Three very successful preview performances behind us, and now we're ready to open "Memory House" at the Playhouse. Tonight's performance is already sold-out and rumor has it Judy Blume is going to be in the audience; she'll already be in Vineyard Haven, since she's doing a book-signing at the Bunch of Grapes bookstore down the street from us.The show is playing remarkably well. The audiences have responded to both the humor and the tension between Maggie and Katia, and Kathy and Natalia's performances seem to get a little richer and fuller with each run-through. They got a standing ovation last night, which must have given them an extra jolt of confidence (or perhaps an extra butterfly or two) going into tonight's opening. As an opening-night present, I bought each of them miniature bottles of blueberry vodka, which they will hopefully save until after the final curtain.
Our set continues to get fleshed-out with more and more decoration and color. Since we are opening on what would have been the great chef/TV personality Julia Child's 97th birthday, I made sure to include two of Julia's books on the shelves for good luck; after all, this play does include actual baking, and we'd like to have Julia on our side. I also dropped in Wade Rouse's "At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream," a very funny and often tender memoir about his attempt to live out Thoreau's "Walden" in modern-day Saugatuck with his partner, Gary. Wade's cosmopolitan tastes and attitudes did not always fit comfortab
ly alongside ice fishermen and church-social types, but the book is not a "look how stupid these country bumpkins are" jab. It's about how he re-examined his own outlook on life and tried to come to terms with his childhood in the Ozarks, which he had spent much of his adult life burying and running away from. Wade contacted me through Facebook several months ago and had very kind things to say about my writing, so of course I immediately added him as a Friend. Yes, all it takes is a few compliments and -- ding! -- you're my new Facebook Friend. Anyhow, he is collecting pictures of his book being read or displayed in unusual places and I thought, what better location than on a Vineyard Playhouse set? Hey, even if Julia doesn't smile on us, perhaps Wade will -- although I have no idea how his baking skills would measure up to Julia's.
ly alongside ice fishermen and church-social types, but the book is not a "look how stupid these country bumpkins are" jab. It's about how he re-examined his own outlook on life and tried to come to terms with his childhood in the Ozarks, which he had spent much of his adult life burying and running away from. Wade contacted me through Facebook several months ago and had very kind things to say about my writing, so of course I immediately added him as a Friend. Yes, all it takes is a few compliments and -- ding! -- you're my new Facebook Friend. Anyhow, he is collecting pictures of his book being read or displayed in unusual places and I thought, what better location than on a Vineyard Playhouse set? Hey, even if Julia doesn't smile on us, perhaps Wade will -- although I have no idea how his baking skills would measure up to Julia's.
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