STAGE REVIEW : ‘Will Rogers’ Not Wiser, Just Older

William Penn Adair Rogers had a lot to say and said almost all of it before he was killed in a plane crash over Alaska with Wylie Post in 1935. But he was resurrected in 1970 by the late Paul Shyre and James Whitmore. The former adapted Will Rogers’ homespun humanism and humor into a savvy one-man show called “Will Rogers’ U.S.A.”; the latter performed it with a wink, a grin, a shade of an Okie drawl and a twirl of the lariat.

But that was . . . 22 years ago.

Something about the revival of “Will Rogers’ U.S.A.” that opened Friday at the Mark Taper Forum is different--and it’s not the show. Which may be part of the problem.

Whitmore, although considerably older now than was Rogers at his death, is every inch the cowboy philosopher he was in 1970: rumpled grin, mussed hair, cowboy hat tossed back on his head, and infectious cackle in place. He is still gently skewering the same targets, from politicians (“local bandits” sent to Washington “to raid headquarters”), to wars (“No nation should be allowed to start one until they’ve paid for the last one”).

The impersonation has held up remarkably. well, the script less remarkably. While in 1970 “Will Rogers” had been a novelty and a beacon for the avalanche of one-person shows to come, its structure has long since been outdone by more sophisticated successors.

You might say it lacks bends in the road. What we get is a lengthy one-way conversation on a set (reconceived from Eldon Elder’s original design) that provides some pertinent memorabilia. But the script’s texture is a little too even and the style presentational to the point of expediency, such as announcing the intermission instead of finding a better way to create a natural break.

And then there is the matter of lines that seem oddly out of touch with a world that has simply changed in the last 20 years in ways neither Rogers nor Shyre (who was the show’s original director and is still credited with its staging), could have predicted.

An example is Rogers’ query: “What are we going to do with all those fillin’ stations when they become obsolete?” Well, many of them have, and anyone who has not been asleep for 10 years knows that we make minimalls out of them. We’re even at the point where we’re asking what are we going to do with all those minimalls when they become obsolete. It might have been smarter simply to cut the entire issue out of the script.

While the pleasure of watching Whitmore do Rogers is welcome just about any time, there is something slightly pale and anachronistic about the placement of this revival, billed as a Taper special event, right after something as genuinely special as Tony Kushner’s staggering two-part “Angels in America.”

Granted, nothing could easily follow the sheer daring, mastery and immediacy of the Kushner project. A decompression chamber was needed in which to prepare for “Substance of Fire,” the Taper’s next scheduled production. But a little more careful planning could have gone into dusting off this “Will Rogers.”

Opening night, even the follow spot operator wasn’t quite sure where to find Whitmore/Rogers after the intermission. He or she tried to cover all bets, but Whitmore fooled everyone and made his entrance in the dark. He then handled the incident like the consummate pro that he is: as a joke he had hugely enjoyed playing on himself. It was the freshest part of a quizzical evening.

“Will Rogers’ U.S.A.,” Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Music Center. Tuesday-Saturday,8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $32 .