Grosse Pointe Shores

‘Moonglow’ reflects complexities of Alzheimer’s disease with compassion and humor

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Dale Pegg, courtesy of GPT Sal DeMercurio of Detroit, Shawn Henry of Grosse Pointe Park and Sandra Martin of Clinton Township star in “Moonglow,” a comedy/ drama about Alzheimer’s disease by acclaimed Michigan playwright Kim Carney. Photo by Dale Pegg, courtesy of GPT Sal DeMercurio of Detroit, Shawn Henry of Grosse Pointe Park and Sandra Martin of Clinton Township star in “Moonglow,” a comedy/ drama about Alzheimer’s disease by acclaimed Michigan playwright Kim Carney.

GROSSE POINTE SHORES — As of 2011, 5.4 million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease, two-thirds of them — 3.4 million — women, according to the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Association.

It’s the sixth leading cause of death in this country, and the fifth leading cause of death for those ages 65 and over. By age 65, one of every eight Americans has it, and by age 85, it’s nearly one of every two. And it’s the only one of the country’s top 10 causes of death for which there is no cure or prevention.

But award-winning Michigan playwright Kim Carney doesn’t need scary statistics to tell her about the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s — her mother developed it and died from it.

Her response to the disease is “Moonglow,” a bittersweet comic drama about a senior man and woman with Alzheimer’s, and their children and caregivers. The Purdon Studio Theatre, the black box theater arm of Grosse Pointe Theatre, is staging the show on weekends from Feb. 17 to March 4 at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. This marks the community theater premiere for “Moonglow,” and the PST is providing an intimate setting for this deeply personal play.

In “Moonglow,” an adult daughter, Diane — played by Rachel Settlage of Grosse Pointe City — makes the difficult decision to put her mother, Maxine — played by Sandra Martin of Clinton Township — in a nursing home. Around the same time, Joe, played by Sal DeMercurio of Detroit, puts himself in the same facility as he finds himself failing — to the ire of his adult son, Greg, played by Phil Potter of Harper Woods. Shawn Henry of Grosse Pointe Park plays Benita, the compassionate head of the facility. As Joe and Maxine both revert back to their youths in the 1940s, they begin to see each other as their first loves from that time. Sara Shook of Grosse Pointe Woods plays The Girl and Brenden Marshall of Harper Woods plays The Sailor, the younger versions of Maxine and Joe, and their dancing and dialogue mirror that of the older couple as Carney gives audiences a glimpse into the mind of someone with Alzheimer’s.

The story closely follows Carney’s experiences with her mother, who had adopted an increasingly dismal view of the world after she divorced her cheating husband.

“My mother was like two people: Part of the time, she was her cranky self, and part of the time, she reverted back to the teenager she had been in the ‘40s, dancing and talking in slang,” Carney said in an email interview. “I imagined showing that on stage with the use of two different actresses, one old and one young. And when she met and fell in love with another resident of the home who also resided in the past much of the time, I imagined using the same theatrical convention for him. But it wasn’t until about five years after my mother’s death that I sat down to write the play. I just wasn’t ready until then.”

For Carney, a Beverly Hills resident, putting the story on paper “was difficult, but also therapeutic, cathartic and life-affirming.”

Most of the cast members have a personal connection to the disease, as well. Director Harry Burkey’s 91-year-old mother has short-term dementia. Potter is dedicating his performance to his mother, who died from Alz-heimer’s disease in 1996. Martin’s parents both suffered from dementia, and she works with dementia patients as an occupational therapist in psychiatry. Henry’s father died of Alzheimer’s disease, and she’s dedicating her performance to her mother, who cared for him during the four years he lived with it. Settlage’s mother cared for her late grandmother as she suffered from dementia.

Even producer/stage manager Mary Stelmark of Grosse Pointe Farms has a personal link to this condition, having witnessed what her mother endured as she suffered with dementia for eight years. Stelmark is dedicating her work on the show to her mother. Likewise, Beth Battjes of St. Clair Shores — who is doing props and set dressing for “Moonglow” — had a grandmother who had dementia.

Burkey of Grosse Pointe Woods said he was moved to tears when he saw a professional production of “Moonglow.” The play demonstrates the need for caregivers and family members with this disease to seek help and support, and shows that they’re not alone — an important message for what can seem like an isolating condition.

“One thing I learned through my experience — as does Diane, the daughter in the play — is that you can’t fight the dementia,” Carney said. “The patients’ delusions are as real to them as your reality is to you. It’s best to play along, try to find humor in the situation. And although Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease, sometimes it can be a blessing. In my mother’s case, it allowed her to once again be young, happy and in love, if only for a little while.”

DeMercurio fought back tears as he recalled his late father’s battle with depression following the death of DeMercurio’s mother in 2001. In Joe, he saw elements of his father, who died in 2007.

“It was something I didn’t understand until it was almost too late,” he said of his father’s worsening condition. There are times in “Moonglow” when DeMercurio said his dialogue sounds like something his father would have said.

“I have never been as emotional (on stage) as I will be in the last scene in this play,” the veteran actor said. “I want to understand (this disease). And I think this is true of a lot of people dealing with Alzheimer’s. … (But) there is no logical explanation of what is happening.”

Settlage was inspired to return to the stage after a decade-long absence to do this role, which she’s dedicating to her mother, Diane, like Settlage’s character. Her mother is flying in from Arizona to see the show, she said.

“I’m drawing deeply on that experience and my mom’s frustration and incredible patience (with my grandmother),” she said. “That’s why I wanted to do the show. … I think it’ll be good for her to see this.”

Like her mother, Settlage said her character is often unnecessarily hard on herself as she struggles to cope with the disease and her decision to seek professional care for her mother, whose behavior has become increasingly dangerous and unpredictable.

Burkey said this project has made him an activist for Alzheimer’s.

“We need to make the public more aware of this disease, and (we need to) raise money to find a cure,” he said.

“Moonglow’s” lighter moments come from situations, not from making fun of Alzheimer’s disease or those who suffer from it, he said.

“You laugh because it’s a release of your emotions and it’s memories,” Burkey said.

After being co-produced at Performance Network in Ann Arbor and Boarshead Theatre in Lansing, “Moonglow” was optioned for Broadway by Mars Theatricals in New York, Carney said. Unfortunately, the struggling economy and the fact that the show wasn’t a splashy musical with major stars kept it from being staged there. Now no longer under option, Carney hopes to pursue other avenues to bring “Moonglow” — and its important message — to more people.

“I would like (audiences) to go away with an awareness of what Alzheimer’s is,” DeMercurio said. “It is a disease that’s unexplainable. There’s a question that’s asked in the play: What’s the difference between being in love and thinking that you’re in love? There is a difference. Alzheimer’s might appear like nothing’s wrong, and yet something is. There is no rhyme or reason to Alzheimer’s.”

Besides teaming with the Southeast Michigan chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, GPT is joining with the Alzheimer’s Quilt Initiative. Ami Simms, the founder and executive director of the quilt project, will be discussing this fundraising effort for research during a program at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at Christ Church Grosse Pointe, 61 Grosse Pointe Blvd. in Grosse Pointe Farms. The talk is free and open to the public.

A special opening night performance of “Moonglow” — at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 — will feature a wine and hors d’oeuvres afterglow. Tickets cost $50, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Association. Tickets to other productions are $15, and seating is limited. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8 p.m., and Sunday productions are at 2 p.m. For tickets or more information, call GPT at (313) 881-4004 or visit www.gpt.org.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer K. Michelle Moran at kmoran@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1047.