What the press release says:
Perfectly Norma Productions Proudly Presents:
Not Getting It
Toronto actress and single woman Anne Marie Scheffler exposes the truth of the modern female conundrum: it's not easy being easy! Women are supposed to be highly sexually attractive in this modern society, but when you're single, are you supposed to be highly sexually active too? Should the self-respecting single woman be celibate? Go out and have "just sex"? Or take matters into her own hands?
Anne Marie Scheffler has captured audiences across the nation with four previous solo shows: Situation: NORMA, Watch Norma's Back!, Leaving Norma and Dating Myself. The Queen of the Fringe, Anne Marie is also a Second City Alumnus and a regular on Real Men, the flagship show of The Men's Channel. An accomplished film and television actress, Anne Marie is joined in this new work by versatile film, television and theatre actor Adrian Churchill and the vocally talented Duff MacDonald, with direction by Michael McGinn. Musical direction is by Michael Barber. Michael McGinn has spent the last three years assistant directing at Stratford. He is also known as the artistic director at Deer Hurst and the associate director of The Georgian Festival, and associate director of Top Gun! The Musical! A one woman show with all these guys in it? Look, if a woman has needs�
About the play:
Not Getting It is about the single woman who can't figure out why she's, well, still single. She's getting older, wiser, more herself, better, and frankly sexier and sexier. She's a growing population- this woman in her sexual urban world- and she seems to be making the same mistake over and over again: dating the wrong guys and ultimately ending up alone.
"I was watching Dr. Phil who did an episode on "Fear of Commitment" and he ended the show with the fact that more men are not getting married because they can get what they want without having to get hitched. We're SO giving the milk away for free!" Anne Marie muses. "I want to get married, or so I say, but I want to be sexy and get that guy who claims he's not interested in love. Which really is a huge waste of time. A waste of life. Oh, the potential babies and happiness and even fulfilling sex that is going by! What the hell am I thinking? And I have a feeling that I am not the only thirties-something-but-looks-twenties woman who has the same problem! Why the attraction to assholes?!"
The History of Not Getting It:
So, there's this funny, blonde actress who works a lot in film and television, but has also been known for writing and performing her own one-woman shows. Well, one day, said actress is having a meeting with her agent, who says "You gotta write another one-woman show! And it's okay if it has more than just you in it! Let there be more actors in it if you have to! Just write something to showcase yourself! If you had a sitcom based on a play, what would that play be like?"
So, said actress, aka Anne Marie Scheffler, went away to write. Oh, she wrote! She wrote and wrote- as it had been three years since she wrote her last one woman show, Dating Myself. She had three years of being single and- well- not getting it- (well, not getting it on a regular basis, maybe only on special occasions)- to write about. Finally, Anne Marie wrangled her fellow actor friends together for the first reading of the 47 page script. The play was called Slow Woman Peaking. I know. Everyone loved the concept, so much potential, but weird title. One month after that, the second reading happened. This time Anne Marie called the piece Sarah's Big Bed. So, this went on and on. Different titles, lots of photocopying, tons of feedback and always a round of drinks at the bar afterwards! Basically ten months and ten readings later, Anne Marie had a film script. The title? Sarah Jordan's Pea King. What do you want? Anne Marie is very creative about her titles!
As proud of the film script as she was, Anne Marie still had to satisfy her need to perform live and to fulfill the best laid plans she had made with her agent. So, Anne Marie went back to the computer and distilled the film script back into the one-woman-show-with-more-than-one-woman like she had started off doing almost a year earlier. Anne Marie boldly booked the Tim Sims Playhouse for a one night performance of this unperformed play, this play with such research and development, and ten readings behind it. When Lindsay Leese of the Tim Sims Playhouse asked Anne Marie for the title of her play, Anne Marie had to say- "Can I get back to you on that?" And so, she locked herself in her apartment for half a day until she emerged with the title that said it all. "Not Getting It," she told Lindsay over the phone, and went off to a photo shoot with Gary Mulcahey, the wonderful photographer who shot the promotional photo for Not Getting It.
Would you believe that Anne Marie had not decided on a director or on supporting actors yet when she was invited out to Jenni Burke's birthday party at a bar on College Street called Marlowe's? Jenni Burke is a Toronto actress and singer who not only shot approximately 36 days on The Music Man with Mathew Broderick, but had just returned from an incredible trip to New York. Legend has it that in that one night at Marlowe's, Anne Marie got a director (Michael McGinn), a singer/ actor (Duff MacDonald), and a musical director (Michael Barber)! And it was Jenni's birthday and what did Jenni get that night, one asks�
So, on October 29th, 2002 Not Getting It had it's debut performance to a sold out crowd at The Tim Sims Playhouse, starring Anne Marie Scheffler, with Adrian Churchill, vocals by Duff MacDonald, directed by Michael McGinn and musical direction by Michael Barber.
That's how it started. Then they did it again.