Cactus Flower Preview

Break out the tie-dye and love beads
'Cactus Flower' is pure '60s, and proud of it

Sunday, April 15, 2007
BY JENN MCKEE
News Arts Writer

The Ann Arbor Civic Theatre is really getting in touch with its inner flower child this spring.

The company's next musical is the hippie-fest "Hair,'' and now, Abe Burrows' screwball '60s comedy, "Cactus Flower,'' will take the stage.

Director Cassie Mann first experienced "Cactus'' by way of the 1969 film adaptation starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn.

"I watched movies on Saturday afternoons on TV, and I remember seeing this as a kid and just thinking it was hilarious,'' said Mann. "Then I rented it for my kids a couple of years back and realized it was still just as funny.''

The play and the film - which earned Hawn an Oscar - tell the story of a dentist, Julian, who falls in love with a significantly younger woman, Toni. Scared of commitment, Julian tells Toni that he has a wife and kids; but when he decides he wants to marry her, she insists on meeting his soon-to-be-ex-wife. This drives Julian to ask his nurse, Stephanie, to play the role.

"('Cactus') kind of showcases the innocence of that free-love movement,'' said Mann. "Because really, no one is hurt in this play. ... (Julian) isn't really cheating on anybody. And the other thing is, there's a little (sense of) ... why don't you pick on someone your own age? The dentist has fallen for this very young girl, and he comes to realize that somebody his own age is a little better in a lot of ways.''

Mann and her cast are wholly embracing the '60s-ness of the show, using bright colors and flowers and retro fashions. And because the play's 15 scenes play out in five different locales, Mann mixed in a few additional characters.

"Some go-go dancers, who start each of the acts off,'' said Mann. "They serve as a transition between one scene and the next, and they do some fun stuff and some dancing, and they move the sets and things around. ... We had to do something fun with the scene changes to make them fast and fun and enjoyable.''

Doing a show that's so rooted in the '60s can be tricky, of course, because many times, the ideas, humor, and language can feel dated.

"It's sort of pre-feminist, in a way,'' said Larry Rusinsky, who plays Julian. "My character has some attitudes, and says some things, that are probably going to cause a lot of groaning in the audience. But ... we're not trying to put it in this day and age. The set and the costumes will make it clear it's in the '60s, and it's almost like Stephanie, my nurse, is an early feminist.''

Stephanie, in fact, is the reason for the play's title. "She's pretty straitlaced, and never been married, but through the course of all these crazy things that happen, she finds herself and blossoms,'' said Mann.

Far out.

Jenn McKee can be reached at 734-994-6841 or jmckee@annarbornews.com.