'I Do'
1 comment for this page [ View ]Thursday, March 27, 2008
By WENDY GREEN
Standard-Examiner correspondent
Nuptials performed at Playhouse
WASHINGTON TERRACE -- When Ogden resident Bill McCraw asked Samantha Chapman out on their first date, the perfect activity was clear ... a play at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse.
"Most first dates are dinner and a movie. For me, the theater experience was so much greater than the movie experience. I just had to take her there," McCraw said.
When he decided to propose a year later, he knew the perfect place ... the Terrace Plaza Playhouse. When it was time to select a wedding location, again, the site was obvious ... the Terrace Plaza Playhouse.
McCraw said he proposed to Chapman with the help of the Playhouse's Off the Wall Improv Troupe.
"During their 'Day in the Life' segment, one of the guys said, 'Now we'll do a day in the life of Bill and Samantha.' Then he knelt down and said, 'Samantha Janelle Chapman, I have always loved you. Will you marry me?"
McCraw fell to one knee and revealed the ring he'd tied around his neck earlier to hide it until he was ready. Chapman excitedly agreed to his proposal.
The McCraws were married Tuesday at the playhouse, using props from the set of the currently running production of "The Sound of Music."
An archway and cathedral windows helped set the stage for a ceremony witnessed by several friends and family members.
The Catholic props were especially meaningful to Chapman because she converted to Catholicism last weekend during the Easter Vigil. Her newly adopted godparents, John and MaryLynne Maginnis, helped Chapman achieve the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, making her an official member of the Catholic Church.
The couple's friends and family were pleasantly surprised by the choice of the wedding venue.
"I thought, 'What a classy place!' I love this theater," said John Maginnis, a season pass holder for the last decade.
Chapman's aunt, Dixie Glance, of Harrisville, agreed with Maginnis.
"It's quite awesome that they're getting married here," she said before the ceremony. "I've never been here before, but I've heard great things."
Aspects of the wedding mirrored a theater production, complete with VIP "tickets" to a "Vintage Romance" hosted by the couple. The usher, McCraw's 12-year-old son Benjamin, handed each guest a playbill that detailed the "production cast and crew" of wedding participants, a schedule of events, dedications to the attendees and ads in the back from local businesses used for the event.
The drama in the Terrace Plaza Playhouse wasn't limited to the building itself. The difficult challenges the couple has faced are similar to those experienced by many characters in the theater's productions.
Like Oliver and Annie, the couple faced childhood abuse, poverty, difficult situations, and many other potentially overwhelming hardships. McCraw said his 7-year-old son was abducted by his mother six years ago and hasn't been seen since. As a single father of a 12-year-old son and a 9-month-old baby girl, McCraw has had to work hard to provide a loving and supportive home for his family.
A single parent herself, Chapman said she survived an abusive marriage and an attempted murder by her husband, the father of her two children, ages 3 and 5. With five young children and a colorful history between the two, life together will be anything but boring.
There's also no shortage of financial hardship for the couple: recent car problems, rent increases, job struggles and even a hit-and-run accident with McCraw as the victim, have all stressed the couple's finances to the limit.
Still, the new family is hopeful and determined to succeed together.
"With Samantha, I feel inspired to be better. In her I discovered a freedom I have never experienced before. I want to rush out and do great things. I want to be by her side in all my best moments," McCraw said.
"When others say 'run,' we stand strong. We're true friends and best friends," Chapman said.
Together, the couple hopes to experience the same ending as the protagonists from many Terrace Plaza productions and proceed, as a family, to live happily ever after.
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What a truly inspiring story! How even faced with the most adversity, these two people have carried on! The writer has captured the true optimism of this couple in such a colorful and relevant way. Nicely written! Good luck to the couple and their new blended family.....