To the editor:

We recently completed a three-night run of “The Vagina Monologues” at WICA, and it was, by all measures, a great success. About 500 people saw a performance, and we raised a record amount of money for CADA and Island Girls Camp from a TVM performance on Whidbey.

I like to tell my friends that living on South Whidbey is characterized by community and serendipity, and both elements contributed to our success.

There were so many people and organizations that played a role that it filled most of the page on the program. I want to single some out, and I offer sincere apologies to any that

I neglect to mention.

First, we had a incredible pair of directors. Dana Linn and Anastasia Brencick showed remarkable creativity and leadership. Every night, several people would come up after the show to say this was the best production of “The Vagina Monologues” they had ever seen.

I had no idea what was involved being a producer. It was obviously lots more work than

I guessed when I agreed to take on the role. Judy Kaplan, who did a great job performing one of the monologues, also did a great job assisting me with the details of producing the show.

There were many people who didn’t appear on stage, but who were essential to making the show go smoothly: Allan Ament was stage manager, assisted by Dawn Rhodes and Rich Tamler. Shelly Higman conceived the set design. Annie Deacon was in charge of lighting design; Betty Freeman donated her talents designing our tickets and program; Beverly Rose (who produced TVM shows in the past) handled the bookkeeping; Dorothy Ferguson managed Sheila’s Shawls; Rob Scott and James Enslow provided technical support; and Marlene Nakamura and Linn Lee created the beautiful scarves we each wore.

Barbara Dunn was not only part of the Monologue cast, she lent her lovely voice and musical talents to provide a special introduction and finish to the show. She was assisted by five South Whidbey High School students — Emily Dunn Wilder, Megan Besst, Sommer Harris, Dinah Hassrick and Athena Michaelides — and the African drumming of Barb Nichols.

Local artist Kathleen Hornsby allowed us to use her lovely watercolor, “Tree Peony,” for our posters and programs, and also, with the help of her husband Geoff, created three framed giclée prints, one of which was raffled off each night (and netted more than $500 for our beneficiaries).

The were many forms of serendipity and community. Langley Middle School offered us their total support and let us use the facility for rehearsals and were willing to have us be there for our performances. Then, WICA had a cancellation in their schedule which made a more intimate space available for our show. The Langley United Methodist Church allowed us to use their space for some of our rehearsals. The middle school and South Whidbey High helped us promote the program. Others in the community who lent us support include: Whidbey Children’s Theater, Frontier Building Supply, Boomerang Korner, Raven Rocks Gallery and Dancing Colors.

And, finally, what an incredible community we live in! E-mail networking played a major role in helping us build our audiences, and the audiences were fabulous. They gave us standing ovations each night and we could feel their love and support.

Thank you everyone!

Carolyn Tamler

Producer

“The Vagina Monologues”