For whatever reason, problems of the wealthy seem to be a lot more entertaining than your average, middle-class scenario. What would become of good ol’ “”Beverly Hills, 90210″” or its newest replica, “”The O.C.,”” without high-end real estate and fancy cars?

Arizona Repertory Theatre is opening its newest show, “”The Philadelphia Story,”” with a plot that deals with high society and scandal.

The play, which was originally on Broadway and eventually made into a movie that starred the late Katharine Hepburn, takes place in the 1930s. Dane Corrigan, a theatre production senior who plays C.K. Tucker, the male lead, embraced the period to get into his character.

“”I watched a lot of ’30s films, anything I could find of the period, mostly romantic comedies,”” Corrigan said.

Corrigan describes his character, C.K., as a young man who designs sailboats and has a bit of a drinking problem

“”Essentially he’s kind of my inner party boy,”” Corrigan said. “”I found it fairly easy to get into it.””

As the divorced husband of Tracy Lord, a beautiful, wealthy, high-class kind of girl, played by theatre production senior Sarah Hayes, Tucker returns to redeem himself with his ex-wife.

“”She (Tracy Lord) sees herself as a virgin goddess,”” Hayes said. “”She takes on the air that she can do no wrong.””

Hayes, like Corrigan, also watched period films to research her character. In order to get the knack of her character’s movements, she watched a lot of old Hepburn films.

“”Not that I’m trying to be Katharine Hepburn, but it was written for Katharine Hepburn,”” Hayes said.

Hayes labels Tracy’s personality as self-absorbed, righteous and unforgiving. So to get into character, Hayes had to do some soul searching.

“”Everybody has that sense of me, me, me in them,”” Hayes said.

When C.K. and Tracy come face to face with each other, the bickering begins.

“”It is kind of a love-hate relationship. She sort of loves to hate him,”” Hayes said. “”I think she never really stops loving him but got accustomed to hating him.””

Hayes was thrilled to be given the part of Tracy in part because she is a big fan of the film.

“”I love the movie, but I stopped watching it the minute I got the role,”” said Hayes, who wanted to have her own take on the character.

Corrigan is also familiar with the screen version but prefers it live onstage.

“”You get a sense of what the characters are like as humans,”” Corrigan said. “”You just can’t get that in the film.””

The actors are not only working to captivate their characters but also to bring the themes of the story to modern audiences as well.

“”Like Tracy, lots of people have a tendency to judge quickly and not really get to know people or get the reasons behind why people are the way they are,”” Hayes said. “”There is a huge theme of forgiveness.””

Corrigan is more of a romantic about it.

“”Comes right down to the good ol’ fashion love story,”” Corrigan said. “”Everyone can relate to that at some level.””

Previews of the show will be held Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and Monday at 7:30 p.m. Full performances will run Wednesday through March 4, March 9 through 11 and March 23 through 25 at 7:30 p.m. Matinees will be held March 5, 11 and 26 at 1:30 p.m. All performances will be at the Marroney Theatre. Tickets for the show are $26, $19 for students and $17 for previews.