Director Doug Orlyk was unfamiliar with the play, but quickly became a fan.
After initially requesting to direct a different show this season at Steel Beam Theatre, Artistic Director Marge Uhlarik-Boller asked him about the Nora and Delia Ephron penned “Love, Loss, and What I Wore.”
“I really didn’t know anything about it. So I read it, researched it. Watched the YouTube clips. I fell in love with it immediately. I think it says a lot too then how it speaks to women and men, because I’m a male director of a female-centric show,” Orlyk said. “But I think men would certainly enjoy it as well, because the writing is just so sharp and so funny. And they can certainly relate in their own way to what women have to go through sometimes.”
The play is a collection of monologues and short scenes about pivotal moments in women’s lives, such as a first date, job, wedding or birth of a child. The show runs Jan. 10-Feb. 2 at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Sundays.
“The common thread, so to speak, running through it is all about clothing,” Orlyk said. “They’re just remembering all these events in their lives and the role that clothing played in telling their story.”
Created by famed screenwriters and authors Delia Ephron and her sister, the late Nora Ephron — known for such films as “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail” — the play is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman.
“It was written by a woman who wanted to tell her story to her kids,” Orlyk said. “So she started drawing dresses and outfits that she remembered throughout her life, and created a sort of visual diary of her clothing and momentous occasions in her life.”
With the book as a starting point, the Ephron sisters asked friends about their own experiences. They took the stories they received and wove them into a play along with those of Gingy, the character in Beckerman’s book. The tales range in age from adolescence through adulthood.
“Parts of it are really, really hilarious. There are a lot of poignant moments as well,” Orlyk said. “So there’s the potential for a lot of laughter, but some tears as well. It’s just a great combination of different characters and stories that I think all audience members will relate to. Especially women, but men will certainly enjoy it too, just because it’s so funny.”
The cast of five includes Diane McFarlin, Sue Mullins, Jennifer Reeves-Wilson, Elizabeth Hartwig and Autumn Burns. The women portray a varied collection of characters.
“There’s a variety of ages, variety of voices. The characters are all very different and very unique,” Orlyk said. “The cast has had a fun time creating these different characters, thinking of who they are and where they come from — besides what’s on the page. They’ve done a lot of character work and journaling and thinking about who these people are.”
The script won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, the New York production featured a rotating cast that at times included Tyne Daly, Marlo Thomas, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie O’Donnell and Jane Lynch. While the show was originally performed in the style of reader’s theater, Orlyk decided to approach the script differently.
“Because we have the time and we didn’t have a rotating cast, I chose to do everything memorized as well as staging some of the scenes where there were two or more people in them,” he said. “It makes it, I think, a lot more interesting for the audience.
“It gives it a lot more variety and I think it brings light to the characters a little more,” Orlyk said. “It has been a challenge for the women because it’s a ton of memorizing to do. A couple of the monologues are several pages long in the script.”
The show runs about 90 minutes, without an intermission. It’s best suited for high school age and older.
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“It’s really an interesting piece of theater and makes so many great universal statements about clothing and fashion that all women will certainly relate to,” Orlyk said.
Friends and family members could have dinner and see the show together, he said. “And maybe a drink afterwards because I think they’ll want to keep talking about it afterwards,” Orlyk said.
‘Love, Loss, and What I Wore’
When: Jan. 10-Feb. 2
Where: Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., Second Floor, St. Charles
Tickets: $28 adult; $25 senior; $23 student
Information: 630-587-8521; www.steelbeamtheatre.com
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.