‘Tea at Five’ leaves bitter taste

The moment seems lifted from film.

Kate Mulgrew, portraying Katharine Hepburn in the solo biographical show “Tea at Five,” is reliving an early encounter with soon-to-be costar and lover Spencer Tracy. A zesty comment -- and something more -- crackles between them, causing Mulgrew’s crisp, patrician features to go rigid with shock, then melt into a pleased, alluring smile.

It’s the sort of reaction captured in Hepburn and Tracy’s first feature together, 1942’s “Woman of the Year,” and for an instant, a fascinating bit of Hollywood history seems to flicker to life again on the Pasadena Playhouse stage. At the same time, the whole thing seems a theatrical stunt, calculated to dazzle yet devoid of truth.

Certainly, Mulgrew is a logical choice to perform this stunt. For years, her performances in “Star Trek: Voyager,” the 2004 Ahmanson Theatre presentation of “The Royal Family” and other shows have drawn comparisons to Hepburn. Same erect, athletic presence; same husky, clipped voice.

Funny thing is: She seemed more like Hepburn then than now. In “Tea at Five,” she gets the surfaces right but can’t seem to move beyond mannerism and caricature.

Mulgrew has been performing the play, written by Matthew Lombardo and directed by John Tillinger, across the country since 2002. The Pasadena presentation marks its Southern California premiere.

The setting is the Hepburn family estate on the Connecticut coast. With wood wainscoting and overstuffed furnishings, set designer Tony Straiges evokes a home that is elegant yet unfussy, much like Hepburn herself.

Mulgrew strides into the room, slipping a golf bag off her shoulder and looking vigorous. She wears a brave face, yet every once in a while desperation shows.

It is 1938 and, after early film success, Hepburn, barely into her 30s, is fizzling at the box office. Rather than face the indignity of being forced to make movies with titles like “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” she has bought out her RKO contract and returned home to mull her future.

Between phone calls, she turns to reminisce with the audience.

Mulgrew bites words, Hepburn-like, and chews them between clenched jaws. She plants herself in wide-legged, square-shouldered stances, or sprawls -- with a mixture of demureness and carelessness -- across the furniture. The lighting, by Kevin Adams, deepens and brightens in concert with her moods.

The second act takes place in 1983, after the car accident that shattered Hepburn’s ankle.

Playwright Lombardo fudges the timing of incidents, puts words in other people’s mouths and distorts who was present at certain events. That’s bad enough.

But what’s truly disappointing is that “Tea at Five” is more outline than play -- a mere recitation of names and incidents, with little inherent drama.

In a bit less than two hours, Mulgrew speeds through the obvious topics: childhood (raised by a proto-feminist mother and progressive if emotionally distant doctor father), career (triumphs on stage in such plays as “The Warrior’s Husband” and on screen in “A Bill of Divorcement,” “The Philadelphia Story” and many more), heartbreaks (notably the suicide, when she was just 13, of older brother Tom) and loves (including Howard Hughes and, of course, Tracy).

As the second act begins, Mulgrew is discovered with her back to the audience. What happens next is so carefully calculated that if it doesn’t cause you to throw up your hands in despair, it’ll likely manipulate you into smashing them together in applause.

Fans of either Kate, Hepburn or Mulgrew, may savor the performance. But really, the tricks are shameless.

*

‘Tea at Five’

Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; except 2 p.m. Sept. 14

Ends: Oct. 2

Price: $37 to $53

Contact: (626) 356-PLAY or www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org

Running Time:

1 hour, 50 minutes