Hickory – Women’s Resource Center Executive Director Michelle Morgan recently announced a one-night only benefit performance on Saturday, October 5, of the award-winning play Love, Loss, and What I Wore, written by Oscar-nominee Nora Ephron. Ephron is known for her work on films such as When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Julie & Julia. The play is co-authored by her sister Delia Ephron, screenwriter of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Michael, and Hanging Up.
Both touching and humorous, the production will be part of an elegant evening at Market on Main downtown, which includes a buffet dinner. Tickets are available for $60 per person.
Women’s Resource Center (WRC) has served women and families in the community for thirty-seven years. WRC provides one-on-one assistance, goal planning, and advocacy to support women through life’s trials, due to domestic violence, unstable housing, and any other insecurity a woman can face.
Produced by the newly formed local group Well Behaved Women Theater Company, the play’s director Shawna Wilson states, “The desire and ability to assist WRC is something I and the cast are honored and excited to do.”
In selecting the cast of the show, Director Wilson has chosen six of the area’s most talented and experienced performers. Collectively they’ve received more than 15 Kay Awards from Hickory Community Theatre audiences.
About the Play: Broadway.com said of the play, it’s “like a long heart-to-heart with your best friend over coffee.” Most women and men have a beloved article of clothing kept for years. Style, color, or age of the shirt, dress, or footwear doesn’t matter; the memories attached to it justify its place in the closet. Chronicling the lives of real-life women and their relationships to and memories of the clothing they wore at crucial points in their lives, the play is presented with the actresses seated on stage, each playing multiple characters.
Three of the six actresses in ‘Love, Loss’ have performed together often, notably in HCT’s Exit Laughing and Ripcord.
Dorothy Collier-Best has had a lifelong passion for the theatre. She began her career at the age of nine in television and theatre in Los Angeles. Since 2011 Dorothy has performed in numerous productions in the Hickory area. Highlights are “Frau Blucher” in Young Frankenstein, and “Marilyn” in Ripcord, which was directed by Shawna Wilson.
Connie Bools has been appearing on local stages for over 25 years. She has appeared in over 30 productions at Hickory Community Theatre as well as productions at The Green Room and Foothills Performing Arts. Connie has collected seven Kay Awards at Hickory Community Theatre and a Willy Award from Foothills Performing Arts. Some of her memorable roles include M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias, Aoife in Outside Mullingar and Sonia in Vanya Sonia Masha and Spike. Connie is very excited to be performing in this production with these lovely ladies. She has performed with each of them in previous productions and is honored to share the stage with them again.
Chrissy Colavecchio Schramm is thrilled to be a part Well Behaved Women’s debut production of Love, Loss and What I Wore. She has performed on stage and in commercial work for over 35 years. Chrissy is very active in the region’s theatre scene having most recently appeared in Honky Tonk Hissy Fit at The Green Room. She is grateful to the incredible cast and crew for their dedication to support the WRC.
The cast also features three additional well-known local actresses, Tammy Lail, Pamela Livingstone, and special guest, Molly Bass.
Audience members are encouraged to celebrate themselves by bringing photos of their favorite outfits to the show. These will be displayed for the night on a clothesline, along with photos of the play’s actresses in their beloved outfits. In addition, a donation box for WRC’s No Strings Attached Program, which provides free menstrual products, will be on-site for those who want to bring donations.
“We are deeply grateful to these talented women for supporting Women’s Resource Center in such a fun and unique way,” says Morgan. “This will be an unforgettable evening, raising much-needed funds for our Center. It embodies our mission of women helping women, which is at the heart of everything we do at WRC.”
Tickets for the WRC October 5 benefit performance and buffet dinner are $60 and are on sale now at the WRC website, wrchickory.org/fundraiser-events, with direct ticket links on WRC’s Instagram and Facebook pages. Purchasers can also call the Center at 828.322.6333, Monday through Thursday, 9 am to 4 pm. Tickets are also available at wellbehavedwomen.org. Seating is unreserved at tables of 10, with a total of 200 tickets available. A cash bar opens at 6 pm, dinner at 6:30, the performance begins at 8 pm. The show is performed without an intermission. Market on Main is at 335 Main Ave SW, Suite A, Hickory, NC 28602.
Photo: Three of the six actresses, Connie Bools, Dorothy Collier-Best and Chrissy Colavecchio Schramm, who will prerform at a benefit for Women’s Resource Center on Sat., October 5, in Love, Loss and What I Wore at Market on Main.
