DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE

A Timeless Love Story

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

At: Hanover Tavern, 13181 Hanover  Courthouse Rd, Hanover, VA 2309

Performances: March 18 – April 17, 2022

Ticket Prices: $48.

Info: (804) 282-2620 or www.virginiarep.org

It was inevitable that Dear Jack, Dear Louise would prove to be such a heart-warming story. It is the story of playwright Ken Ludwig’s parents’ courtship, performed by a couple of actors who are married to each other in real life.

The story begins when aspiring actress Louise Rabiner received a letter from U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, a military doctor stationed in Medford, Oregon. The first letter is dated June 1, 1942. The tentative and touching relationship grows warmer with each exchange of letters until August of 1943, when Louise is preparing for a big audition and Jack is awaiting orders to deploy overseas, they each sign off their letters with “love.” For those of us accustomed to the fast pace of modern life and the directness of relationships initiated through dating apps, the leisurely pace and storybook romanticism of this budding relationship is both shocking and sobering – in a delightfully endearing way.  

Set mostly in Jack’s office in Oregon – and later, his undisclosed overseas deployment – and the New York City boarding house and various dressing rooms occupied by Louise, Dear Jack, Dear Louise is not just a story of a romance, but also a story of war and how it touches individuals who are powerless to affect the outcome, or even control their own involvement. After months of planning, Jack and Louise must postpone their first date due to escalating war activities.

Louise’s side of the stage is populated by signs for a NYC automat, the Barrymore Theatre, and 42^nd Street, while Jack’s side has the drab accoutrements of a military base and a sign for a diner. There are wall telephones with cords and Jack even sends Louise a telegram when he needs to get an important message to her quickly. Further drawing us into this historical fiction, Ludwig (the author, not the character) has the audience join his characters  in listening to songs, like, “Yes, We Have No Bananas” (first published in 1923 and resurrected during periods of rationing during WWII), and Louise’s big audition is for Hellzapoppin’ (1938), the longest running Broadway show during that time period.

Sue Griffin and Marcia Miller Hailey’s costuming for Louise is a veritable fashion show of WWII women’s garments, from the sweater with one black sheep to the classy plaid traveling suit to the high-waisted pants that remind me of the pants worn in The Color Purple (that I have yearned for since the VaRep production of that show some years ago).

When date night rolls around, (October 2, 1943), Louise is on tour in Cincinnati and Jack is in Ft. Houston en route to his deployment. October 31, that same year, Jack received a care package from Louise. She’s in Tennessee and he’s now somewhere in England. And then the letters stop. Louise receives a letter from Jack’s friend, informing her that Jack is MIA. But we know this is a love story, and it has a happy ending. Miraculously, Jack returns home, some three years after that first fateful letter, and the play ends with a first kiss.

Lydia Hundley has some wonderfully meaty comedic turns, and Neal Gallini-Burdick comes across mostly as sincere and delightfully awkward in matters of the heart. Debra Clinton’s direction is nicely paced, and somehow even the pauses – the times when communication between Jack and Louise breaks off – never become boring. Hundley and Gallini-Burdick, who met in college and married in May 2021, have appeared in five shows together, and may have had the advantage of drawing on their own love story to bring authenticity to Dear Jack, Dear Louise. And, if course, once cannot watch a wartime play these days without reflecting on current events in the Ukraine.

Comedy, romance, war, two actors with great chemistry, and good direction equals a heart-warming play that effectively meets the challenge of balancing love and war, reality and fiction.

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County.

Cast

Jack Ludwig……….Neal Gallini-Burdick

Louise Rabiner…….Lydia Hundley

Direction & Design

Direction: Debra Clinton

Scenic Design: Dasia Gregg

Costume Design: Sue Griffin, Marcia Miller Hailey

Lighting Design: Matt Landwehr

Sound Design: Jacob Mishler

Stage Management: Joe Pabst

Assistant Stage Management: Amber Hooper

Photo Credits: Aaron Sutten