Joining a drama club sets the stage for romance

After meeting as freshmen members of a drama club at the University of Alabama, Allison Lyn Mollenkamp and William James McCrary soon played important roles in each other's lives.

As freshmen at the University of Alabama, Allison Lyn Mollenkamp and William James McCrary were part of a group of seven students who staged a production of "Foreplay Or: The Art of the Fugue", a short piece from the "All in the Timing" anthology, written by David Ives.

A few weeks ago, Ms. Mollenkamp and Mr. McCrary, both 26, became the second couple in this group of seven to marry.(A third is engaged.)

Their walk down the aisle came nearly eight years after they met at an on-campus drama club in September 2014. Ms. Mollenkamp, ​​who is from Jefferson City, Mo., said that 'she had been a 'theater kid' for most of her life, but Mr. McCrary, who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, had only recently become interested in the art form. googled 'c ool clubs at the University of Alabama', or something like that," he said before deciding to join.

This fall, when the club asked for volunteers to direct short plays, Ms. Mollenkamp jumped at the chance. Although inexperienced, Mr. McCrary did it too, partly to get to know her better. "I talked to him a bit," he said. "I thought she was cute."

In "Foreplay", the two were cast as actors. By talking during rehearsals, they discover common links. Both are trumpeters, as well as the eldest of their respective families; she has two siblings, he has one. Their first official date, initiated by Ms. Mollenkamp, ​​was in February 2015, at a Starbucks on campus. When they met, they learned another common trait: neither of them drinks coffee. (The two had hot chocolate.)

They soon began having regular lunches and, in March, had a first kiss. This followed a theater rehearsal - and a failed kissing attempt earlier in the day as they walked along the Black Warrior River, which sits between the towns of Northport and Tuscaloosa. As they sat on a bench overlooking the river, Ms Mollenkamp recalled thinking, "OK, we're probably going to have a first kiss here, aren't we?" But the moment was ruined by two unicyclists pedaling nearby. "It didn't really seem very private or romantic," she said.

When the two graduated in May 2018 — he with a bachelor's history and anthropology, and she with a BA in English - Mr. McCrary took a year-long position with AmeriCorps in Birmingham, while Ms. Mollenkamp moved to Lincoln, Neb., to work at a public radio station broadcast by what is now known as Nebraska Public Media.

Determined to make long distance work, Ms. Mollenkamp said she started using " all the money from my newly acquired salaried job to buy plane tickets".

[Click here to read this week's featured couples.]

That Christmas , Ell She gave Mr McCrary a toothbrush, which she described as a more "symbolic" gift. The gesture meant that "you will always have a toothbrush in my place, you can always be here," she said.

The following year, after Mr. McCrary completed his stint at AmeriCorps, he moved to Lincoln, in July 2019. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, he further closed the distance between them by staying with Ms. Mo for a while. .