"She showed up and I was floored. I was excited. I've never cried instantly like that before my whole life," said Kate Pentek, who played Louise.
This New Jersey woman may have played the lead in a local theater's production of Gypsy, but her Marine sister, who surprised her in the audience during curtain call, was the real star of the show.
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Kate Pentek, of Sayreville, was on stage taking her bows after a successful performance as Louise in Phoenix Production's performance of the musical Friday when suddenly, she spotted a familiar face in the audience.
Never did Kate expect to see her sister, U.S. Marine Keri Pentek, standing at the foot of the stage in her uniform and clutching a bouquet of flowers.
"I wanted to run off the stage," Kate told InsideEdition.com. "She showed up and I was floored. I was excited. I've never cried instantly like that before my whole life."
Kate said her sister, whom she calls her best friend, has been stationed away at 29 Palms in California for the past several months. They have only seen each other a handful of times in the past year.
"I asked her multiple times if she can get leave to come to the show," Kate said. "Every single time, she said, 'No, they won't let me, I'm really sorry.'"
But little did she know, Keri had something else in mind.
As Keri told her family she didn't have any time off, she was actually accumulating vacations days for this moment.
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Shortly before the big show, Keri enlisted the help of their father to plan the surprise.
Kate said after the emotional scene last Friday, the two sisters spent the next six days catching up before Keri returned to her base.
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