Janet Davidson always assumed that her professional debut in Durango would be on the big screen, not the stage.
The film director and co-owner of For Giving Productions has been invited to Durango Film, the annual film festival, for several years but couldn’t make it fit her schedule. Then about two years ago, Davidson reverted back to a former career, choosing to direct from in front of the proscenium instead of from behind the camera.
“I went back to directing theater, which I hadn’t done since I was a teenager in New York,” Davidson said.
Now based in Santa Fe, Davidson will bring Nora and Delia Ephron’s Broadway play “Love, Loss and What I Wore” to the Durango Arts Center this weekend for two performances.
The original Broadway cast included Tyne Daly, Samantha Bee, Katie Finneran, Natasha Lyonne and Rosie O’Donnell, who performed the “Purse” section of the play at Nora Ephron’s memorial service last year.
One of Davidson’s first directing jobs was Daly on the set of “Cagney and Lacey” in the 1980s, so the play has always held a special place in Davidson’s heart.
“When I saw they were closing it, I ordered a copy and fell in love with it,” Davidson said. “The total common sense, the little things that happen every day to men and women we recognize in this show.
“So many of the men who come recognize their sisters or wives or mothers – is there a perfect handbag and way to wear it? Or what’s the perfect shoe – is it sexy, comfortable? They took all these everyday things and wrote little tiny stories about them which get acted out on the stage,” she said.
The play is a collection of vignettes adapted by the Ephron sisters from Ilene Beckerman’s book of the same title. Davidson’s professional cast is New Mexico actresses Gioia Berlin, Jenny Gaberille, Sheridan Johnson, Debrianna Mansini and Alaina Warren Zachary.
It’s an easy show for traveling, with no sets and few props and costumes. That’s good news for Davidson because for as big of an art town Santa Fe may be, there aren’t a lot of theater options.
“We’ve got world-class opera, some community theater and a couple of other spaces, but they’re usually booked a year in advance,” she said. “So to keep it going here, we could maybe do it in a hotel or some other options, but touring is the best option right now. This group of actors together are amazing, and I’m thrilled to be working with them, but it won’t last forever.”
Each of the five actresses plays several roles throughout as there is no connecting narrative to the collection of scenes. But Davidson, who never got to meet Nora Ephron, said it was the writer’s gift that makes the play so successful.
“That’s a gift of Nora’s,” Davidson said. “Without a lot of words or descriptions, you get right into the character and then you’re along for the ride.
“It so resonates, and I think most women feel like they knew her,” she said. “There was something comfortable about her, and I think that’s because she knew who we all are.”
The cast and director will remain for an audience talk-back about 10 minutes after the conclusion of each performance.
Also, attendees are asked to bring an article of women’s clothing, in any and all sizes, suitable for a job interview. The clothing will be distributed to various locations throughout the Four Corners with the assistance of the Women’s Resource Center.
ted@durangoherald.com
If you go
New Face Productions and For Giving Productions will present “Love, Loss and What I Wore” by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, directed by Janet Davidson, at the Durango Arts Center, 802 East Second Ave. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $15 ($12 for students), available by phone at 259-2606, ext. 19, or online at www.durangoarts.org.
A video sample from the play is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcacPkgSunw.
