Stage Revival Is Star-Struck

A company should be terrified of three things when reviving Philip Barry’s “The Philadelphia Story.” They are Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart. Each persona is engraved on the actor’s consciousness, and the temptation to reproduce their performances usually defeats the originality of a new production.

So it is with this revival at Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse of Barry’s marriage-go-round in high society at the dawn of World War II.

Director Giovanna Fusco hasn’t kept a bit of Hepburn from seeping into an otherwise interesting and buoyant performance by Lynn Reinert as Tracy Lord. It doesn’t become apparent until the second act, and Reinert doesn’t ape Hepburn, but the tone of Hepburn’s readings pops up with distracting regularity in those feather-light scenes following Tracy’s engagement party when, befuddled by champagne, she skinny dips in the family pool with Mike Conner, a reporter covering the wedding for Destiny magazine.

James Matthews, playing Dexter Haven, Tracy’s first husband who hangs around in the hope of recapturing her affection, doesn’t try to do Cary Grant either. But his reading has the unmistakable flavor of Grant’s suave ease. Neither Matthews nor Reinert needs such crutches. Their otherwise solid portraits could stand alone.

Marc Gavranovic fares better as the reporter, with his sly digs at the foibles of his publisher. Gavranovic gives Conner an inner strength that matches nicely with the character’s background as a serious writer, and his sudden attraction to Tracy is believable.

One of the highlights of this staging is Kellie Nitkin, as Tracy’s kid sister, whose pubescent likability makes precocious and bratty Dinah a charmer. Another is John Gillies as Tracy’s brother, Sandy, the family go-getter, who works for the Saturday Evening Post and thwarts Destiny magazine’s expose of Lord shenanigans. He’s as charming as Nitkin, and in their energy they appear to have come from the same gene pool.

Sherry Domerego, as Tracy’s mother, Michael Weller as her errant father, Gordon Marhoefer as her racy uncle and Janet McGregor as Destiny’s photographer are all good, if standard issue, in a revival that director Fusco keeps moving at the proper clip without giving it all the fireworks it might have had.

BE THERE

“The Philadelphia Story,” Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, 661 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 26. $10. (714) 650-5269. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.