In 1995, 60-year-old Ilene Beckerman published a book about her life called “Love, Loss, and What I Wore.”
She wrote about growing up in Manhattan and she illustrated the book with quirky drawings of memorable outfits. Little did she know that sisters Nora and Delia Ephron would adapt her book into an award-winning play of the same name. Nora Ephron stated that the book was not about fashion, but “about what clothes really are to us, those moments when we are constantly trying to find our identity through them.”
The production of this funny and poignant play was the debut show at the “new” Bravo! Theatre. The theater changed hands a few months ago and this was the first of a season of six productions. The play ran September 20-22 and starred five actors: Debra Felix, Lynn Gutstadt, Pamela Johnson, Christine L’Ecluse, Jayme Littlejohn and Patteye Simpson (with onstage assistance by Kathleen Morris). The play consisted of a series of monologues, held together by the life story of Gingy (Jayme Littlejohn), a character based on author Ilene Beckerman.
We initially meet Gingy as she tells us about her Brownie uniform and then about the dresses she remembers from her adolescence. We learn first about the death of her mother. During other vignettes we learn about her dating life, her marriages, her children — her loves and losses. Between the episodes of Gingy’s story, we hear from other women, both singularly and collectively. As you might guess from the play’s title, the stories center around the women’s wardrobe choices during pivotal moments in their lives.
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