FROM THE FOOTLIGHTS - December 1997

First the Party . . .

Don't miss our very 1st potluck & playreading party on Saturday, December 6, at 6:30, for a reading of 'Our Town' at Mary-Margaret
McGrail's, 57 S. French St., Alexandria. From I-395, take Duke St. (exit 3) E 2 miles & turn right onto S. French St. From Washington
St. in downtown Alexandria take Duke St. W 3 miles (a few blocks past the McDonald's) & turn left onto S. French St. We'll provide
shuttle service if you call Mary-Margaret's from the King St. metro. Space is limited & only a few good parts remain, so RSVP now by
calling 703- 751-8126. **We will have a WAITING LIST, so if you have a reservation but can't make it PLEASE CALL so someone else can
attend.**

. . . then the 'Wedding'

On Tuesday, December 16, our children and family series continues with Carson McCullers's 'The Member of the Wedding' (1950), about an
awkward, imaginative small-town southern girl on the brink of adolescence. Set just after the 2d World War, with 'incomparable insight,
grace, & beauty' (NY Times), the play portrays the poignant loneliness & torturing dreams of childhood, along with the strange bonds
between black & white in the postwar south. We'll meet at the North China Restaurant, 7814 Old Georgetown Rd. (MD-187) at Cordell Ave.
in Bethesda (301-656-7922). North China is 4 blocks N of the Bethesda Metro (take both up escalators); several Ride-On buses go up Old
Georgetown Rd. The restaurant has valet parking ($2) & there are inexpensive nearby parking lots on Cordell Ave. & Old Georgetown Rd.
Dinner begins at 6:30 and our discussion at 7:30. Make reservations now by e-mail to [email protected] or by calling Mark Gruenberg at
(202) 338-7013 (h) or 638-0444 (w). You can find 'The Member of the Wedding' at Super Crown in Dupont Circle & in the White Flint
Shopping Center; at Backstage Books at 21st & P Streets; & for a special Footlights discount at Olsson's on 19th St. & at Politics &
Prose in Friendship Heights.

'Clowns' Signals Descent into Madness

On Wednesday, January 21, 1998, Footlights ends our children and family series with a play that 'holds all the secrets of human
existence' (Time Magazine): Herb Gardner's 'A Thousand Clowns' (1962). 'A Thousand Clowns' depicts the efforts of an eccentric
unemployed television writer to raise his 12-year-old nephew to be independent and unconventional, while fighting off well-meaning
social workers. The play runs January 8-31 at the American Century Theater under the direction of Mike Replogle, who will join our
January discussion. In the DC area ONLY Backstage Books, 2101 P St., NW, will carry copies of 'A Thousand Clowns.' We will also have a
few copies for sale at our December meeting. On Saturday, January 31 we will attend the American Century Theater's matinee performance
of 'A Thousand Clowns.' Tickets are $14 & include a group discount & a post-performance discussion with the cast. Send your check,
payable to 'American Century Theater,' to Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Court, Rockville, MD 20852. For further information e-mail
[email protected]. Fans of Lansing, Michigan's minor league baseball team (the Lansing Lug Nuts) root for the team by yelling 'Go
Nuts!!' Follow the crowd as madness overcomes Footlights this February.

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