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Fortune smothers hopes in 'Heiress'
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Times Staff Writer
Since it was written in 1949, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's drama, The Heiress, has been a favorite on stage and screen. Based on Henry James' novel, Washington Square, the drama is a story of love, duplicity, fortune-hunting and a domineering father. It has had three incarnations on Broadway, the latest in 1995, when it won seven Tony Awards, including "Best Revival," and was made into an Academy Award-winning movie in 1949 with Olivia de Havilland. On Thursday, The Heiress will open for a two-week run at Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center. In it, a spinster, Catherine Sloper (Kathleen McCormick) lives with her cold and dismissive father, Dr. Sloper (Ray Kenney), in a fashionable section of New York in the 1850s. Her closest companion is her aunt, Lavinia Penniman (Georgette Rasmussen), whose greatest hope is that her charge finds a husband -- any husband. Catherine's prospects are few. She's reclusive and shy and her circle of friends relatively small. Besides, her manipulative father has made it obvious he doesn't think she's much of a catch. He constantly compares her -- unfavorably -- with her beautiful mother, who died in childbirth. Then one day, Catherine's friend Marian Almond (Joyce D'Auria) visits with her fiance, Arthur Townshend (John Benincasa), and Arthur's cousin Morris (Drew Lundquist), a bold and charming young man who instantly begins to court Catherine. Sloper is convinced that all Morris wants is Catherine's inheritance. When Morris proposes, Sloper says he will disinherit his daughter if she goes through with the marriage. Morris defiantly says they will elope. But when the time to elope arrives, Morris doesn't. Catherine blames her father for her jilting and becomes bitter and even more reclusive. A few years later, her father dies, leaving Catherine comfortably set. Within weeks, Catherine hears that Morris has returned from California -- and wants to see her. From there, the tension mounts. Will Catherine and Morris reconcile and live happily ever after? Or is Morris really the gold-digging cad her father thought he was? And, if so, will Catherine marry him anyway? "I'm very pleased with how this production is going," said Dick Poole, the director. "Kathleen has mostly been a singer, but she's very interested in drama and I am quite pleased with her performance." Poole also praised Ms. Rasmussen's portrayal of Aunt Lavinia. "She's a treat, absolutely wonderful," he said. At a glance WHAT: The Heiress WHERE: Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 Pine St., Tarpon Springs WHEN: 8 p.m. April 3, 4, 5 and 10, 12 and 14; and 2 p.m. April 6 and 13. TICKETS: $14. Call (727) 942-5605.
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