Review: Matthew Broderick is the best thing about La Jolla Playhouse’s uneven world premiere play ‘Babbitt’

calico 11/13/2023

In the opening moments of “Babbitt,” Joe DiPietro’s play that opened in its world premiere Sunday at La Jolla Playhouse, seven “storytellers” assemble in a sleek, contemporary library and collectively describe central character George Babbitt in the most unflattering of ways.

Babbitt had a pink head, they say, with thin, graying hair, a babyish face despite wrinkles, exceedingly well fed … and completely undistinguished. That may not sound like the perfect role for two-time Tony-winner Matthew Broderick, but his vulnerable, delicately played and disarmingly funny performance is the best thing about this two-hour comedy, which is based on a 1922 satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis.

Babbitt is a successful real estate agent in the fictional Midwestern city of Zenith (described in Lewis’ book as the “Zip City” of “zeal, zest and zowie”). But he’s bored with his life, his wife and the status quo and decides one day to shake things up. First he boldly washes up with a guest towel and before long, he’s delivering formulaic populist, xenophobic speeches that bash long-haired cynics, teachers, journalists and foreigners. Ultimately he embarks on an affair with a much-younger woman, falls in with a group of socialists and plots a run for governor before Zenith’s manipulative business and thought leaders turn him into the town pariah.

Broderick’s carefully calibrated performance is a thoughtfully paced journey. His character’s bored, droning speaking style gradually takes on a more natural, in-the-moment sound as he breaks free of societal mores. Physically, his slumped shoulders and shuffling walk are transformed with a lighter, more boyish physicality that’s humorously punctuated with playful heel kicks and twisty dance steps. But it takes time. When Broderick finally shows off his famous comic chops in the play’s superior second act, it makes you long for more.

Matthew Broderick as George Babbitt in La Jolla Playhouse's "Babbitt."

To his credit, DiPietro did a masterful job whittling down the novel’s long descriptive passages and its huge cast of characters. He also expanded the women’s voices in the story and gave them more agency. As storytellers, the ensemble cast — Ann Harada, Julie Halston, Anna Chlumsky, Francis Jue, Matt McGrath, Chris Myers and Genevieve Angelson — retain Lewis’ voice from the book, but these actors also memorably play George’s family and fellow Zenithians.

Unfortunately, the play’s first act drags. And although DiPietro has studded the script with dozens of amusing lines, it doesn’t have the overall fizz and pop of a Broadway comedy. Also, despite Broderick’s best efforts, the story of this self-absorbed man isn’t nearly as fascinating as it should be. Although there are clear contemporary parallels in this 1922 story — insincere politicians, religious extremism, racism, wealth inequity, sexism and more — it still feels a bit stuck in time.

La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley’s stage direction is fluid and funny and the play’s lavish physical production is visually stunning, including scenic designer Walt Spangler’s eye-popping, two-story library turntable set, Cha See’s lighting, and Linda Cho’s century-hopping costumes. Leon Rothenberg designed sound, Mark Bennett and Wayne Barker composed the original music and Stephen Buescher created the amusingly awkward choreography.

“Babbitt” is a likable play, but without an actor as endearing as Broderick to drive the story’s action, I wonder if it would be as watchable as it is.