Article
Love Your Life Conference
by Joseph Samuel Wright on 11.7.10
On Monday, November 1st, 92Y and Glamour magazine presented a reading of selections from the off-Broadway play Love, Loss, and What I Wore as a finale to their “Love Your Life Conference.” The conference commemorated the 20th anniversary of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year Award and featured two panel discussions on “Love Your Work Life” and “Love Your Body” followed by the reading.
Still running at the Westside Theatre in New York and in Los Angeles, Love, Loss, and What I Wore is a play about women’s experiences and their bonds through the foil of their clothes and style. Written by chic flick champions Nora and Delia Ephron, this play is based on Ilene Beckerman’s book of the same name, but the script is augmented with additional stories from Nora and Delia’s lives and the lives of their friends (including Rosie O’Donnell).
For the “Love Your Life Conference” presentation of the play, alumni cast members Brook Shields, Sherri Shepherd, Natasha Lyonne, and Jamie Lynn Sigler revived their performances with Stacy London moderating. This diverse cast’s excerpt performances touched on issues of mothers and daughters, grief, body image, gay marriage, rape, and the significance of clothes in life and in memories. All four women brought something unique to this performance, but Sherri Shepherd’s energy and moxy stole the show. Then Brooke Shields' poise and candor stole the Q&A session.
Although a little shaky in its transitions and conclusion, the performance of Love, Loss, and What I Wore selections provided a positive and sisterly ending to the “Love Your Life” event. The show showcased not only material from a touching and sentimental show but also the bond achieved between women across differences of age, race, and perspective. The audience was deeply moved.