Couple to celebrate love for theater, each other

By: Jeff Pack - Staff Writer | Wednesday, June 21, 2006 1:11 PM PDT ∞

It isn't uncommon for relationships to be formed on stage, but John Collins and Victoria Mora are taking it one step further.

The pair, who met during auditions in September of 2005 for the Temecula Valley Players' production of "Scrooge: The Musical," will be walking down the aisle July 1, the culmination of a whirlwind romance that was fostered almost completely inside Temecula community theater.

Appropriately, the ceremony will be held inside the Old Town Temecula Community Theater, the very place they met. Funny thing is, they almost never met.

"Temecula Valley Players was going to do its first show in the new theater, so we hired a music director named Bethany Allen from San Diego. Bethany decides to bring in Victoria to be the music director and tells her 'It is in Old Town,'" Collins said.

"The day before the auditions, I call Bethany up and say, 'OK, so I head down the 163 ...' and she tells me, 'Uh, no it's not in Old Town San Diego. It is in Old Town Temecula," said Mora, who lived in Mira Mesa at the time. "I said, 'I can't be making the trip up there.'"

Because of her friendship with Allen, Mora decided that she would help out with the auditions, but wouldn't commit to the production entirely. But then Mora met Collins.

"We were having fun, meeting all the people and then John came in," Mora said. "At first, I thought he was married because he was kind of stuffy. .... Turns out he wasn't and we just hit it off."

"TVP president Patti Drew said sparks started flying immediately," Collins said. "It wasn't very long, probably around Thanksgiving, we went public with the idea that we might make this something permanent."

Turns out they were right, just three months to the day after meeting on September 11, as the all-cast member crowd assembled prior to their final production of "Scrooge," Collins asked for everyone's attention.

"I told them in honor of musical theater, I was going to sing the old 1934 Rogers and Hart song, 'My Romance,'" Collins said. "When I finished, I dropped down to one knee and asked Victoria to marry me."

Although they had discussed marriage, Mora was still surprised when Collins actually proposed.

"I totally had no idea, the night before we had looked at rings, but I was still pretty surprised," she said. "Turns out my friend, Bethany, and the entire cast was in on it. I was the only one who didn't know."

It wasn't long until Collins had another idea.

"Beatrice Barnett and Bruce Beers, who work for the theater, were so excited about having such a community event (the proposal) in the theater," Collins said. "So a few weeks later we told them we thought we'd like to have the wedding in the theater."

The wedding will take place at 10 a.m., just a few hours before the final performance of "Kiss Me, Kate" is scheduled to take place. Collins said they will leave the set in place, because having the theater scenes in place will make the ceremony more special. Collins said both the bride and groom will sing songs in honor of the day, as will Mora's children, who will sing a four-part harmony. Even the pastor and his son will perform a song for the couple.

They will host a reception at Baily's soon after saying "I do," and leave for a honeymoon in Idaho a little bit later. When they get back, they will begin a brand new life together in Temecula.

"Theater is really a wonderful thing for families to do together," Mora said. "My four children and two grandchildren are involved in theater and with John's two children, we will have a very large family now, that loves the theater."

It is a familial merger that has gained the appreciation of those in the theater community as well.

"A lot of people find it is kind of fun that two theater people got together," Collins said. "The theater people are kind of nodding in understanding. It is going to work and it is certainly going to be fun."

Contact staff writer Jeff Pack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2681 or jpack@californian.com.

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