WSCC play will tackle women’s issues.

WSCC play will tackle women’s issues.

VICTORY TOWNSHIP — Local actresses will tackle a staged reading of Nora Ephron’s and Delia Ephron’s “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” a play based on the bestselling book by Ilene Beckerman, on Saturday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m., in West Shore’s Community College’s Center Stage Theater. The production has been added to the college’s 2017 -18 Performing Arts Series.

“This theatrical offering is a play of monologues and ensemble pieces about women, clothes, and memory covering all the important subjects—mothers, prom dresses, mothers, buying bras, mothers, hating purses and why we only wear black,” said Michelle Kiessel, the show’s director.

“The show is both funny and painful and is always heartfelt with truly endearing characters telling truthful stories that all women can relate to in one way or another,” continued Kiessel. “We are doing this as a staged reading, as was originally intended by the show’s creators, which means the actresses will carry and read from scripts.”     

The show opened off-Broadway in 2009, and played an astonishing 1,032 performances involving 32 rotating casts and 120 actresses including Tyne Daly, Rosie O’Donnell, Samantha Bee, Jane Lynch, and Rita Wilson, to name just a few.  The production won a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience in 2010.

Based on Ilene Beckerman’s 1995 book of the same name, Nora Ephron, who wrote the foreword, said, “’Love, Loss and What I Wore’ is not a book about fashion; it is about what clothes really are to us, those moments when we are constantly trying to find our identities through them.”

Local audiences are no stranger to the Ephron sisters’ earlier film work which includes screenwriting and/or directing and producing such romantic comedies as “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” and “You’ve Got Mail.”

“Funny, compelling…Brought down the house…but [the play] is not a comedy; a story about black cowboy boots becomes a sad tale of being underappreciated in a relationship; a tale of two women shopping for their wedding outfits ends bitter sweetly; and the recollection of a new bra is a quiet testament to a women’s search for dignity while undergoing treatment for breast cancer,” said the New York Times.

Audience members are invited to bring a gently used outfit which could be worn to a job interview which will be distributed to WSCC students in need.

“Love, Loss and What I Wore” contains adult themes and language and is not recommended for those 17 and under.

For more information on all of the Performing Arts Series performances and to purchase general admission tickets, go to the college’s website www.westshore.edu

Customers can also call 231-843-5507, or stop by the box office located in Schoenherr Campus Center. Visa, Master Card, Discover credit cards are accepted.