ACT 1's LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE Opens Tonight at Darkhorse

ACT 1 launches its 2017-18 season tonight, with the Brian Hill-directed Love, Loss and What I Wore - the critically acclaimed play by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. Love, Loss and What I Wore opens at Darkhorse Theatre for a three-weekend run through October 21.

The play is comprised of a series of monologues and uses a rotating cast of five principal women. Ephron, perhaps best known for writing the screenplays of the Academy Award-nominated films Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, wrote the introduction to Beckerman's eponymous 1995 book, which she immediately thought had dramatic possibilities.

Ephron identified with the stories in Love, Loss, and What I Wore because the book "is not about fashion; it is about what clothes really are to us, those moments when we are constantly trying to find our identity through."

The show's monologues are sourced largely from Beckerman's book. The Ephrons wove together a collection of stories adapted from the book with recollections of friends, including Rosie O'Donnell. One of the monologues that became a highlight of the original production was based on Nora Ephron's 2006 best seller I Feel Bad About My Neck.

Hill's cast features five noteworthy actresses in the principal roles, including 2015 First Night Honoree Wesley Paine as Gingy, Jennifer Bennett, Caitlin Brockell, Holly Butler and Andrea Crowe.

Love, Loss & What I Wore opens October 6, 2017 and runs through October 21 at the Darkhorse Theater, located. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances begin at7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are only $15 online at www.tickets.act1online.com and at the door.

About the cast

Jennifer Bennett is thrilled be back for her third show with ACT1, having appeared in The Memorandum (Tallie) and The Shadow Box (Maggie), both in 2012. Some of Jennifer's favorite roles on other local stages have included Rabbit Hole (Becca), Jake's Women (Maggie), Southern Fried Funeral (Harlene), Suite Surrender (Murphy), See How They Run (Penelope), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Blanche) and On Golden Pond (Chelsea).

Caitlin Brockell graduated from Hofstra University with a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts. Previous credits include I Think You Think I Love You (Branwyn), Occupy Verona (Mercutio), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Kayleen), Richard II (Earl of Northumberland) and Something Wicked (Banquo/Lady Macduff). Next up she will be appearing as Helena in Inebriated Shakespeare's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Holly Butler (actor) is having a blast playing with the other ladies this production. Last year, she had the great honor of starring in the two-character play Annapurna with the Tennessee Women's Theater, and also appeared onstage in Lysistrata with Act 1. Favorite roles in Nashville include one of three "Ninas" in The Verge Theatre Company's production of The Nina Variations, Tennessee Women's Theater Project's Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike (Masha ), Sordid Lives (Latrelle) with ACT 1 and The Dixie Swim Club (Sheree) at Chaffin's Barn. Originally moving to Nashville from L.A. to pursue a career as a songwriter, Holly found her way back to the theater when she co-founded Big Bawl Productions with Arita Trahan. Her role as "Mother" in the Actor's Bridge world premiere production of Working with Glass, earned her recognition as "The Best New Actress to Move from L.A." in the Nashville Scene's 2002 "Best Of" issue.

Andrea Crowe is making her first appearance with ACT 1 and she is thrilled to be working on this amazing show with such a talented group of women under the direction of Brian Hill. Performing since the age of six, Andrea received her BFA in Theatre from the University of Southern Mississippi and masters in Arts and Non-Profit Management from the University of New Orleans. She has appeared on the Darkhorse stage in David Mamet's November with KB Productions as well as as part of the Actor's Bridge Sideshow Fringe Festival. She has also had the pleasure of performing locally with Encore, Gadabout and Lakewood Theatre Companies and the Tennessee Women's Theater Project's Women's Work Festival.

W esley Paine is a 2015 First Night Honoree and has been acting with local companies for more than forty years. Favorite roles include Mrs. Malaprop, The Rivals, ACT I; Duchess of York, Richard III, Nashville Shakespeare Festival; Lotte, Lettice & Lovage, Circle Players; Amanda, The Glass Menagerie, Murfreesboro Center for the Arts; Linda, Death of a Salesman, Lipscomb University; Katherine of Aragon in Royal Gambit, Christ Cathedral's Sacred Space Arts Series; Nat, Rabbit Hole, Circle Players/Lipscomb University; Hecuba, Trojan Women, Actors Bridge; Dottie, Noises Off, Boiler Room Theater; Mrs. Bennet, Pride & Prejudice, Belmont University; Rebecca Nurse, The Crucible, Blackbird Theater Company. Most recently, she played John of Gaunt/Bishop of Carlisle in Nashville Shakespeare Festival/Lipscomb University's all-female cast of Richard II. By day, she is the museum director of the Parthenon.

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