Review: ‘What I Learned in Paris’ at the Colony Theatre

It’s appropriate that Pearl Cleage’s “What I Learned in Paris” should have had its 2012 world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

The action of the play centers on the real-life character of Maynard Jackson – the first African American mayor of a Southern city – on the night of his historic 1973 victory in the Atlanta mayoral race.

Now in its West Coast premiere at the Colony, Cleage’s comedy focuses, not on the offstage Jackson, but on the intricate romantic crises of his campaign staff. Considering the historical heft of the time period, the play seems decidedly fluffy, and just a tad flat.

However, one suspects that there are more laughs lurking among its nooks, crannies and subtexts than are evident in Saundra McClain’s staging.

Tony winner L. Scott Caldwell plays the bombastic Evie, ex-wife of J.P. (William C. Mitchell), an eminent African American attorney now supposedly married to the much younger Ann (Joy Brunson).

Ann and J.P.’s associate John (Shon Fuller) have secretly fallen in love, while Evie, whose life-changing epiphany in Paris prompted her divorce, still has a yen for her ex. Meanwhile, wry campaign strategist Lena (Karan Kendrick) watches the romantic entanglements with amused detachment.

Initially, Caldwell’s Evie is a mantra-chanting, eccentric force of nature – a hurricane blowing at the same intensity when a few mild gusts would be more refreshing. Caldwell is a wily old pro who eventually grows on us, yet she seems to be overselling her character – and indeed, that’s common to the rest of the cast, which projects a certain unease.

McClain’s direction favors expediency over truthfulness, but perhaps, over the course of the run, her actors can relax a bit and probe their characters’ complications with a bit more naturalism and subtlety.

“What I Learned in Paris,” Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street, Burbank. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 5. $20-$49. (818) 558-7000, ext. 15. www.ColonyTheatre.org. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.