A bit of hope.

Last night was a very moving experience for me. For the first time in a long time I have hope again.

I'm hopeful that art won't be cast aside as a luxury. I'm hopeful that President-elect Barack Obama (aka PEBO, thanks @scottpalmer) will see art as a necessity to society's well being. I'm hopeful that american Theater will survive.

What inspired this?

I had an amazing theater experience seeing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Centerstage in Baltimore. I was leary to go when I heard that Centerstage was doing Virginia Woolf this year since it's one of my all time favorite plays. I love the banter and the play that Albee delivers all while saying something about the way that we treat each other. I know some of the play by heart and even used a George and Martha scene for my stage combat final in college. I've seen other productions that really didn't wow me, so I was anxious to be surprised.

Well it was fabulous. Incredibly so. It shook me to my core and even got me to cry a little. Martha has always been my dream part, I've always wanted to be her. I admire her vulnerability within the hard edge. She is a complete person. Sometimes in plays there are characters that only show you the one side of themselves, not Martha, you see her ugly, sweet, brash, rude, complementary, etc. You see the whole person.

I made me feel like the purpose of theatre wasn't just to make money to do more theatre, but that there was a level of art to it. That American Theatre is back on the road to art, instead of just entertainment. That the arts I love so much will actually have funding!

We'll see what happens...

It's over...

Anytime a director closes a show I think there is a bit of remorse. A mourning of sorts.

I'm the type to throw myself into another project and distance myself from what I was working on so it isn't as hard for me. I've been more distant from the show, saying "my job is done, the show isn't mine anymore", which is true. It's not mine anymore, the stage manager is in charge, they are supposed to run the show.

They still looked to me for guidance during the strike today, which made me a little sentimental. I really enjoyed working with all of them and appreciate the journey they went on to put this show on it's feet.

One world premiere done. Stage management up next. I've also been asked to direct a staged reading in the next two weeks, which I'm trying to make myself focus enough to sit down and read (it's not working very well at this moment). Then a nice long break before the next show. Now will I actually stick to my break schedule? Maybe, but we'll see...

Like A Botonist Walking Through A Forest

Lately I've been going and seeing more theatre since now I know more people in the theatre scene. A lot of friend/acquaintances have shows going on right now and there is a college putting on a Mary Zimmerman piece, so I have lot of plans to go see theatre pretty much every weekend for awhile. Sounds spectacular right? Well, the problem is...

It's really hard for me to sit and just enjoy a play. Seriously.

I've spent my life living & breathing theatre. I had a teacher in school who said he couldn't enjoy just going to the theatre anymore and I questioned him about this because I didn't understand. He told me it was like a botonist walking through a forest. A botonist can't just take a walk through a forest, they see all the different kinds of plants and any diseases. They can't just enjoy the calm.

Well I've reached that point. It's a little sad for me. I love theatre, that's why I've consumed everything I could relating to theatre for so long, but now that I've become an "expert" (for lack of a not so elevated term) it has kind of ruined the experience for me. The only time a I get heart-a-flutter excited about seeing a play anymore is if it's a Mary Zimmerman play. Even when I get a chance to see some of my favorite plays, I get analytical. It annoys the hell out of me.

There has also been another crazy side effect of this... Now most of the TV I watch is reality TV because I don't have to think about the acting or directing. It isn't high quality and honestly the lower quality the better (thank you VH1)!

Sad really in the end. I think that's also why I like to work on new work, because there isn't a pre-made opinion about it. It's fresh, it's new, it's like an infant who you have to help grow up.

I'm wondering if anyone else out there feels like this about the work they do? Is it something that is just limited to the arts or does it affect other occupations as well?

To Start Anew...

So last night was the first production meeting for Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill. I'm a big fan of Caryl (I talk like I've met her, though I have not) and think her work is amazing. She makes statements with her work.

It felt good to be back at the beginning of the process again. Though Watch only has one more weekend left in the run, jumping in on something else will help with the grieving period. What I mean is that when a show closes there is a sense of loss. Not sure what to do with your nights anymore, you are thrust back into normal life. It's been weird to come home every night after work and not have to race off to the theatre, but still good. It's nice to be able to sit at home and read a play. (or write a blog post...)

Anyways, working on this next show is really exciting. My director is an awesome guy and it's great to have a full production team. (Unlike the last two shows!) That means I can focus on stage managing and props. I think I may be a little on the over organized side, but I need to be when I start the show so that way if I slip up a little later on, I'm still ahead of the game.

I also started my position with the Baltimore Playwrights Festival as the rep for Spots. So far I've read one play and am really excited about it. It's the first one, but it engaged me. I don't think it's right for Spots' season, but definitely something I would love to work on in the future.

Anyways, not sure if there was a real point to this post except to say that I'm in a good place moving forward and excited for the next show!