Saturday, January 03, 2004

By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For those who wonder what the future holds for Benjamin Braddock and Elaine Robinson, the confused young couple in "The Graduate" at Heinz Hall, you might get a clue from a chat with Devon Sorvari, who plays Elaine. If Elaine is like Sorvari, maybe she can just will the relationship with Benjamin to work.

	Devon Sorvari is Elaine to Jonathan C. Kaplan's Benjamin in "The Graduate." (Joan Marcus) Click photo for larger image.

Talking over morning tea in the lobby of the Omni William Penn Hotel, the slim, blond Sorvari appears youthful, crisp and frank -- an upbeat college girl. Having just seen the play the night before (and not liking it much, but that's another story), I noted how much she sounded like Elaine. She admitted that cast members often said the same but set us straight: "No, I think, poor girl, that Elaine sounds like me."

Whichever way it works, the casting is spot-on. Sorvari is a few years older than Elaine, but Linda Gray is a lot more years older than Mrs. Robinson, and both make it work.

Sorvari is bewildered by people who complain that the play isn't like the movie: "Well, duh?! ... You can't make a play out of that movie, with all those close-ups of Dustin Hoffman sitting there doing nothing." She quotes Peter Lawrence, the director, who "thinks it's a story about two people who save each other's lives."

Those two people are Elaine and Benjamin, of course, whether or not that's what Lawrence has told the celebrities who play Mrs. Robinson -- there will have been four on the tour, which began in August and ends in June. Jerry Hall was the first Mrs. Robinson, for three months. Then came Linda Gray for two months, ending here in Pittsburgh. Next week, in Baltimore, Lorraine Bracco steps into the role for 2 1/2 months.

Sorvari is looking forward to that: She has found in rehearsals that Bracco is much tougher than the others, and since it's because Elaine has an alcoholic mother that "she can't stand up for herself," she expects to get more of that feeling opposite Bracco. The final Mrs. Robinson will be Kelly McGillis. Sorvari points out that since "Top Gun," McGillis has been working extensively at Washington's Shakespeare Theatre. Compared to Hall, Gray and Bracco, "Kelly's a theater person!"

Sorvari figures she was herself headed for theater from the start: "I was just one of those kids. I put on 'Really Rosie" in the back yard when I was 7, and it's said I wouldn't let neighbor kids sing -- they had to lip-sync and I sang for them." She laughs. "I was a lot bolder when I was young."

This was in Lexington, Mass., and the more rural Boxboro, where her family had horses until she was 16. Her parents, Ann and John, were an English teacher and scientific researcher, respectively. Sorvari turned pro at 11 in "Brighton Beach Memoirs" with Joyce Van Patten in Stoughton, Mass. Being Equity limited her subsequent outside-school acting to about one show a year.

Sorvari's sibling, Jason, is an artist who graduated from Pitt in 2002 and has worked at the Mattress Factory and Carnegie. The Pittsburgh connection is through their grandmother, Alice Burroughs ("the best grandmother in the world -- she couldn't be more supportive"), who has lived in Pittsburgh since the late '60s. There's also an aunt and two cousins in Peters, so Sorvari has visited Pittsburgh over the years. Burroughs points out that Heinz Hall is where she took Sorvari to see her first professional theater when she was 4.

New York University was Sorvari's only choice for college. While there, her acting training was at Circle in the Square (two years) and NYU's classical studio ("fantastic"). She graduated in 1997. Since then, there's been a mix of restaurant work, stand-in work on movies ("because there are a lot of blond actresses, if you've noticed. ... It demystified movie making, so I know I can do it") and roles at eight regional theaters, including Juliet (Syracuse Stage) and Ophelia and Hero (Alabama Shakespeare Festival; "we called it Shakespeare camp"). All are, like Elaine, "young girls who get treated badly through no fault of their own."

That sparked a debate between the ingenue and the older, somewhat disillusioned critic. "Willfully optimistic," Sorvari calls herself, "with no home, stability or prospects for a stable future, I'm doing this ridiculous thing just because it's what I love."

This is her first national tour. "I try to catch the highlights of every city I'm in. I've never not liked anywhere. [After all], you bring yourself everywhere. I like to like things."

Like Elaine.

"The Graduate" has two performances today and two tomorrow at Heinz Hall; call 412-392-4900.

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