The most wonderful time of year

Back in the 70’s and 80’s, Amy Stryker Mathena was making a name for herself in Hollywood. She starred opposite Mia Farrow and Carol Burnette in Robert Altman’s film The Wedding. In The Long Riders, she married Randy Quaid, and she befriended Meg Tilly in Impulse. Her small screen credits include an appearance on “Charlie’s Angels,” as well as an ABC Afterschool Special (remember them?). Then, in 1983, she returned to her native Greenville, SC where she raised a family and has remained to this day.

Currently, Amy is preparing the role of Sook for an adaptation of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory scheduled to open at Centre Stage December 3. We’re hoping that her film and television credits will draw some attention to the show, as will the prospect of an evening that includes not only the rarely seen (in this neck of the woods, anyway) chamber theater production style, but intermission carolers and complimentary hot apple cider. We’ll bill the package as a “Christmas experience,” or words to that effect, trying to tap into the seasonal appetite for such things.

As for me, I have a huge appetite for traditional Christmas motifs – all the sights, sounds and smells we associate with Yuletide Victoriana, right up to Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas.” Much past that, though, and I lose interest.

Posted here is one of the promotional photos that I shot yesterday.