McManus in Love

One of my nieces (when she was much younger) was helping her mom and Grandma in the kitchen. She had been chattering cheerfully away and then for a time subsided into thoughtful reflection watching them work. Eventually she completed her deliberation and whispered to her mom, "Grandma is being so nice. Do you think we can give her a little treat?"

This past week, I'd had one of those weeks and was ready for a treat? You know the kind of week I mean. A couple of days I got up late and then spent most of the day wondering why I'd bothered to get out of bed at all. So Friday night I had a special dinner and went and saw McManus in Love.

The show is based on the humorous short stories of Patrick McManus. I often have one of his books beside the bed and I'll dip into a story or two to supplement whatever else I'm reading. I am not particularly interested in fishing and hunting, but his descriptions and characterizations are so hilarious that I'm captivated.

McManus in Love is one of four shows that McManus has written for the actor Tim Behrens. Tim plays all the parts, from McManus himself to Crazy Eddie Muldoon, to Rancid Crabtree and many others. One of my favorite moments was actually after the show at the curtain call when he returned to the stage and talked off the cuff for about 10 minutes. As Tim explained, he lives in Spokane and about halfway across the state on the way to the show, remembered that he had forgotten the programs. He called his wife to tell her and she responded by asking what exactly he wanted her to do about it.

"Do you want me to drive all the way over there and deliver the programs or should I do an emergency shipment and try to get the programs to you that way?"

"No honey. Of course not!"

This, as he explained to the guys, was the correct answer in the circumstances. Marriage depends on such answers. He went on to catch us up with the current projects that Patrick McManus is working on. He also described how they met. Patrick was his advisor in a graduate level writing course, and as Tim was preparing to walk the aisle for graduation, Patrick told him he should really stick to acting. Despite this, they became great friends. At the conclusion of the talk, he explained that all of this would have been in the program, but of course we didn't have programs. What fun!