Immaculate Misconceptions began as a couple of reminiscences ("4th Grade Sing" and "Puppy Love") about my experiences in Catholic grade and high school. I later developed it into a performable monologue, finding the humorous and serious aspects of the positive—and negative—role models of my youth. With references to secular events (such as the Kennedy Assassination and the NASA moon landing), as well as more religious happenings (the world’s oldest nun giving sex advice and, of course, Vatican II and the Baltimore Catechism), the message of the piece is how many events of one's life add up to who we become, and how my Catholic school education shaped the college professor I am today.

A reading of the performance version occurred on April 23, 2004. I then revised it for the final section of my collection of short stories, Buttcracks and Willful Ignorance: Monologues, Dialogues and Other Stories.

The World Premiere will take place in the Ferguson Theater on the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg campus on June 16 and 17, 2006 at 8:00pm. The performance features original music provided by accompanist Jeremy dePrisco, a long-time collaborator. Jeremy will perform vocal and instrumental pieces on guitar and other instruments.

I offer a taste of the full monologue here as a way to whet an audience's appetite for more, as I prepare for the premiere and seek a publisher for BC&WI.

Tickets will be available at the door, price to be determined. For more information, call me at 724-836-7483, or email me at steveschrum@musofyr.com.