'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' pays a visit to Riverside Center
By JESSE SCOTT FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR
The title of the show asks a simple question: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”?
Well, based on Riverside Center for the Performing Arts’ newest big stage production, a lot of locals really should be joining them for dinner for an experience to remember.
The play—concocted by Todd Kreidler and based on the smash 1967 drama-meets-comedy film starring Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn—opened on Wednesday and runs through Sept. 4.
“I was 5 or 6 years old when the movie first came out and I remember, like it was yesterday, my parents taking me to the drive-in, sitting in the back seat and enjoying it so much—it made quite an impression on me,” said Patrick A’Hearn, producing artistic director at Riverside. “It was an iconic film back then and, what’s interesting, is that its message is just as important today.”
The plot of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” centers on Joey Drayton, the daughter of well-off San Franciscans, who brings her fiancé Dr. John Prentice to her parents’ home to meet him. He is everything dreams are made of—he’s an established doctor, kind, good-looking and so much more. He is also Black.
Along an insightful storyline, interracial dynamics as well as some of the very interesting conversations surrounding them come into play, with humor and inspiration as the undeniable glue.
“The message through it all is acceptance,” said A’Hearn. “Every day we need to embrace that, as the U.S. is becoming much more multicultural. With this—and in the real world—family is family, love is love and relationships are what they are.”
The Riverside production includes a cast of nine, comprising what A’Hearn calls a “nice mix of veterans and newcomers.” The set is one unit, depicting the Draytons’ San Francisco abode, complete with a massive picture window looking out to the Golden Gate Bridge. The vibe is the mid- to late-1960s in its prime, with retro furniture, wall colors and nostalgically inspired art to drive it home.
Among the cast, there has been one notable scratch. “Three’s Company” alum Joyce DeWitt was originally slated to play Christina Drayton but, according to A’Hearn, was forced to sit this one out due to a broken arm and required recovery. Fortunately, Riverside mainstay Kathy Halenda just wrapped a tour of “Tootsie” and was available to step in.
Also on the familiar face front is Robert John Biedermann, who is performing in his fourth Riverside production and starring as Matt Drayton, Joey’s dad. Among Biedermann’s credits are “Grumpy Old Men,” “South Pacific” and “Bright Star.”
“To be in this show is something,” said Biedermann. “If you were to ask me my favorite scene in any form of art, it’s always the last scene here. Specifically, in the movie, the tears in Katharine Hepburn’s eyes are not just from the storyline, but for her affection for [the actor playing her dad, Spencer Tracy] who died days after filming wrapped up. It has always had such a strong impact on me.”
Among those making their Riverside débuts are Marc D. Lyons, playing Dr. John Prentice, and the show’s director, Anita Gonzalez.
“With it being 2022, times feel like they are changing yet again,” said Lyons, who has appeared on the TV shows “Blue Bloods,” “New Amsterdam” and the “Gossip Girl” reboot. “In many ways, it’s almost a mirror image to what it was like in 1967. To see where we were 50 years ago and to see how far we still need to go has been something. For me, I’ve got large shoes to fill, living true to the legacy of Sidney Poitier.”
In the words of A’Hearn, Gonzalez brings an “incredible and multidimensional approach” as director. She is a professor of performing arts and African American studies at Georgetown University and the co-founder of its Racial Justice Institute. Prior to Georgetown, she was a theater professor at the University of Michigan.
“This production is important in that it spurs conversations among the cast and community as a whole surrounding race, romantic relationships and love,” she said. “I hope everyone leaves feeling how powerful love can be regardless of race and ethnic backgrounds. I found myself crying after the first run-through. I was emotionally moved by the conversations that happened among us when thinking about the power and glory of love.”
In addition to traditional blocking and staging, Gonzalez encouraged discussions among cast members surrounding the issues and topics presented in the show. And, by all accounts, it has made “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” at Riverside that much more powerful.
A’Hearn said, “We hope everyone garners a different view with this one, while still saying, ‘Well, Riverside has done it again, right here in our own backyard.’”
If You Go
"Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner," Riverside Center for the Performing Arts, 95 Riverside Pkwy., Fredericksburg. Through Sept. 4, Wednesdays through Sundays. $75 (adult dinner and show) with discounts available for seniors, children and show-only. 540/370-4300; riversidedt.com
