Once upon a time, I was a Disney princess. The spell lasted for seven years. I had a fancy job at The Walt Disney Company. I married a Prince and we lived in a castle. Then I got divorced, the economy collapsed, my job got “dissolved”, our castle fell into foreclosure and the Prince filed for bankruptcy leaving me with half our debts.
Ten years later, I wrote a play called Beautiful Pasadena about a couple who buy an apartment in a historic building in Pasadena and begin a remodel just as the economy and their marriage collapse.
The play opened last night in New York City.
Jen Rudin, watching Beautiful Pasadena at The Connelly Theatre
Beautiful Pasadena is a play about a couple with different world views who can't make their marriage work. It's about the global economic collapse of 2008. It's about getting laid off, debt, foreclosure, and divorce. It's also about a woman who stands up and confronts her husband who is a crook, a thief and who lives in a castle. It's also about waiting for an expensive bathtub that never arrives.
In the play, the wife has the courage to stand up to her husband and confront him about the credit cards and loans he secretly took out behind her back. In real life, I did not have the courage to confront my ex-husband. Instead, I chose to bury my anger and rage behind my sunny disposition.
In the play, the couple gets divorced and move on with their lives. In real life, my ex-husband and I both remarried and found happiness in our second marriages.
In the play, the bathtub from Bavaria arrives in the final moment of the play but it's too late for the couple. In real life, our bathtub never arrived.
Most of the play is fiction. Some moments and lines of dialogue are real. I call it a recession fairy tale.
In real life, I got to write a new ending. Come see our show!
Beautiful Pasadena has one more performance on Saturday, June 29 at 3:30 pm at The Connelly Theater in New York City. Click here for tickets. For more information about the play, visit http://www.purpleglassesproductions.com/beautifulpasadena
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| Jen Rudin, watching Beautiful Pasadena at The Connelly Theatre |
Beautiful Pasadena is a play about a couple with different world views who can't make their marriage work. It's about the global economic collapse of 2008. It's about getting laid off, debt, foreclosure, and divorce. It's also about a woman who stands up and confronts her husband who is a crook, a thief and who lives in a castle. It's also about waiting for an expensive bathtub that never arrives.
In the play, the wife has the courage to stand up to her husband and confront him about the credit cards and loans he secretly took out behind her back. In real life, I did not have the courage to confront my ex-husband. Instead, I chose to bury my anger and rage behind my sunny disposition.
In the play, the couple gets divorced and move on with their lives. In real life, my ex-husband and I both remarried and found happiness in our second marriages.
In the play, the bathtub from Bavaria arrives in the final moment of the play but it's too late for the couple. In real life, our bathtub never arrived.
Most of the play is fiction. Some moments and lines of dialogue are real. I call it a recession fairy tale.
In real life, I got to write a new ending. Come see our show!
Beautiful Pasadena has one more performance on Saturday, June 29 at 3:30 pm at The Connelly Theater in New York City. Click here for tickets. For more information about the play, visit http://www.purpleglassesproductions.com/beautifulpasadena
