“Waiting for the Parade” receives Moss Hart Award

The Wellesley Theater department won the Moss Hart Memorial Award in the "College & University Division" for the production  "Waiting for the Parade."  The play, which was performed in October 2009 in Schneider Hall, tells the story of five women working on the home front in Canada during World War II. The award was presented by New England's oldest and largest regional theater association, the New England Theatre Conference. The other five categories included the Moss Hart Award Winner, Professional Division, Secondary Division, Children and Youth Division, and Community Theatre Division.

"Waiting for the Parade" is a character drama and, as Angelina del Balzo '11, who played the role of Janet, explained, "the strength of the play is on the characters—carrying who they are and how they relate to each other."  Actresses de Balzo, Catherine Arnold '10, Margaret Dunn '13, Lily Saffer '10 and Haley Harris '12 made up the entire cast of the play. Each character has a struggle of her own she must face.  Janet struggles with a difficult home life and Marta (Arnold) feels like an outsider because she is discriminated against for being of German descent. Arnold and Dunn, who played the roles of Marta and Catherine respectively, emphasized how different their real life personas were from their fictional characters.  Yet each actress was able to dive into the script and embody the essence of her character.  

Nora Hussey, the director of the production and head of the Wellesley Theatre Department, said that in portraying the characters it was extremely important for there to be "a sense of reality about it—that we weren't playing it being in 1945, but that we were actually there."  To do so, the cast paid close attention to historical accuracy and detail.

Discussions of World War II often focus primarily on the men fighting abroad—the women who struggled on the home front are overlooked.  This play provides "lovely insight into what happened to those who stayed behind," Hussey explained.  In fact, last September's performance was Hussey's second time directing the play.  The first time was for its 1981 Boston premiere. Hussey loved the play so much that she planned  to return to it later.  In the years between, Hussey found new meaning in the play.  Theater, she explained, can "make you think more deeply about life, about the life of humanity, about where we're going with society."  

As a matter of fact, the Moss Hart Award recognizes applicants who demonstrate the ability to convey a deeper meaning about humanity. Named in memory of Moss Hart, dramatist and director, the award is in honor of the enthusiasm and innovation he brought to his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway. The award seeks to recognize plays that demonstrate human spirit and courage, in addition to creative ingenuity in design, acting and all other aspects of the production.  Del Balzo sums up the heart of the play in the line: "We made it.  We lasted."  This line, said by the character Catherine, reminds the audience that "there's a certain amount of heroism in just living life and getting through the worst of circumstances."  

Receiving this award is a great achievement.  "It means a lot to us because it says that the work we're doing is not only high quality theater but actually is improving the understanding of human beings and what is it to be human," Hussey said. She accepted the award on Saturday, Nov. 20 in New Haven, Connecticut at The New England Theatre Conference. Several cast members joined Hussey in receiving the award, which was accepted on behalf of Wellesley College and will be displayed on the wall of Alumnae Hall.