As a producer of hard news for television, Barbara Simon was used to covering natural disasters, terrorist attacks and wars. A self-described “news nun,” she said that she had difficulty displaying emotion and that finding relaxation was often challenging. So in the summer of 2011, when she and Margaret Pergler went to a screening of a concert performance of Stephen Sondheim’s and George Furth’s “Company,” no one was more surprised than Ms. Pergler to see her colleague dab her eyes. Ms. Pergler, who had never seen a crack in Ms. Simon’s sober reserve, was touched.
“If a Sondheim song could move her so much, I thought, ‘She’s the girl for me,’ ” said Ms. Pergler, who had studied musical theater at Syracuse University and once dreamed of being a Rockette. Now 39 and working as a coordinating producer of special events for “Good Morning America” on ABC, Ms. Pergler said: “To me, Sondheim is the ultimate. It’s not something everyone likes. That was impressive to me.”
To understand how the two women ended up in a Chelsea cinema, one must first rewind to 2004, when they were both at the “Today” show. Back then, Ms. Simon was a supervising producer overseeing the show’s overnight coverage of the Iraq invasion. Ms. Pergler, a lifestyle producer who did “fun and fluff” (celebrities, weddings, makeovers), was asked to work the overnight shift. She was not happy.
“I didn’t really like her,” said Ms. Pergler, a 5-foot-1 blonde who resembles the actress Megan Hilty. “She was very serious. She didn’t seem particularly friendly. I’d asked for help getting off overnights, and she didn’t look too kindly on that.”
Ms. Simon, a willowy 5-foot-9, now 47 and a producer for “CBS This Morning,” recalls it somewhat differently. “I never saw her do news, and I thought it would be good for her. Immediately I thought she lacked the confidence and she was soft because she didn’t want to work overnight.”
She added: “I didn’t think I was so mean, but I wasn’t in charge of the schedule. Margaret always wanted to do the 8 a.m. hour feature-y stories.”
What Ms. Simon did not realize was that Ms. Pergler had a partner, and that working 12-hour shifts, from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., could wreak havoc on a relationship. “I didn’t know how horrible it would be for someone who had a life,” said Ms. Simon, who was also involved but more committed to her job.
As for learning that Ms. Pergler was also gay, Ms. Simon filed that under “interesting” and went about her business. But she did note that she was “super cute.”
In July 2006, Ms. Pergler moved to Los Angeles. The women remained vaguely in touch, but only for professional reasons.
By 2011, they had both landed at “The Dr. Oz Show” in New York, and had become friendly. “I felt like she had done a complete 180,” Ms. Pergler said. “She was so different than how I remembered her. She was much softer and kinder and warm and inviting. It seemed like she had taken stock of her life, and gave family and friends and the things she was passionate about — even hobbies — a bigger role than they used to have. When you work on shows, it’s all about the show and whatever the next deadline is or putting out the next fire. Sometimes you forget what matters most.”
Continue reading the main storyMs. Simon admitted that in the 10 years that they were apart, she had finally looked up from her desk and realized there was a whole big world she hadn’t been able to explore because she was always working. Ms. Simon’s younger brother, Dan, confirmed this: “Barb has always been incredibly hard-working and driven,” he said. “When she and Margaret got together, it completed the circle for both of them. They have joy at home now, too.”
And that is how the two women found themselves at the cinema one summer evening, watching Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert and Patti LuPone belt lyrics like:
Someone to need you too much
Someone to know you too well
Someone to pull you up short
And put you through hell
After the movie, they spent hours talking, about their families, and Sondheim, of course.
Ms. Pergler, an only child whose mother died when she was 23 and whose father, now 87, lives in Cleveland, realized that Ms. Simon was warm, funny, adventurous and far more sensitive than she had thought. “I’m the steely one,” she said. “She’s so incredibly warm and expressive. I hold my emotions a little closer to the vest.”
Ms. Simon, who is one of eight children and studied at the University of Nebraska, thought Ms. Pergler was: “super fun and funny and witty. Very verbal. She’ll say anything and knew what’s on my mind before I did. She was like a good friend who always had my best interest at heart. I trusted her.”
She added: “We talked about how masterful Sondheim was at writing about the tragic things in life and making them real and not corny or trite. I said, ‘What is Sondheim’s problem with love?’ And Margaret told me that in ‘A Little Night Music,’ they finally figure it out.”
Ms. Pergler explained in an email: “In the end, everyone ends up with the right partner, their perfect match. The road to getting to each other is bumpy and cluttered with distractions and wrong choices/mates, but true love wins out in the end. Of course the grandmother dies, too. But it is a Sondheim show. It can’t be warm and fuzzy for long.”
