Reported in the Trenton Times,
Trenton, NJ, Feb. 13, 2010
Forgot Your Valentine?
Here's Some Help
by Sharon Schlegel
STAFF WRITER
No matter how forbiddingly cold or snowy, tomorrow is
still Valentine's Day, and that's a mandated day for celebrating love.
If you are wise, you no doubt spend lots of time during the year being
grateful for those you love, and who love you, but Valentine's Day makes
it absolutely official: It's "Hooray for love!" day.
With the way-too-busy, non-essential
information-packed lives we now seem forced to lead, however, it just
may have slipped your mind to plan some token of recognition for your
Valentine. It happens to all of us sometime. We overlook a birthday or
forget to buy those much-anticipated Feb. 14 flowers.
That's why I got a kick out of an email from Ken
Britschge, an old pal whose late and much beloved mom, Lillian, was a
good friend of mine for years at The
Times, where she was night switchboard operator. (If you don't know
what a switchboard is, look it up, respectfully. It demanded tons more
savvy than using an iPhone.)
Ken's the co-founder of the PCM
Theatre Company in Hamilton, which had real success with its first
production, "Project Mom." It incorporated
memories about moms gathered from dozens of local contributors of all
ages into a funny and touching dramatic fictional framework. And it was
staged, naturally, on Mother's Day weekend.
This new play, co-written and directed by Constance
Wilder-Wokoun, like Ken, a former teacher at McCorristin High School,
and herself a former member of the Hamilton Arts Council, has the
engaging and all-too-often apt title "So, You
Missed Valentine's Day?"
It's a one-performance-only production next Sunday at
3 p.m., at The Theatre District at
Arts YOUniversity in
Hamilton, an arts space small enough to be intimate and cozy, with
graduated seating ensuring no one gets a bad view.
Ken describes it as a collection of "comedic readings
and romantic songs, designed to honor the holiday for lovers." Among
them are delicious snippets from some of America's best essay writers
and humorists. Included are the much-missed Erma Bombeck (one of whose
presented pieces will deal with the universally horrid experience of
teaching your kid to drive), and the wonderfully insightful Judith
Viorst.
Here are a few lines from Viorst's poem about married
life called "True Love," which the PCM cast of five women and two men
will include in its presentation:
"It is true love because
I put on eyeliner and a concerto and make pungent
observations about the great issues of the day
Even when there's no one here but him ... "
The cast will also tap into the inspired hilarity of
Jean Kerr, with her piece "Marriage: Unsafe at Any Speed." And tying all
this together will be original observations written by Ken and Connie.
Ken, a research associate with Peterson's Guides when
not working on PCM productions, tells me the show is structured as "a
journey from courtship all the way to the empty nest," attempting to
illustrate how love grows and adjusts as circumstances challenge us.
Music is under the direction of Michael Amantia, choir
director of Hamilton's Our Lady of Sorrows Church, and will include love
songs from Broadway and Hollywood classics such as "Gigi," "Oliver" and
"Camelot," along with a few made famous by Frank Sinatra and the
Beatles.
What always surprises and delights me about
productions like these is the enormous amount of local talent out there
that we might never discover if not for such hard-working community
troupes. Not only does the show sound warmly entertaining, it will save
your bacon if you are one of the folks who forgot to buy or plan
something for tomorrow.
Write an IOU inside a heart, or simply smile and say,
"As your Valentine gift I've planned an afternoon at a local show next
Sunday, all about the hassles and harmonies of love."
That oughtta do it!
Tickets, $8, at the door. For more facts call (609)
890-1738 or check out www.pcmtheatre.com.
