Love, Loss, and how it all began

The question we get asked most often is…so, how did the show come about? It’s usually the first story that Nora Ephron tells each cast so it seems like a good place to start for our first ever blog post.

The publisher of the book Love, Loss, and What I Wore sent Nora Ilene Beckerman’s manuscript and asked if she would write an introduction to the book. Upon reading it, Nora told the publisher, it didn’t really need an introduction and that the story would speak to everyone who read it, especially women. Shortly after that, Nora and Delia reached out to several of their friends asking them to share their stories about their favorite article of clothing. From this collection of TRUE stories, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, the play, was crafted. The Ephrons shared it with a few friends, but it wasn’t until years later and that public readings of the show were done.

In the spring of 2009, working with producer Daryl Roth and director Karen Carpenter, the show was performed in a series of readings benefiting Dress for Success were done at the DR2 in Union Square.

After seeing the audience response to the readings, the idea of an off-Broadway run was born!

The show was conceived and created to have a 5 person rotating cast. One actor tells Gingy/Ilene’s story providing the arch for the play and then the drawings from the book are incorporated into the show. The four other actors in the cast share the tales that were collected by the Ephron sisters.

We found a fabulous home and gem of a theatre, the Westside Theatre at 407 West 43rd Street (which, by the by, also has one of the best staffs in the New York theatre community). Our team was assembled with some of the best folks in the business (check out our fantastic team on our website).

On Wednesday, September 16, everyone gathered in the upstairs lobby of the Westside Theatre and our journey truly began!

We hope you will check back often to hear about past and future casts, backstage antics, celebrity guests, and more!