Dorothy Ann Richards, who the world knew as “Ann,” served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. She first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, when she gave a stirring keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. She was known equally for her folksy, “Aw shucks” demeanor, along with a whipsmart and outspoken feminist streak, and an unabashed love for the dirty joke.
Her story is told magnificently in the Pasadena Playhouse’s current staging of “Ann,” a sparkling one-woman show brightly directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein and starring Holland Taylor reprising the role she created as the Texas governor.
Taylor wrote the show and performed 19 previews and 132 regular performances at the Lincoln Center in 2013.
Set amidst the device of Richard’s address to a college graduating class, the show features the governor, offering the usual commencement platitudes, and recalling her own life lessons.
We see Richards’ famous convention address, and hear the story of her upbringing in a small Texas town, determined to be “the best at everything” for her doting father and unimpressed mom.
Taylor’s refined carriage and rich film and television voice are salted heavily for this role, outfitted as she is in a regal white suit and proper jewelry (by Julie Weiss), and a head full of “Republican hair” (by Paul Huntley).
Following her marriage to the love of her life, David, a civil rights lawyer, Richards is persuaded to run for County Commissioner. From there it’s off to Austin as state treasurer, and then the gleaming dome of the Capital in Austin, for her one-year term.
Taylor assumes Richards’ spunk and fire, as she races through a typical business week, this time Thanksgiving week 1993, midway through her gubernatorial term. She is wading through trying to arrange a family holiday weekend in El Paso, a stay of execution for a young condemned man, scheduled to die in days, along with a loose handful of commitments and presentations. (“Find me a 4th of July Parade!,” she shouts at her scheduler.)
Throughout the depicted afternoon, she barks orders and questions and pleadings over the speakerphone to her off-screen assistant, voiced by Julie White. She harangues both her speechwriter Suzanne Coleman and administrator David Williams, bringing at least one to tears.
She coos to her granddaughter Lily, and berates her son, Clark, over a game of Charades that he can’t imagine to have lost, and still finds time to cajole her press secretary for some favorable issue coverage, all while the phone never stops ringing. A pair of phone calls from President Clinton come through and the two chat like neighbors at the supermarket.
The scenic design and projection design by Michael Fagin and Jachary Borovay, respectively, are key to the production’s impressive execution. The commencement backdrop gives way to projected highlight montages, which give way to the office of the Governor, rolling dramatically onto center stage, and it’s from there the action takes off.
Richards served one remarkable term and was defeated for re-election by George W. Bush. The story takes us through her recollections of defeat, her post-gubernatorial move to New York City, and her final losing battle with cancer, in her own gritty voice and grace.
In its simplest terms, “Ann” is a triumph of biographical storytelling and a richly textured fabric of the country in the 1990s, as seen through a unique leader, and portrayed by an equally unique and sympathetic performer.
“Ann” runs through Sunday, April 24, 2022. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA.
