a sort of "Three Little Cheerleaders and How They Grew"
- became a surprise success in the late 1970s. Concurrent
with the New York run, and for a few years after, "Vanities"
enjoyed a vogue on stages across America as one of those
plays seemingly staged by every little theater, college theater and
dinner theater. Convention-bound Joanne is the prude, shocked
by anything that veers from her strict moral code and social norms.
Note the aforementioned date and you'll guess the announcement
that comes over the public-address system at the scene's close,
foreshadowing further shocks and drastic social changes to come
during the next few years. The heroines next appear as college
seniors and sorority sisters in 1968 - still friends but beginning to
grow apart. Disillusioned Kathy has quit her teaching job and,
recovered from a nervous breakdown, is now a kept woman
with a swank apartment and time to reflect.