Program Notes

It was 1978: MS Magazine was seven years older and bolder, the Equal Rights Amendment was alive in Congress, and American women were staying single longer and entering the workforce in greater numbers than ever before. But the screen belonged to the below-30 blonde: Suzanne and Loni and Farrah. The angels swapped badges for bikinis to become Charlie’s, and Olivia Newton-John traded in her sensible flats for stilettos to get the guy in Grease. Meanwhile, across the Cineplex, Jill Clayburgh was dumped for a newer (read: younger) model in An Unmarried Woman. For a woman approaching 40, showbiz was tough all over.

So Gretchen Cryer got her act together and made her move. Cryer, a divorced single mom, penned a tart, witty script pulled directly from her own experience as a woman brought up in the 50s to squeeze herself into a tight gender role. As Cryer notes, her first priority in college was to “find a man” and then “fit into the cracks of his life.” By 1970, Cryer was dissolving into a “lunatic child”, trying to hold down a theatrical career, raise two children, and keep the linoleum shiny. When her husband eventually left her for someone else, she admitted to relief. And she discovered she wasn’t alone. Eight years of single parenting and the show business shuffle later, I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road was born.

Cryer played Heather, an actress on the cusp of 40 who decided to change her act, butting heads and bruising egos in the process. Paired with pal Nancy Ford’s catchy music for such tunes as “Miss America” and “Strong Woman Number”, Cryer couldn’t miss. I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road debuted in NY in May of 1978. While mainstream critics huffed and puffed, audiences of both sexes embraced the show, packing the house night after night. Gloria Steinem saw it not once but four times. Invitations to appear on tour and TV poured in. When an audience member on the Phil Donahue show asked Cryer how she could possibly be a good mother if she wasn’t at home with her children, Donahue himself chimed in with the challenge of the hour: “If she were a man, would you be asking her that?” No doubt about it: I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road got tongues wagging.

-Tonia Steed

I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road

Liberty Deli, 2722 Alki Avenue SW in West Seattle

Reservations: (206) 935-8420

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