NORMAN — For the last six months, they’ve lunched almost daily on hastily prepared, paper-wrapped sandwiches and tacos, usually bought from a generic American mall food court.
And so when 40 touring musical theater performers were invited to detour from Interstate 35 — in route from Fort Worth, Texas, to their next performance venue in Bartlesville — to a Norman cast member’s home for fare served on plates and eaten with forks, they didn’t hesitate ... even if the entree was frozen Stouffer’s lasagnas.
“It was kind of perfect,” said Ryan Steer, a 2005 graduate of Norman High School.
About a week ago, Steer suggested his touring group for the show “A Chorus Line” stop at his parents’ house in Norman, which sits near the highway, rather than the Penn Square Mall food court for lunch Monday.
“They said ‘yes,’ and so I called my mom and asked how she felt about doing lunch for 40,” said Steer, 24, who — in true nomad fashion — brought a suitcase of winter clothes to quickly exchange for summer attire during his hour home.
Since October, Steer — who moved to New York to pursue his stage career immediately following graduation from the University of Central Oklahoma — has been touring American stages, performing in the production “A Chorus Line,” where he plays the director, Zach.
And just before 11 a.m. Monday, the black charter bus rounded the entrance to the brown brick neighborhood and a procession of performers unloaded, greeting Steer’s family with hugs and several “thank yous” for a long overdue meal at home.
“This is heaven. We miss home so much. We don’t have moms around to feed us like this,” said Jessi Trauth, 23, who’s cast as Valerie Clarke in the production, as she scooped a serving of lasagna onto her plate, digging for the crusty edges.
“Normally it’s either Subway or Taco Bell, seriously,” said cast member Emily Rice, 22, of Dallas, Texas, noting her fast food burnout.
Alicia Steer, Ryan’s mom, said the family has been feeding theater cast members since Ryan’s days in the drama department of Norman High School.
“It was a little weird to see our worlds collide,” said Ryan of the cast breaking bread — literally — in his living room.
Alicia said the lunch was the first time — excluding a trip to Fort Worth last weekend to watch the performance ... twice — that she had seen Ryan since Christmas.
And with production not wrapping until May and a scheduled month-long trip to Tokyo, Japan, for the tour group to follow in July, it would likely be the last until Thanksgiving.
“I just love seeing the bus in front of the house. But I’m sure the neighborhood association will have something to say about it,” Alicia said, laughing as she peered out the front window.
Nanette Light 366-3541 nlight@normantranscript.com
