My first review of a stageplay at Murfreesboro Little Theatre turned out to be a most delightful time, and the almost two hours spent there filled me with memories of my past, with the music, the era in general and the cute girls I dated.

The three young actors were most convincing in Jack Heifner’s Vanities, directed by the talented Christina Reinbold. This is Miss Reinbold’s fourth direction, three being at the MLT.

Vanities begins in November 1963 as Texas high school juniors Joanne, Kathy and Mary are practicing their cheerleading for the football team. Their typical schoolgirl charm, with the giggling, the secrets that cannot be kept, talking trash, and the sexcapades (or lack thereof) with their boyfriends just shows some things have not changed in 44 years. The scene ends with the principal announcing, over the intercom, the assassination of President Kennedy.

Five years have passed, and we see the last year of college for these three, who have decided to be dorm mates. We also see the young ladies take on their own personal characteristics while getting their degrees, Joanne in music, Mary in interior design and Kathy in physical education. Mary no longer dates Jim, Kathy is no longer with her high-school sweetie, Gary, but Joanne is still with Ted from high school, and would just die without him. The talk of the three of them always being best buds is there, but they soon part ways.

Again, five years have passed. Kathy, no longer teaching, sets up a get-together for the girls in a rented penthouse in New York. Mary, also now in New York, owns an art gallery of, well, art that is accepted today, but was risque in 1973. A woman of the world, she has not married, and has slept with quite a few men (and women) of the world. Joanne, now married to Ted with three children. She also drinks a lot. Even best friends can change drastically over time.

Kellye Mitchell as Joanne, Olivia Scott as Kathy and Juliana Smith as Mary all have the incredible talent to portray girls, and women, at their best, in a time when being a woman was a struggle in a man’s world.

I was especially interested in seeing the three dressing tables with mirrors to the left of the stage which the actors sat in front of during the intermissions and redid themselves. At first I thought, wow, this place has no dressing rooms. Then I realized, and laughed at myself for being so naive, these were the vanities that helped the girls grow from their high school days through the characterizations of womanhood.

The audience on opening night was 80 percent women, and the comedy, drama, and memories of time gone by are well worth the price of the ticket. Go see it.

“Vanities” continues at 7 p.m. June 15 and 16 and 2 p.m. June 17 at Murfreesboro Little Theatre, 702 Ewing Blvd.

Upcoming Auditions: