You sit in the completely darkened Elks Opera House Theatre . The chairs squeak a bit but that’s just part of the ambiance. An old record starts to play. The sound is scratchy as a crooner, long dead, plaintively sings You Made Me Love You. The audience can almost picture the old 78 going round and round.

The lights on the stage come up softly and you seem to be a part of an old fashioned living room. An actress from the period, Florence “Zaza” Roberts sashays onto stage dressed in a red velvet dress complete with fringe and a bit of sparkle.

“Tea with Zaza” is back at the Elks Opera House. The play, featuring Gail Mangham is a one-woman show based on the life of Florence Roberts, the actress who opened the Elks on February 20th, 1905. On that date Ms. Roberts performed Marta of the Lowlands, (which is not exactly a happy play.) Nonetheless it was a success in 1905 Prescott.

After seeing “Tea with Zaza,” one is reminded of a Chinese Curse: "May you live in interesting times." Because certainly, Roberts’s life was extremely interesting, but it was full of difficulties, some of which she brought on herself. When the famous Shakespearian actor Lewis Morrison left his wife to marry the then 18-year-old Roberts (Roberts was about the same age as Morrison’s daughter), the press vilified her as a gold digger and coattail rider. How do you turn a not-so-sympathetic character into someone you want to listen to? It would seem to be a difficult task but Mangham is able to pull it off in a script co-written by herself and Parker Anderson. Perhaps a part of the success was the emotion that Mangham pours into the character. When she walks onto the stage she IS Zaza, and the audience immediately buys into the character. Another part of the authenticity comes from the fact that Mangham knows her character and her character’s story. The version of the play that I saw was around an hour and a half with no intermission, (the shorter version will be performed on Tuesdays throughout the summer.), and that is a lot of dialogue to memorize. But the way the Mangham delivers her performance you don’t really think about that. As you sit in the audience you’re simply an acquaintance of Zaza, and she is telling you her life story. It does not feel scripted at all.

In “real life” Zaza eventually prove her acting talents and by all accounts had a successful career. She was able to perform on Broadway in New York several times. She gave an interview to the New York Times on April 22, 1906 where she talks about the differences between playing in the East and the West. She comes across as articulate, intelligent and a woman who knows what she wants. She eventually toured South Africa, China, Hawaii and other foreign locals.

As for “Tea with Zaza,” Mangham definitely knows the character and, despite Robert’s personal weaknesses, the audience learns to sympathize with her. By the end of the play, when Mangham is performing a scene from Marta of the Lowlands with tears coming down her cheeks, you know that Mangham’s Zaza is real, and just trying to live her life the best she knows how.

The play continues through the summer with Tuesday performances at noon. These are a shortened version of the play and last 45 minutes – perfect for a lunch hour break. Tickets are $9 for adults and $7 for seniors.

In addition, on select Fridays in June, July and August there will be evening performances. The Friday performances can be coupled with dinner across the street at the Hassayampa Inn, followed by the show and then a tour of the Elks Opera House.

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