By Kevin Zimmerman
At last Saturday’s performance of “Wait Until Dark” at the Chain Theatre, audience members witnessed an unscripted third act coda.
During the curtain call, Kirk Gostkowski, who portrays the villainous Roat in the thriller, popped the question to his longtime girlfriend and co-star Christina Elise Perry.
“I’m not big on speeches at curtain calls,” Gostkowski said. “But I’m very lucky to share my life with you people, and particularly with Christina, who is the love of my life, and my soulmate. I’m so lucky that I get to spend every single day with you.”
Gostkowski serves as artistic director for Variations Theatre Group, whose home base is the Chain. Perry is the group’s events coordinator.
With members of Perry’s family attending the show, Gostkowski figured it was a good time to propose.
“I know that when I get in front of people, I’ve made speeches like this before because you deserve that. You deserve grand gestures,” Gostkowski said as he walked over to retrieve the ring from someone sitting in the front row.
At that point Perry realized what was happening and saw someone filming the whole thing.
“Can I fix my hair?” she asked.
Perry and Gostkowski’s characters spend the last 15 minutes of the play in a battle to the death, and both looked exactly like you think someone would after such an ordeal.
But portrait-ready hair or not, Gostkowski pushed forward and dropped to one knee.
“Christina, my best friend, my life, my life, will you marry me?” he asked.
Perry simply nodded as the two hugged to a second row of applause that night.
Reach News Editor Kevin Zimmerman by e-mail at kzimm
