Julia Child, played by actor Mary Ann Jung, pulls Jim Mills out of the crowd to play the role of Child’s husband, Paul Cushing Child. Photo by Fallon Forbush.
Members of the Great Falls Senior Center were transported back in time to the ’60s to witness Julia Child rehearse for her infamous cooking show, “The French Chef.”
Child became sidetracked when she realized she had a roomful of guests and began telling them about her life and how she ended up a household name and one of America’s favorite cooking personalities.
Trying to match Child’s high-pitched voice and playful demeanor, actor Mary Ann Jung brought the celebrity to life for 45 minutes. Her show, "Julia Child - Queen of Cuisine," pays tribute to the energy, passion and playfulness that Child brought to her greatest loves: her husband and cooking.
During the performance, Jung pulled Jim Mills from the crowd to play the role of Child’s husband, Paul Cushing Child. While she described the couple’s relationship, Jung provided Mills with flashcards. These cards contained quotes from Child’s husband that the volunteer was required to recite for the audience—many of them comical and all of them real.
Jung researches and writes her own scripts for her one-woman shows.
“I don’t make stuff up,” Jung told the audience during a Q-and-A after the performance. “It usually takes me a year to research and write my shows.”
When she had questions that couldn’t be resolved through her own research, she sought answers from Alex Prud’homme, Child’s great-nephew, she told the audience.
This was Jung’s third performance for the GFSC. She already performed as Clara Barton, a Civil War nurse and American Red Cross founder, and World War II’s Rose “Rosie the Riveter” Leigh Monroe for the group.
“She’s usually one of the ones people say to bring back,” says Marietna “Mimi” Mascolo, a spokesperson for GFSC.
If Mascolo wants to bring Jung back for yet another performance, she has more shows in her repertoire of historical women.
Jung portrays Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut, in her latest show, “Sally Ride – Who Wants To Be An Astronaut?”
She anticipates the show inspiring students to get involved in science, technology, engineering and math.
In the meantime, Mascolo says the GFSC’s next guest speaker will be author Mike High, who will be talking about his book, “The C&O Canal Companion” and his passion for cycling.
His book takes readers on a tour of the 184-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that stretches from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland and the Allegheny Mountains, as well as the trail along the canal, which the author says is his favorite trail to bike.
The discussion and lunch will be at the Dranesville Church of the Brethren at 11500 Leesburg Pike from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21.