The Block

Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Saturday, September 12th, 7:30 pm

Doors and bar open at 6:30 pm

$15 and up
Buy Tickets

Join a cast of five women, linked by their leadership in the arts community, for Love, Loss, and What I Wore, written by Nora and Delia Ephron and based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. Directed by Howmet Playhouse Manager Beth Beaman, the funny, sad, and sometimes mature, subject matter includes the women’s relationships as told through a series of monologues using the female wardrobe as a time capsule of a woman’s life.

Cast:
Carla Hill
Natalie Carmolli
Sheila Wahamaki
Kimberly Harsch
Teri Gust

Directed by: Beth Beaman

Produced in cooperation with Dramatists Play Service and in conjunction with Howmet Playhouse.

Will also be performed on September 11, 7:30 pm and September 13, 3 pm.

Nora Ephron was a writer, director and producer best known for writing the screenplays of romantic comedy films. She received three Academy Award nominations for Original Screenplay, for Silkwood (1983), When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993).[1] She had also written five best-selling books,[1] and she wrote the 2002 play Imaginary Friends, which fictionalizes the antagonistic relationship between Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy. Ephron sometimes co-authored screenplays with her sister, writer-producer Delia Ephron, including You've Got Mail (1998), Hanging Up (2000) and Bewitched (2005).

Nora Ephron wrote the introduction to Beckerman's eponymous 1995 book, which she immediately thought had dramatic possibilities.[4] She identified with the stories in Love, Loss, and What I Wore because the book "is not about fashion; it is about what clothes really are to us, those moments when we are constantly trying to find our identity through them".[4] Soon after its publication, Ephron gave the book to eight of her friends for Christmas. She became interested in writing her own version of the book. Once she decided to adapt Love, Loss, and What I Wore into a play, she and her sister emailed 100 women for stories.

The show's monologues are sourced largely from Beckerman's book. The Ephrons wove together a collection of stories adapted from the book with recollections of friends, including Rosie O’Donnell. One of the monologues that became a highlight of the original production was based on Nora Ephron's 2006 best-seller I Feel Bad About My Neck.

THE CAST:

Beth Beaman is pleased to be a part of this wonderful collaboration with the various performing and visual arts organizations in Muskegon County. She has been involved in many productions at Muskegon Civic Theatre where she was previously the Administrator of Theatre Arts Education. Beth is in her second year as the Managing Director at the Historic Howmet Playhouse and this marks her directorial debut. She wants to thank her wonderful family for all of their help and support.

Natalie Carmolli returns to the Howmet Playhouse for her fourth season, having directed Hospitality Suite last season and previously performed in Love Letters and Blithe Spirit. Natalie has her theatre degree from Central Michigan University and was a member of its inaugural touring company, now a Playhouse summer season staple! Natalie regularly enjoys acting, directing and working backstage for Muskegon Civic Theatre and Central Park Players and is the Director of Marketing and Sales for the West Michigan Symphony. Natalie has performed many roles, but her favorites are wife to the talented Joe Carmolli and mother to two amazing daughters, Anna and Eileen.

Teri Gust is the Managing Director of Muskegon Civic Theatre. Teri’s acting credits include Jeri Neal McFeeley, The Dixie Swim Club, Maria,Witness For the Prosecution, Barbara Kahn, Social Security, Belinda Blair/Flavia Brent, Noises Off, MCT; Jessie, Leaving Iowa, Rock/quartet, Cotton Patch Gospel, Joanne, Godspell, First Lutheran Players. Her production credits include producer for Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, filled in as assistant director/stage manager, A Christmas Story, hair and make-up, Legally Blonde, set decorator, Other Desert Cities and most recently operated the laser for Tinker Bell in Peter Pan for MCT. Teri and her husband Corky own Camcar Plastics Inc. and have three sons, Brett, Cameron and Carter.

Kimberly Harsch has a lengthy resume both on stage and on screen some recent roles include multiple characters in Motherhood Out Loud, which she also directed, Woman in Leaving Iowa, Louise, Always…Patsy Cline, ensemble, The Dining Room, and Izzy, Rabbit Hole. Other credits include Stella, A Streetcar Named Desire, Shelby Thorpe, The Spitfire Grill, the Mute, The Fantasticks, Central Park Players; and Rita, Educating Rita, Suzanne, Dearly Departed, Elvira, Blithe Spirit, and Clelia, The Nerd, the Howmet Playhouse. Some of Kim’s film credits include Hopeful Notes, Lily’s Mom, and Tar. Kim is employed by the Arts Council of White Lake, is married to Eric, and the couple has two daughters, Sky Lynn and Jacy.

Carla Hill moved to Muskegon in 2005 as CEO of West Michigan Symphony. She has a lifelong passion for theatre and arts. Among her favorite roles are Dr.Scott in “Whose Life is it Anyway,” Joanne in “Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean,” and Amanda in “Private Lives.” In 2009 she made her Muskegon acting debut as Nat in Muskegon Civic Theater’s production of The Rabbit Hole. In February she performed as narrator with the Symphony in Voices from the Gallery, a work by contemporary composer Stephen Paulus.

Sheila Wahamaki In the third grade the ‘theater bug’ bit Sheila when she played the lead role in the Princess that Couldn’t Laugh, and she didn’t! Since that time she has performed in over 80 plays and musicals. Sheila is currently Director of the Center for Theater at Muskegon Community College. She holds a BFA degree in Theater from West Virginia University and an MA degree in Theater from Indiana State University. She has over 25 years of experience as a director, choreographer, designer, and college instructor. She lives in Muskegon with husband Kirk.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Saturday, September 12th, 7:30 pm

Doors and bar open at 6:30 pm

$15 and up

About

Join a cast of five women, linked by their leadership in the arts community, for Love, Loss, and What I Wore, written by Nora and Delia Ephron and based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. Directed by Howmet Playhouse Manager Beth Beaman, the funny, sad, and sometimes mature, subject matter includes the women’s relationships as told through a series of monologues using the female wardrobe as a time capsule of a woman’s life.

Cast:
Carla Hill
Natalie Carmolli
Sheila Wahamaki
Kimberly Harsch
Teri Gust

Directed by: Beth Beaman

Produced in cooperation with Dramatists Play Service and in conjunction with Howmet Playhouse.

Will also be performed on September 11, 7:30 pm and September 13, 3 pm.