Local Writer Joins NYC Cast Of ‘Listen To Your Mother’

By Nancy K. Crevier

Local residents who had their heads up may be holding tickets to the currently sold out New York City production of Listen To Your Mother, Sunday, May 6, at the JCC in Manhattan’s Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Auditorium, 334 Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street. It is certain that the majority of Newtown ticket holders are attending not only to support the NYC birth-to-3, low-income family assistance program, Room To Grow, which receives 10 percent of the $30 ticket sales, but to witness the debut performance by resident Kate Mayer (Eggleston), on stage.

According to the production’s website, Listen To Your Mother is a “national series of readings by local writers in celebration of Mother’s Day. Born of the creative work of mothers who publish on-line, each production is produced, directed, and performed by local communities, for local communities.” The May 6 performance is the first time the show has been produced in New York City.

Kate Mayer is a copywriter for a Milford and Manchester Hyundai dealer and other local small businesses, and is also the author of a blog, Return to Work Mom, a humorous, slightly irreverent, and frank look at the ups, downs, laughs, and tears of motherhood, returning to the paid work force, and the forces of reality upon the realities of motherhood and womanhood. She is among 14 women (and one man) selected from an auditioning group of more than 100, in February, to take the stage in the city.

“I saw information about Listen To Your Mother on Twitter and other blogs, and thought, ‘I would like to do this.’ I told my kids I was going to audition, so then I had to do it, even though I was completely intimidated,” recalled Ms Mayer in an interview less than a week before the show. “I mean, it’s New York City! You know the talent pool!” But a promise is a promise, so she packed up her material and headed off to the auditions.

“It was awesome to read in front of these people. If you look at their bios [listentoyourmother.com] you can see what an amazing bunch of women — actresses, published writers, directors, editors — and I thought there was no way I would get picked. I’m just a mom from the suburbs.”

The producers saw something in her performance, though, and three weeks later, Ms Mayer received a callback. “I don’t have a lot of readers [for my blog], but I do have a good story to tell, and I guess they saw that,” she said.

She is not allowed to say what the focus of her reading is prior to the production, but it is an original piece, and like all of the pieces by the readers, the subject pertains to motherhood. She and husband Bradley Eggleston have four children (a son in sixth grade, Evan; a daughter, Eliza, in ninth grade; daughter Zoë, a junior; and Brady, a sophomore at Oberlin College), so there is plenty of experience from which she can draw material, she said. “The kids definitely figure into my blog, and so do the parents of other kids that I do and don’t know,” she added.

The performers have rehearsed just twice, said Ms Mayer, with a third “walk through” scheduled the day of the performance. “The directors want it to be authentic and raw, not practiced,” she explained.

“I am absolutely humbled [to be selected] and very impressed at the broad spectrum of moms they chose,” said Ms Mayer. “There are a lot of different perspectives being honored.”

On Tuesday, May 1, Ms Mayer was anticipating the coming Sunday with just one bit of apprehension: “What’s most intimidating about this experience,” she confessed, “is running into people from town who say they are coming to the show. That makes my pits sweat!”

The good news for those who missed out on tickets is that the performance of Listen To Your Mother will be posted on YouTube following Sunday’s show. Performances of Listen To Your Mother produced in other cities in previous years can also be viewed on the Listen To Your Mother YouTube channel.

For a chance to pick up tickets due to cancellations, e-mail listentoyourmothernyc@gmail.com to be put on a waiting list. While Listen To Your Mother is all about motherhood, producers emphasize that the show is meant for an adult audience, and is not appropriate for children.

To learn more about Ms Mayer and her vision of motherhood and work, visit returntoworkmom.blogspot.com.