Imagine—it’s 1942, the second World War is raging, and you’ve got one night in New York City before you ship out to serve your country.
In the basement of Broadway’s 44th Street theater, Marlene Dietrich and Lauren Bacall are serving free hot dogs to hundreds of your fellow servicemen, while Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters sing and dance onstage. The legendary Stage Door Canteen is calling your name.
We’re thrilled to welcome audiences back to Limelight, where our brand new venue has been transformed into the famed Canteen. Come for a drink, a little dancing and the heartfelt story of Jack and Louise. Two pen pals, separated by war, exchange hundreds of letters full of laughter and longing. What begins as casual flirtation turns into something more as Jack is sent overseas.
Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met? That feeling of missing a loved one is one we can all relate to. Sure, we have social media and all sorts of digital communication modes to help us reach out to those who have moved far away, but there is something dissatisfying about an email when we’re craving an in-person embrace.
Not only do we have to fight to stay connected with our friends and family, but in this time of dating apps and long distance relationships, it seems like everyone around us is trying to find true love over a messenger app.
Jack is a little stiff, a little nerdy—and confident he knows what the world is all about. Louise comes along with her humor and impatience and sees right through his thick skin.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I can totally relate to having a funny, confident woman walk into my life and remind me that I don’t, in fact, know it all.
Jack and Louise’s love story, against the violent backdrop of WWII, is funny, moving and suspenseful. What will happen? Will Jack make it through the war? Will they ever get to meet in person? And is this relationship, one built on a thousand letters and one grainy picture, really… real?
All these questions about finding connection over vast distances, and finding joy in a time of immense hardship, are absolutely relevant to our lives today. “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” helps us find comfort and laughter in fighting that fight.
Come experience “Dear Jack, Dear Louise,” opening Jan. 17 at South Valley Civic Theatre’s new Limelight Theater, 16300 Condit Road, Morgan Hill! As with SVCT’s previous Limelight venue in Gilroy, patrons are welcome to bring in dinner, and a full bar is available.
Learn more at svct.org. Tickets at www.ticketor.com/svct.
Andrew Cummings is the Director of South Valley Civic Theatre’s Limelight Theater production of “Dear Jack.”
