Saturday night I went over the hill to the Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks to see the comedy "In The Wings." Produced and co-starring Mariette Hartley, it's written by her husband Jerry Sroka.

Set backstage at a small theater company mounting a play about infertility, this show features lots of recognizable stock theater characters -- the lead actor with big ego, the weary director and a starlet with no talent but good looks. The writing is very funny and Hartley shines as the actress in the show-within-a-show who is a utility player performing several different roles (each with their own accent).

After Thursday night's traffic snafu and knowing I'd have to go north of Mulholland once again, I left extra early. With no traffic I ended up at the theater an hour before the show began. Mariette Hartley was hanging out in the theater lobby and I had the chance to say hello to her, so there's a little bonus on the evening.