The Milwaukee Repertory Theater opened its 2001-2002 season with a solid production of the chestnut The Front Page, offering a look back at life in the 1920s. The play is set in the press room of a Chicago criminal courts building. It's late at night, and a cluster of "newspapermen" (women reporters were rare or nonexistent) await a hanging scheduled for the following morning. There's virtually no action in the sleepy first act, so characters have plenty of time to loaf, play cards and muse about life. Likewise, this gives the audience plenty of time to admire the elegantly shabby set, where manual typewriters and piles of paper trash can barely conceal the architectural beauty, warmth and craftsmanship of this room. The cynical newspapermen who inhabit the space are nattily attired in vests and fedoras, and one notices this as well.
Credit for this authentic transformation goes to set designer Geoffrey Curley and costume designer Martha Hally. However, when a review begins with rave remarks about sets and costumes, it's fair to assume there's something lacking in the early-going. Part of the trouble can be found in the script: characters are mere stereotypes, so it's easy to dismiss the newspapermen's gripes about overwork, low pay and family problems. The directing side needs tighter pacing in the long first act. However, the pace improves considerably with the appearance of star reporter Hildy Johnson, the flamboyant Swede who dramatically announces his resignation from the Herald Examiner. Audiences can easily identify the urge to tell off one's boss, and Hildy's hilarious resignation (conveyed to the boss via telephone) is one of the show's high points.
As Hildy brags about his slick new job in the advertising industry, one newspaperman scoffs, "that's like tying a fire horse to a milk truck." Prophetically, when an early-morning jailbreak sends the news crew into action, Hildy can't resist joining the chase. Thankfully, the show shifts into high gear at this point and sustains the momentum throughout.
The playwrights, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, were former newspaper reporters who knew this territory well. The newsroom banter, the reporters' antics and the public's thirst for news all sting ring true, more than 70 years after The Front Page first appeared on Broadway. This makes the play more than just an interesting time capsule. Sure, it's fun to see how things were done in the pre-electronic era, before e-mail, cell phones and CNN changed our view of the world. But in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater production, The Front Page is as timely as today's news. Politics, scandal, corruption and the press -- in some ways, all you need to do is change the names in the headlines.
It's difficult to mention favorites in this large and capable cast, but Lee Ernst certainly stands out as the charismatic Hildy Johnson. Also noteworthy are Peter Silbert, whose gestures and accent are letter-perfect as the Chicago mayor, Mark Lazar as the bumbling, incompetent sheriff and, in the show's final scenes, by James Pickering as Hildy's boss. Torrey Hanson is plausibly nervous as the escaped convict who attempts to hide out in the pressroom. Although women's roles are noticeably less prominent than the men's, Laura Gordon gives a heartfelt performance as Jennie, a prostitute who befriends the convict; and Molly Rhode impresses as Peggy, the smart, fashionable young woman who loves Hildy.
Although the final scene suggests that Hildy will never escape his boss' clutches, one leaves the theater hoping Peggy and Hildy will find a way to have the last laugh.