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The couple head down the aisle, strewn with orange rose petals, for their first dance.CreditDevin Yalkin for The New York Times
But both were entangled in other romantic situations, and nothing happened between them until the spring of 2012, when they were each finally single. Ms. Pergler recalled falling in love with Ms. Simon when she saw her interact with her elderly father, Richard Pergler.
On a road trip through New York State, the three played gin rummy every night; Ms. Simon always made sure they had the right ingredients for his favorite cocktails (vodka gimlet or brandy Alexander with fresh nutmeg). “The way she cared for him and respected him and wanted to make him happy was so important to me,” Ms. Pergler said.
“Barb is one of the smartest and funniest people I know in my life,” said Daniel Karslake, a friend of Ms. Simon’s for 16 years. “But when she stared dating Margaret, she started feeling less heavy and more happy. When I met Margaret I totally got it. Margaret is also incredibly smart and funny, and they complement each other so well.”
Continue reading the main storyAt one point Ms. Pergler asked Ms. Simon if she wanted children, and she said yes. “I realized I did want to be married and have a kid and a family outside of the news family,” Ms. Simon said. They agreed that an anonymous sperm donor was the way to go and that Ms. Pergler would be the one carrying their child. They also bought rings together and determined that they would get engaged sometime in the near future.
That the two women work on competing morning programs has not been a problem, both say, given that they specialize in such vastly different areas. “One morning last year, our show had Charlie Rose’s interview with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad,” Ms. Simon said, “while G.M.A. was promoting Lady Gaga. And that describes our two shows, and us, fairly well.”
Ms. Pergler added: “I like to say, ‘She does the stuff that matters, I do the fun that rates.’ You need both of us on a show.”
But their decision to marry did evolve into a kind of competition. In December 2013, a week before Christmas, Ms. Simon dragged Ms. Pergler, then pregnant (and cranky), to Rockefeller Center, sat her down on a bench and handed her a phone. At that, the performer Sam Harris, a friend of a friend and one of Ms. Pergler’s favorites, began singing through the phone. Afterward, Ms. Simon whipped out a ring.
“She really surprised me when she proposed,” Ms. Pergler said. “We had said that we were going to wait, but now that we were going to tell our parents that we were pregnant, she wanted to tell them we were engaged.”
Ms. Pergler wanted to reciprocate with something “big and spectacular.” On Dec. 22, she invited Ms. Simon to go ice-skating in Bryant Park. Beforehand, Ms. Pergler had arranged a fake contest for a pair of Broadway tickets. When the business card Ms. Simon had dropped into a fishbowl was “miraculously” chosen as the winner, she skated out to the announcer to pick up the tickets. As she did, the music swelled as “Marry You” by Bruno Mars began to play.
Puzzled, Ms. Simon asked Ms. Pergler what was happening; Ms. Pergler then pointed to a group of 10 of their closest friends holding a sign that read: “Will you marry me?” When Ms. Simon turned back, Ms. Pergler was on bended knee, proffering a box with a glittering diamond.
“We weren’t trying to outproduce each other,” Ms. Pergler insists. “I wanted to propose in a way that was as exciting and adventurous as she is.”
Their most meaningful production, their son, Nicholas, who was born in July, was a joint collaboration, as was their Nov. 8 wedding aboard the Bateaux New York, which sailed from Chelsea Piers with 100 friends and family aboard. As they gathered under white paper lanterns dangling from the ceiling, rows of electric candles twinkled in the dwindling evening light.
The brides, both in long white gowns, walked down an aisle strewn with orange rose petals to “Our Time,” from Mr. Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along.” Their son was honorary flower boy. At the end of the aisle stood Mr. Karslake, who became a Universal Life minister so he could officiate at the event. Inspiration struck as he scanned the faces in the crowd. Channeling the theme song from “The Love Boat,” he began reciting a somewhat altered version:
Love, exciting and new.
You’ve come aboard.
And yes, we’ve been expecting you.
Everyone roared.
The two women, the event’s co-producers, flipped a coin to see who would speak first. Ms. Simon won, and elected to have Ms. Pergler take the lead. Ms. Simon sobbed gently as Ms. Pergler told her that she made her feel like “life was a special occasion.”
Afterward, guests sat at tables named for Sondheim musicals, among them “West Side Story,” “Gypsy,” “Assassins” and, of course, “Company.” As the Bateaux rounded New York Harbor and the band played Sondheim’s “Marry Me a Little,” those sitting at the “Company” table led everybody out to the deck for a group photo in front of the Statue of Liberty.
“They’re two of the most wonderful people and superb producers I’ve ever met,” said Jodi Daley, a producer friend in New York and a wedding guest. “And they’re hotter than Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.”
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