- November 17, 2024
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“Grace and Glorie,” written by Tom Ziegler, tells the story of two unlikely friends. Grace, a 90-year-old cancer patient, has checked herself out of the hospital and returned to her homestead cottage to die alone. Glorie, her volunteer hospice worker, is a Harvard MBA recently transplanted to the rural backwater from New York City. As the story develops, the two find common ground and gain new perspectives on the highs and lows of life.
Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre will open the show for two weekends, staring Sue Pope as Grace and Nancy Grote as Glorie.
Director John Sbordone said that when Pope brought him the script, it was too good to pass up.
“It’s keeping with CRT’s policy of taking the best actors and seeing what they want to perform,” he said. “One of the things that we are especially grateful for is that we are working with extraordinary actors, and these are two of the best in the area. It’s a pleasure because you immediately start the production at a higher level and you watch it grow from there.”
This is Pope’s third show with CRT, most recently playing Nurse Ratchet in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Locally, she has also been on stage at the Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine and the Daytona Playhouse. But this is not her first time playing Grace. Fourteen years ago, as a 40-something-year-old professional woman, Pope walked in to a casting hoping to play Glorie, but she was almost immediately cast as Grace.
“I fell in love with Grace, and that’s why I brought it to John,” she said while sitting in the theater during a break in rehearsal.
Grote will be making her City Rep. debut in her role as Glorie, but it is not her first time on stage. Having lived in New York her whole life, she pursued a career in musical theater working with big industry names including Carol Channing, Richard Harris and Don Ameche. She stopped dancing and moved to Florida eight years ago, and has been in productions with Limelight Theatre and A Classic Theatre in St. Augustine. Sbordone saw Grote performing in St. Augustine and approached her about playing Glorie.
“It’s been a wonderful challenge for me,” Grote said. “I think people will see a lot of themselves in these two characters. Everyone has had tragedy in their lives and there is a lot of identification with these two characters.”
It’s a show about life and death and friendship.
“You’re left with a really hopeful feeling that, yes, death is going to come, but at the same time, everyone will be OK and everyone will move on,” Grote said.
One thing that will be different on stage for this production is a full set. While CRT productions have been known for a minimalist approach, the set for “Grace and Glory” includes wood paneled walls, a kitchen and a bed, with lighting by Ken Flanagan. But Pope and Grute have also added personal elements, including a quilt made by Pope’s great-great-grandmother and a photograph of one of Grote’s family members.
When describing the show, Sbordone said he liked best what the New York Times wrote.
“They called it like ‘The Odd Couple,’” Sbordone said. “It’s a poignant play, but there’s so much humor to it.”
IF YOU GO
What: “Grace and Glorie”
Where: City Repertory Theatre, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Unit B207, Palm Coast
When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16, 17, 23 and 15; and 2 p.m. Jan. 18 and 15
Tickets: $20; call 585-9415.
