In 2005, Craig Johnson terrified Stacia Rice in a Gremlin Theatre production of Frederick Knott's "Wait Until Dark." Looking for a chance to return the favor, Rice has found it. This weekend, Rice assumes the deranged mien of Baby Jane Hudson in a stage adaptation of the 1962 cult classic film, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" Johnson dons wig and dress and climbs into a wheelchair to play the hapless Blanche Hudson, who is emotionally terrorized by her sister to the point of being served a dead rat for dinner.
"I had Baby Jane on my list of roles that I wanted to play someday and a friend pushed me to do it now, so we did," said Rice, who is producing the show under the auspices of her Torch Theater Company at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage.
Once she decided to do the show, Rice thought of no one other than Johnson -- and not only because he had held her at knifepoint in the earlier show. Johnson has directed Rice often, and each time his comments and notes made her feel that he could play the role better than she could.
"He has this incredible sensibility for people," she said. "It's irritating when you have a man who does it better you do. He absolutely is the right person for the part."
"Jane" made a huge splash in 1962 because of its wonderfully weird effect and the unique star power of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Jane is a child star who is later overshadowed by her sister. One night, a car accident leaves Blanche paralyzed. Jane makes it her life's work to mercilessly hector the unfortunate sister. Both women are largely prisoners of their fetid Los Angeles mansion. There is little plot, but the bizarre psychology between the two makes the film.
Rice never wavered in her desire to play Jane, an iconic harridan made even more deliciously witchy by Davis in a portrayal that fairly reeks of a rotted soul. Crawford played Blanche, and at first blush, that role might have seemed better for an actor who has distinguished herself several times as a weepy and timid victim.
"That's exactly why I didn't want to do that part," Rice said.
To make a dark farce such as "Baby Jane" come alive requires a deadly serious mind-set, said director Peter Rothstein. Davis, for example, invested fully in Jane's madness. A lesser actor might have commented on her character by displaying an ironic self-awareness, thus ruining the effect. A production by Mary Worth Theatre Company in 1996 drew some criticism for trying to spoof the original.
"You're sending it up and loving it at the same time," said Johnson, a man who faces the paradoxical challenge of putting on a wig and a dress and playing the role completely straight.
The final piece of the puzzle was a musical underscore, provided by pianist Todd Price. The film itself is almost completely underscored and the tonal tension becomes another character in the texture.
The cast includes John Middletown, Sally Ann Wright, Garry Geiken and Mo Perry among others. Essentially, though, it gets down to Rice and Johnson. Asked if she would have cast Blanche with a man had Johnson not been available, Rice said, "That's a good question. I never thought of doing it without Craig."
Ah, payback is so sweet.
