05/15/2023
Love, Loss and What I Wore at Lakewood Playhouse – Peg Doman’s Reflections
Don took me to see Love, Loss and What I Wore on Mother’s Day afternoon at Lakewood Playhouse. We took our granddaughter Bella and her dad Del (our son) to see it. It was Bella’s birthday present; her boyfriend Allen was supposed to go with us, unfortunately, he couldn’t come. Allen is a meat cutter up north and had to work, so he didn’t get to see his very first play ever. He was so looking forward to it. We were disappointed for him. We love to get people interested in theatre!
I loved it. I t was so personal for me. It’s been updated to bring in more contemporary references as well as the 70s, 80s 90s memories. It was strange. It brought back so many memories for me. Nora and Delia Ephron are NY City women – so there were many mentions of designer and couture clothes – way outside my range. But the reactions to clothes that were the markers of relationships, jobs, friends, and just plain life over the three cycles of women’s lives were palpable. The eight actresses - Jacqui Cain, Ashley Evergreen, Nikki Hammonds, Karen Noyes, Laurie O’Brien, Laurice Roberts, Angie Shephard and Julia Wyman - were perfectly cast. They ranged in age from young, middle aged and getting older. The powerful closing segment by Laurie O’Brien really wrapped up the discussion expertly. I really enjoyed the production and laughed all the way through it. Don said there were half again as many more audience members as at the opening. I wish people would be more inspired to partake of theatre. It has made a real difference in our lives.
The eight rifted on dresses, pants, lovers, husbands, purses, jobs and everything in between. I especially loved the purse segment, from the fabled Parisian “Kelly” bag to a vinal blue and yellow bag. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with purses. When a young mother, I always had a good-sized purse and a diaper bag just to carry “stuff” for the babies – three of our own and three foster sons. As I got older, I finally decided, I didn’t need to carry my life in my purse, just my wallet, bank cards, a pen, my calendar and ID/medical cards.
Luckily I discovered Baggallini purses at Watermark on A Street. Closed now, I still miss it. I bought many items of clothes and several Baggallinis there. They are made of a fiber that sheds water and keeps it color and shape. It has at least two sections inside plus two sewn in straps with hooks to hold a small purse and your keys. It has three pockets on the outside to hold the extraneous stuff.
Talk of clothes reminded me of my mother Rita Harrington, a consummate seamstress. She started making clothes for us when Pat and I were about five-six on a treadle machine and continued throughout our growing up years. She made dresses, slacks, blouses (Holy Rosary/St. Leo’s uniforms), for all the girls: prom dresses, my wedding dress and even my first maternity dress. She sewed dresses for my daughter Andrea for kindergarten that were so cute and charming, I still intimately remember them.
She also knit sweaters for us – gorgeous Irish cable and patterned knits, did needle point and embroidery. We took painting classes at TCC together. When she was in her late 50s, she went to TCC, graduated and then onto Evergreen where she graduated with a degree in French language and culture. I used to type up her papers for her until they were all in French and I couldn’t be sure enough of the words and spelling to do it. She went to France for the semester abroad even.
She was an inspiration to me, to be creative, to be reading, to be talking, to be thinking, to be taking classes - all through my life.
The play runs through Sunday, May 28th @ 2:00 pm.
For tickets, please, visit - https://www.lakewoodplayhouse.org/box-office1.html
