Learning Lines While Living Life

Grosse Pointe Theatre Stage Veterans Bring Characters to Life While Balancing Challenging Careers

It’s a Sunday afternoon inside Grosse Pointe War Memorial’s Fries Auditorium and Grosse Pointe Theatre’s November production of 84 Charing Cross Road is entering tech week rehearsals in preparation for their opening matinee in seven days. Tech Director Don Corbin and Set Designer Alan LaTour are sitting in row C taking stock of their progress, putting together a prioritized to-do list of the trim and painting that remains. Stage Manager Micki Pizzimenti and a small army of props and set dressers are swarming the stage, placing furniture and loading hundreds of books onto the shelves of the faux book store. Moving carefully among the chaos, Director Ron Bernas is taking mental notes that will be passed along to cast and crew, while Producer Cyndy Nehr remains safely out of harm’s way, double-checking and updating her considerable list of responsibilities.

During the eight-show run the efforts of the hard working volunteers just mentioned will be seen by the audience, but not heard. That considerable responsibility falls on the shoulders of the actors, and in 84 Charing Cross Road the two main characters, Helene Hanff, portrayed by Elizabeth Perkin Moen and Frank Doel, played by Peter DiSante, have had to learn an incredibly daunting number of lines. 

The story is based on the actual correspondence between New Yorker Hanff, a television writer and book lover, and Londoner Doel, who ran an antiquarian bookstore. Though originally focused on a mutual love of literature, their letters soon became filled with more personal details, leading to a long-distance friendship that began in 1949 and spanned nearly two decades. “This is much more than a play about books and the people who love them,” said Bernas, “it's a story about the connections we make … sometimes halfway across the world … and the way they can change our lives."

For Ms. Moen, who once portrayed the human personification of a dog in the play Sylvia, the portrayal of Hanff is a challenge. LaTour’s set encompasses two locations … Hanff’s residence and Doel’s bookstore … seen simultaneously by the audience. So while DiSante has conversation and interaction with other employees in the store, Moen spends the entire play alone in her room, which is fine given the equal affinity the character and the actor have towards books. “I feel that Helene is something of a long lost soul sister,” observed Moen, “because a book is so much more than a way to spend time. A book can become an actual friend. I’ve literally cried at the end of a book because I would miss the characters and who they became to me.”

Elizabeth, like a fair number of Grosse Pointe Theatre members, has a full-time day job. She’s employed as a Research Analyst and Assistant to the Dean at the Wayne State University College of Nursing. But that title will likely be changing in less than two years, as she’s two classes and a dissertation away from becoming Elizabeth Perkin Moen, PhD. Her doctorate will be in Evaluation and Research – Applied Statistics, which means much of her time will be spent analyzing and measuring numbers. Moen likes to point out, “People seem to think that there’s a dichotomy between those who love words and those who love numbers. Truth is, you can tell a story with numbers as easily as you can with words.” 

“Frank is a very conservative, London gentleman who takes great pride in working in such a wonderful establishment,” is DiSante’s take on Mr. Doel, a somewhat interesting departure theatrically for Peter, one of the truly distinctive singers in the group. He was appeared in several acclaimed musicals at Grosse Pointe Theatre in recent years, including The Drowsy Chaperone, The Scarlett Pimpernel and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to name a few. Portraying a lead character in a non-musical who never looks his leading lady in the eye is unique. “I can’t ask Helene a question and have her give the answer back right away until I get her next letter, so that’s really been a challenge,” confides DiSante, “but she’s alone the whole time. I could never do that.”

DiSante’s daytime job also presents a fair amount of challenge, having been a long-time civilian employee with the United States Army in their Research and Development center in Warren, Michigan. Peter works closely with a variety of Department of Defense contractors that exchange services as opposed to receiving money and takes great pride in his work for the United States Government, at least, until he was recently furloughed for four days during the government shutdown that occurred during rehearsals. “I do take great pride, but then I get embarrassed when Congress does what they did this past year! I felt let down that fellow government workers would let us down, but I did get to use that time to study my role and I did get reimbursed for the time off.”

The charming 84 Charing Cross Road opens on Sunday, November 10 with additional performances November 14 -17 and November 21 - 23. Sunday shows are at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows are at 8:00 p.m. Performances take place in the Fries Auditorium of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, 32 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan 48236. Tickets $18. Group and student rates are available. For tickets and information call 313-881-4004, visit the Grosse Pointe Theatre ticket office at 315 Fisher Road, Grosse Pointe, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., visit the website at www.gpt.org (click on tickets). 

Mike Trudel