For part of last night’s performance of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town at the Alley Theatre, audience members were paying more attention to a row of center seats a few rows up from the stage.
Actress Selma Blairย (Hellboy, Hellboy 2, Legally Blonde and NBC’s Kath & Kim) who is in town to star in the Alley’s upcoming world premiere of Gruesome Playground Injuries (October 16 through November 15) came in to watch the show.
And stayed for the entire production. So it wasn’t just a courtesy visit. Understandable since the Alley crew was hitting its marks throughout the night, led by actor James Black who struck the perfect tone as the stage manager.
Also in attendance with Blair, according to a friend of Hair Balls (because Hair Balls wasn’t exactly certain), was Gruesome‘s author, Rajiv Joseph. The friend told us Joseph has been sitting in on all the readings of his upcoming premiere and that this was going to be the breakout play of the season.
No one swarmed Blair, but just before the start of the third act, a
small group of kids went up to her and introduced themselves, and got
to shake her hand. And then all settled back into their seats to watch
the rest of the play.
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This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.
