‘Vagina Monologues’ says it all

Barbara Diamond

V-Day doesn’t mean valentines, bouquets of red roses and heart-shaped

boxes of candy to millions of women around the world: it means Feb.

28, an international outcry to vanquish violence that has too long

been their lot in life.

Laguna Beach will celebrate V-Day with one performance of “The

Vagina Monologues,” to be held at the Laguna Beach Woman’s Club. The

performance is sold out. There will be no intermission to disrupt the

intensity of the performance.

“My sons are nervous,” cast member Lola Gillebaard said. “They

said you won’ t do anything to embarrass us and get dad kicked out of

the Rotary, will you?”

“The Vagina Monologues” is adult material and includes words not

ordinarily heard in polite conversation, including vagina.

“Even young women shy away from the word, not to mention some

others considered less genteel,” cast member Jonelle Allen said. “The

first few minutes might make you squirm, but after that you forget

it.”

Connie Merritt is the third cast member and instigator of the

performance.

“Lola and I went to see a production in Beverly Hills, and I

walked out determined to do this,” Merritt said.

All three women and director Andy Hedden are professionals and

Laguna Beach residents.

“I have never worked with two more extraordinary women,” Allen

said. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world and Andy is an

amazing director.”

Allan, whose theatrical credits include six years on “Dr. Quinn,

Medicine Woman” and a Tony nomination for her performance in the

Broadway production of “Three Gentleman from Verona,” came last to

the cast. Laguna Beach Realtor William Powell recommended Allen to

Gillebaard during a chance meeting in Spain.

“When I returned from Spain, I told Connie about Jonelle,”

Gillebaard said. “I met her for coffee and I thought, ‘This is never

going to work.’ She was so proper -- no, demure is a better word.

“Then she leaned across the table and said, ‘I understand you are

a reverend.’ I told her I was Catholic, but had never been a priest

or a nun.”

Merritt had actually told Allen when she made the date for coffee

that Gillebaard was irreverent.

The conversation got down and dirty quickly once the

misunderstanding was cleared up. Before their rehearsal Monday night,

mutual respect was obvious in their conversation -- double entendres

and giggles, a respite from the passion on which they draw for their

performance.

“Some of the monologues are very intense,” Hedden said. “But the

other side is humor. Some of it is just damn funny.”

Hedden described the production as a roller coaster ride -- for

the audience and for the cast.

“There was one monologue that I tried to get out of doing,”

Merritt said.

It hit too close to home, twanging her emotional strings. But

Hedden wouldn’t let her off the hook.

Allen does one monologue specifically about African-American

women, but the others are “color blind.”

“I represent a lot of different things,” Allen said. “I am every

vagina.”

Gillebaard, a stunning silver-haired 73-year-old, a resident of

Laguna Beach since 1974, represents the older generation of women.

Gillebaard is a professional humorist and speaker on the power of

humor.

Allan has lived in Laguna Beach since 1979, Merritt since 1969.

Hedden, a writer and manager of the Cabrillo Playhouse in San

Clemente, grew up here, graduating in 1975 from Laguna Beach High

School. His mother still lives here in the home he still calls home.

“This is a total community project,” Hedden said.

All commercial productions of “The Vagina Monologues” are halted

from mid-January to mid-March to allow the grass-roots campaign

against violence to take precedence. V-Day increases awareness of the

violence.

Proceeds from the show will benefit the Women’s Resource Center,

sponsored by the Laguna Beach Woman’s Club, and Working Wardrobes,

which provides clothing for adults re-entering the workforce after

personal setbacks.

“V-Day is a world wide event,” said Merritt, a professional

speaker since 1984 on improving relationships. Some locals may

remember her as a nurse at South Coast Medical Center. She is the

author of five books, with “Before Getting Naked ... 10 Things You

Need to Know Before Baring All” soon to come.

Merritt was responsible for getting Hedden into the project. She

first sought his advice about locations for the performance.

“The Woman’s Club is just so right,” Allen said.

When Merritt called later to ask Hedden to direct the production,

he said he was honored.

Men, generally, are not sure about the show, cast and director

agreed. They don’t know whether it is about male bashing or a lesbian

show and they frequently ask if they are even allowed to attend

performances.

“Every man should see it,” Hedden said.

Every woman, too, the cast said.

“When I first started filming ‘Dr. Quinn’ in 1992, we couldn’t

show blood in the surgery scenes on television,” Allan said. “By the

time we finished the series, we could.”

Married couples like Lucy and Desi seen in bedrooms with twin beds

was a big step from the Cleavers, who only ever got as far as the

door.

“Times have absolutely changed,” Allan said.

* BARBARA DIAMOND is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. She may be reached at 494-4321.