Uneasy homecoming at heart of `Catch a Falling Star'.Byline: FRED CRAFTS The Register-Guard When Ginny Wakely's mother hummed the old pop hit "Catch a Falling Star falling star: see meteor. ," little did she realize that its childlike child·like adj. Like or befitting a child, as in innocence, trustfulness, or candor. childlike Adjective like a child, for example in being innocent or trustful Adj. 1. title applied to her daughter, a Hollywood starlet star·let n. 1. A small star. 2. A young film actress publicized as a future star. starlet Noun a young actress who has the potential to become a star Noun 1. who became a porn queen. There are some things a daughter doesn't need to tell her mother - until People magazine forces her hand by publishing an article exposing the whole sordid sor·did adj. 1. Filthy or dirty; foul. 2. Depressingly squalid; wretched: sordid shantytowns. 3. affair. Ginny hurries back home to Dewey, Texas, to divulge everything before the tell-all magazine article arrives on her parents' doorstep. Only her mother turns her visit into a citywide homecoming Homecoming Odyssey concerning Odysseus’s difficulties in getting home after war. [Gk. Myth.: Odyssey] You Can’t Go Home Again revisiting his home town, a writer is disillusioned by what he sees. [Am. Lit. celebration, and Ginny can't find a good time to pop the bad news. That's the setup for Lee Murphy's comedy "Catch a Falling Star," directed by Alice Corey, which will open at the Cottage Theatre in Cottage Grove Cottage Grove, village (1990 pop. 22,935), Washington co., SE Minn., near the St. Croix River; inc. 1965. There is farming (cattle, sheep, corn, and soybeans) and manufacturing (chemicals and machinery). on Friday. The play is the 1995 winner of Los Angeles' Ovation Award for New Plays. The plot centers on Ginny (played by Tabatha Jenrette), a small-town girl who went to Hollywood five years ago with dreams of becoming a big star. However, nothing turned out quite the way she imagined. The roles never came. In fact, her only claim to fame was a bit part in a dog food commercial. However, Ginny's mother, Virginia Carolina Wakely (Pauline Thorstenson), remained her biggest fan. She thought the commercial was on a par with winning an Academy Award. Imagine, then, how she feels when Ginny finally reveals that when her career hit bottom, her then-husband had her make some very smarmy films. Also in the family constellation are a father (Frank Long) who has a hard time showing his love, but who teases Ginny all the time; a sister (Alycia Mason) who is jealous of Ginny's Hollywood `successes'; Ginny's sister's husband (Eric Hause), a Vietnam vet who has become a Buddhist and spends most of his time meditating; and their adoring a·dore v. a·dored, a·dor·ing, a·dores v.tr. 1. To worship as God or a god. 2. To regard with deep, often rapturous love. See Synonyms at revere1. 3. little daughter, (Samantha Davey), who wants to be just like her Aunt Ginny. Corey calls the play "a simple story about family having little jealousies and hates here and there, but down deep, they all really love each other." "Catch a Falling Star" plays at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Feb. 16 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 3 and 10 at the Cottage Theatre, 700 Village Drive, Cottage Grove. Tickets, $10 and $12, are available through the Bookmine, 942-7414, and at the theater box office just prior to performances, 942-8001. CAPTION(S): Pauline Thorstenson (foreground) plays the matriarch of a bizarre Texas family in Cottage Theatre's "Catch a Falling Star." The cast also features (background, left to right) Eric Hause, Frank Long, Tabatha Jenrette, Alycia Mason and Samantha Davey. THOMAS BOYD Thomas Boyd may be
|
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion