Golden West will take theatergoers on a ‘Holiday’

Tom Titus

Most playgoers who’ll be seeing “Holiday” when it opens at Golden

West College in a few weeks will be doing so for the first time --

even though the play will be older than most of those attending.

To say that the comedy by Philip Barry, author of the more

celebrated “The Philadelphia Story,” isn’t done that often definitely

would be an understatement. It’s rarely ever done at all, which is

one reason Golden West College director Tom Amen was anxious to bring

it to the college’s stage.

“I’m really enthusiastic about working on this play,” Amen

remarked. “It’s stylish, witty, romantic, fun and, best of all, it’s

a real crowd pleaser.”

The fact that it’s rarely performed made it even more enticing to

the Golden West director whose previous season’s repertoire included

the equally seldom-seen Greek classic “Oedipus Rex.”

“It’s always fun to introduce an audience to something that may be

a little off the beaten path,” Amen said. “Because it is not widely

known, the play has a freshness to it that is really attractive.”

“Holiday,” which was made into a movie with Cary Grant and

Katharine Hepburn -- hardly obscure performers -- is set in New York

City during the Christmas holidays and revolves around a successful

young man, Johnny Case, and his engagement to a beautiful but snooty

young woman. When Johnny meets the family of his bride-to-be, he

discovers that his fiancee, Julia Seton, is the heiress to a large

family fortune. He also discovers that Julia and her father have some

definite ideas about how a young man contemplating marriage should

behave. Unfortunately, their notions of marriage and responsibility

are at odds with Johnny’s desire to embrace his youth, rather than

squander it away. And, complicating things a bit further, Johnny soon

discovers that he may be falling in love with his fiancee’s sister,

Linda.

“Although ‘Holiday’ is a play that has lived in the shadow of its

more popular cousin, ‘The Philadelphia Story,’ it is in many ways a

superior play, and bears all the marks of Philip Barry’s impeccable

taste and style,” Amen said. “I think our audiences will be

pleasantly surprised. They’re in for a real treat.”

Those few who are familiar with “Holiday” will find that Amen has

made some structural changes in the play for Golden West College. For

one thing, it’s no longer set in the 1920s, but has been

fast-forwarded three decades to the conservative social and political

climate of the 1950s.

“My goal in doing so was to make the play more accessible to a

contemporary audience, while giving it what I consider to be an even

greater resonance,” Amen explained. “As a result, I believe that the

dramatic conflict within the play has been intensified, while the

message of the play remains as strong and honest as ever.”

“It’s a charming and funny play, but it’s also an intelligent play

with something to say,” he concluded. “I think updating the play will

give Barry’s message even more impact because the average audience

member has a greater familiarity with the 1950s than the 1920s.

Further, beneath the tranquil facade of the Eisenhower era, there was

a great deal of restlessness, and I think this play addresses that in

a very positive way.”

Amen’s cast includes Mark Bedard, Tara Redepenning, Christa

Mathis, Joshua Matheson, Nick Cook, David Snyder, Kris Kelly and

Rebecca Fetscher. “Holiday” will be presented Nov. 1 through 16 in

the college’s Mainstage Theater, and ticket information may be

obtained by calling the box office at (714) 895-8150.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.