Midwestern Skies is a gorgeously imaginative balance of romance, vulnerability, and empathy, with a steaming cauldron of acquiescence, confidence, jealousy and empowerment. Despite the different temperaments and dispositions of the characters, they all became my best friends almost instantaneously.
The play in two acts transpires in New York City during the 1970’s when talented writer Nikki Johnson leaves her home in Salina, Kansas to meet prestigious publisher, Charles Reston in hopes of realizing her dream. She rooms with sophisticated, high fashion, graphic designer Anita Thorson which is a perfect situation… that is until Anita’s boyfriend Jake Rothman, also a gifted writer and Nikki become undeniably attracted to one another. In a time when woman had to choose between a profession or a personal life, Nikki was coerced to decide between what could possibly be her one true love or the career she imagined. The heart can sometimes make its home in very peculiar places.
Midwestern Skies was written with the utmost care and sensitivity. So much so I could taste the wine they poured, and the Thanksgiving dinner brought by Reston to Nikki’s struggling soul. You could feel the chill in the air and the warmth of Jake’s Uncle Shep’s matzoh ball soup. It was easy to feel the characters frailties, their thoughts, their reaching out, their deeds, their endurance, and their love, as they ventured forward, fragile maps in hand, flying their banners of courage full of hope. Each of their lives was a journey defined by whatever words were written for them to use, the turns they took or the fates chosen for them by the brilliant play-writes.
The poetry of this play is that the presence seems most perfect when it’s seeds lie in the past. The mid 70’s marked an end to the women’s liberation movement. Resentment of the liberated women became more prevalent as the homemaker had always been celebrated in American society, and now the world seemed to be saying being a housewife wasn’t enough. Women became divided, and so Nikki’s decision seemed even more important.
Midwestern Skies was well received at The Norris Theater in Palos Verdes, California during the Norris New Play Discovery Series. The play was also a finalist at the Panowski/Forest Roberts Theater Playwriting Award.
Myla Lichtman-Fields was a student of the Juilliard School of Drama with a Ph.D. in communications/drama, a minor in film from USC, an M.A. from SDSU and a B.A. from UCSD. She was a staff writer at Universal Studios and penned NBC episodes. She has a teaching background in theater at USC and in dramatic writing through the professional writers program at UCLA. Her plays are available through Lulu.com and PerformerStuff.com.
Jackie DeShannon is a world renowned singer/songwriter and is recognized for her anthemic hit “Put A Little Love in Your Heart”, her recording of “What the World Needs Now”, “Bette Davis Eyes” which earned her a Grammy and a barrage of hits recorded by artists including Brenda Lee, The Byrds, Maryanne Faithful and limitless others. She is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and her version of “What the World Needs Now” was inducted into the Library of Congress.
