STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Cherie Kessler can totally identify with the lowdown on buying bras and prom dresses in “Love Loss and What I Wore.”
“I’ve lived all this. My mother said all the things that are in the play,” she said. “Things like: ‘Is that a tattoo?’ And ‘Are you deliberately wearing that to anger me?’ And ‘What do you mean your bra strap’s supposed to show?!’ ”
Those who can remember are invited to take a trip down memory lane with Kessler when Sun Valley Performing Arts stages the play at Whiskey Jacques in Ketchum. Those too young to remember these things are invited to laugh along, as well.
The play will be held at 7:30 p.m. tonight—Wednesday, Oct. 11—through Monday, Oct. 16, upstairs in Whiskey Jacques. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with food and drink available for sale.
Opening night will be Ladies Night with drink specials for the females in the audience.
The nexStage Playreading Series staged a play reading of Nora Ephron’s play, which is based on the 1995 bestselling book by Illene Beckerman, last year.
The play consists of a collection of monologues and ensemble pieces about women and how women find their identity through clothes at key moments in their lives. It covers all the important subjects, including mothers, prom dresses, mothers buying bras, mothers hating purses, mothers…and why women wear only black.
It’s funny and it’s poignant.
One monologue talks about the influence of Madonna—“Any American woman under 40 who says she’s never dressed as Madonna is either lying or Amish.”
One woman describes how she removed miniskirts from her college wardrobe after being raped. Another describes her search for dignity while buying a new bra during treatment for breast cancer.
Still another talks of the detested, disorganized purse.
The production was produced Off Broadway at the Westside Theatre in New York where it continues to run as the second-longest running show in the theater’s history. It won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play.
This version stars Kessler, along with Aly Wepplo, Claudia McCain, Courtney Loving and Charlotte Hemmings.
Tickets are $20, available by calling 208-726-9124 or at the door.