An Earnest Proposal

A very pleasant—and very romantic—surprise proposal took place before the opening-night performance of The Importance of Being Earnest at Two River Theater (TRT) on November 17. Inspired by the marriage theme of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy, Louis Castano—the longtime boyfriend of TRT’s Associate Director of Marketing, Jenna Rocca—coordinated with the TRT staff to pull off the theater’s first-ever real-life, on-stage proposal!

Jenna and Louis met four years ago at a middle school performance of Pirates of Penance; Louis was playing drums in the pit and caught Jenna’s eye in the audience. They started dating six months later and share a passion for the arts—especially theater!

On the afternoon of opening night, the Two River staff cleared the Rechnitz Stage, where The Importance of Being Earnest is being performed through Dec. 3, and Managing Director Michael Hurst contrived a reason for Jenna to go into the empty theater. To her shock, Louis walked out to center stage on the dreamlike garden set designed by Charlie Corcoran, got down on one knee and proposed.  Music— I Choose You by Sara Bareilles—started playing on the theater’s sound system, and a photographer captured the moment. After the show, Jenna and Louis celebrated at the opening-night party, where Artistic and Managing Directors John Dias and Michael Hurst gave a special toast to the happy couple!