it lacked the heart for me to care about the characters. I still don’t know what was missing, but something was missing...
