‘The Solid Gold Cadillac’
Where: Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; through Jan. 10
Info: $42 to $63; studiotheatre.org
It’s hard to believe “The Solid Gold Cadillac,” at the Studio Theatre, was first performed on Broadway in 1953. With its themes of corporate greed and corruption, it could have been inspired by items in today’s newspapers.
Written by Howard Teichmann and George S. Kaufman, “The Solid Gold Cadillac” is a comedy, but right below the laugh lines are serious comments on the individuals who profit at the expense of the common man. In this case, the common man is a woman, Mrs. Partridge (Nancy Robinette), who stuns the board of directors of a corporation in which she owns a few shares by asking: Why does the chairman get paid so much money?
Robinette is a skilled comedienne, and she creates a Partridge who is at once innocent and knowing, deftly manipulating four mercenary corporate leaders who are left to mismanage the company when their ex-chairman, Edward McKeever (Michael Goodwin), leaves New York for Washington, D.C.
These men are brilliant sketches in irresponsibility in the Studio production: T. John Blessington (David Sabin), Alfred Metcalfe (James Slaughter), Warren Gillie (Leo Erickson) and Clifford Snell (Paul Nolan). But they’re no match for Partridge, whose desire to make the world a better place persuades her to correspond with the company’s small investors.
Director Paul Mullins spices up this production with recorded appearances by local celebrities: radio and television producer Robert Aubry Davis appears as the narrator; television personalities Gordon Peterson, Doug McKelway and Greta Kreuz appear in black-and-white television clips, commenting on developments in the plot. The device nicely embellishes the 1950s feel of the play.
Set designer James Kronzer has created three very different spaces on a revolving stage, from the board room with expensive red leather-upholstered chairs to Partridge’s small office. The visual contrasts illustrate a great deal of what Kaufman and Teichmann were saying about industry, greed, and national and corporate politics.
The end of “Solid Gold Cadillac” is too good to give away. Suffice it to say that the description of the play as a “Cinderella story” is right on the mark.
