A She-She Affair : SCR Fetes Mothers, Daughters at ‘If We Are Women’ Performance

South Coast Repertory turned its spotlight on prominent women of Orange County at a party following Sunday’s performance of “If We Are Women,” a play about mothers and daughters written and performed by women.

Women on SCR’s board of trustees invited about 100 of the county’s female movers and shakers to bring their mothers or daughters to see the show and afterward enjoy hors d’oeuvres, desserts and wines in the lobby of the Costa Mesa theater.

I Remember Mama

“If We Are Women,” written by Joanna McClelland Glass, revolves around three mothers (a playwright, her mother and mother-in-law) and delves into mother-daughter relationships. After the show, many of the successful professional women who attended found themselves remembering the women who helped make them who they are today--their own mothers.

Judy Rosener, accompanied by her daughter Janet Rosener Ridley, said she found a lot of truth in the play.

“I don’t think being my daughter is easy,” said Rosener, a professor at UCI Graduate School of Management. “When you have a mother who is strong and opinionated, people have these preconceptions when they meet you.”

Did her daughter agree with Mom’s assessment?

“No,” said Rosener Ridley, showing that she shares her mother’s independent spirit.

Women of Substance

SCR’s trustees chose the honored guests by studying local lists of who’s who in Orange County and by contacting women they knew and admired.

“This is a nice opportunity to bring the women of Orange County together,” said Paula Tomei, SCR managing director. “We were looking for women who play a leadership role in business and who had an interest in the theater.”

Guests mingled with the four members of the all-female cast. Patricia Fraser, who portrays a mother who has spent a lifetime regretting that she never learned to read, said the play brought back memories of her own mother.

“The play captures the feeling that we abandon our mothers in the end,” Fraser said.

“If We Are Women,” underwritten in part by Huntington Beach novelist Elizabeth George, continues on SCR’s Second Stage through April 16.

Other faces in the crowd: Maria Chavez Wilcox; Bobbi Dauderman; Patricia Houston; Veronica Gray; Jacquie St. James; Harriet Tyler; Jean Forbath; Isabelle Villasenor and her mother, Maggie; Gee Dickson; Elaine Cali; Patricia Moore; Susan Valen; Isabelle Prescott; Nancy Parker; Mona Ware; Suzanne Huffmon Esbers; and Olivia Johnson.