Have you ever daydreamed about breaking into show business while shuttling your kids to soccer practice or during another late night at the office?
Well, meet two North Shore women who have made their dream come true.
Lauren Taslitz of Winnetka and Leigh Anna Reichenbach of Wilmette are the writers and producers behind “Join the Club!,” a musical running January 20-22 and 27-29 at The Evanston Arts Depot. Taslitz and Reichenbach, both lawyers by training who currently stay home with their children, met when they joined the Woman’s Club of Evanston.
The pair used their own lives as inspiration for their musical, which is the story of a young, self-absorbed lawyer who is required to do community service in order to make partner at her firm. The character, Sara, joins a Woman’s Club, where she is assigned to work with suburban moms to rehab a battered women’s shelter.
“Spending time with them is the last thing she wants to do,” Taslitz says of her main character’s dilemma.
During the course of the 90-minute musical, which Taslitz says is full of fun songs you’ll want to hum along with, Sara learns some valuable lessons.
“‘Join the Club!’ is a show about how important it is for women to overcome their preconceptions about each other so that they may work together and achieve great things for the world around them, as well as for themselves,” Reichenbach says.
In their real lives, Reichenbach and Taslitz have found that sense of community through the Woman’s Club of Evanston. Both women had some theatre or performance experience, but they were given opportunities to hone their skills while working on the Woman’s Club’s annual benefit shows.
“I had never considered writing—let alone producing—a musical until Lauren approached me after a WCE show in 2009,” Reichenbach recalls. “I had admired her wry sense of humor and honest personality while working on the WCE show, so I immediately jumped at the chance to work with her again.”
Taslitz says the experience of working on something totally new at this stage in her life has been particularly rewarding. She hopes audiences leave ‘Join the Club!’ not only entertained, but also inspired by a story that is, at its core, about the power of female friendships.
“Leigh Anna and I never would or could have done this without the support and encouragement of the friends we’ve made in the WCE,” Taslitz says. “People should come away from this with the realization that if Leigh Anna and I could do something new, so can they. They just have to decide to do it.”
“Join the Club!” plays Jan. 20-22 and Jan. 27-29 at The Evanston Arts Depot at 600 Main St. Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased online.
Pictured above: Actors Lauren Creel, Jeny Wasilewski, Kelli Morgan (equity) and Iris Lieberman (equity).
