August 2024 – The Actorvist

Hello Gentle Reader!

Life is quick and fleeting. You blink and a season is gone. You can busy yourself to the point that a whole year has gone by faster than you feel like it should have.

But you already know this. None of this is news… right?

A lot of time at work I am clock watching, just hoping to leave my survival job to be turned loose onto the world to play with whatever idea my brain has an itching for. Sometimes the scratch feels so nice it becomes a passing hobby. Then sometimes that hobby entangles you in its web of intrigue, detail or escape. Then sometimes it can swallow you up and fuel you as you burn the candle at both ends learning, doing, becoming.

And then, when you come up for air, Dear Reader, you find that time has become a stranger to you. Well to me. Nieces and nephews sprout like corn stalks, Mom looks a little more sleepy, Hubby is a little shorter and Dad becomes a little quieter. I wonder to myself, “was I being selfish to follow this passion of mine to the floors of so many different stages? To meet literally hundreds of people? To tell stories to people that may change someone’s heart?”

How could I not see all of these changes to the people that mean the most? So I decided that I was going to actually have my cocoon year that I wrote about a bit ago…

and I was going to include the last quarter of this year as an added bonus!

A glorious 15 month hiatus is in the books for me and it begins very very soon! Already I can feel that this was the correct choice. On Sunday, it was the first night where I didn’t go to bed thinking about what my character’s childhood was like, or how he would react if the stakes were only life and death or his relationship with the donut guy who is only in one scene. I didn’t stop to think when I could find time the next day to study my script.

And I slept through the entire night.

I couldn’t believe it myself. My overactive brain, shut off like it was supposed to and I slept.

When I woke up on Monday morning, I noticed immediately that something was different. Here’s a small confession, Kind Reader, I always wake up a little grumpy. For like the first 30 minutes of the day or my shower which is one of the first things I do. My step was a little peppier. The day felt pleasant, even the sunshine was welcomed when I opened the curtains in the living room.

Some people don’t think I can stay away. And they may be right, but it won’t be to be on the stage. Maybe I will pop in to help friends learn lines or just to support the rehearsal hall one night a week. I am not expecting to fall out of the community, I am just going to refrain from committing to any shows so that I can run away for the weekend if my whims should demand me to. 🤭

In my survival job, we accrue sabbaticals over time, so I am just taking a small sabbatical from theatre while I learn some new tricks and try to do a little exploring. Strengthen my familial bonds and create more familial bonds with my dearest friends since they are already like family. I guess this is my bondage era… wait that came out wrong. 😳

Thanks so much for offering me up a little bit of your time, Gentle Reader. I appreciate you and it. I would love to hear from you about something you are looking forward to. Something I am excited about is the fall season. I think next month I will do a 30 Days of Noir and of course October is 30 Days of Horror. November could be 30 Days of Rom-Coms, but that is still up in the air.

Let me know what you have coming up that you are excited for!? Until next time, stay safe and alert and take care of yourself and those you care about.

❤️

Hello Gentle Reader,

OMG I have tried to complete the post about Kinky Boots for the last 2 months and by this time, I can’t add any of the photos that I want to now that the writing was finally finished. But then I went back and read it, and it was trash. There was no flow to the post and the thread of thought that I initially had doesn’t work because I literally spent 52 days trying to add to it to get all my thoughts out but it was a jumbled mess.

So I am scrapping that post altogether and just moving forward. 😵

The newest project is a fun little farce that is a great way to wrap up a really fun summer! Although, I have to say that I think unless I am rehearsing in an air conditioned hall/space, I don’t think summer shows are going to be for me going forward. 😄

I thought my big ass was gonna pass out with the heat we were dealing with here. Several days in the triple digits when my optimal functioning temperature has a max high of 75 degrees 🤭 made me feel like a polar bear in the middle of the dessert. All I wanted to find was a fridge to crawl inside.

This next project is Ken Ludwig’s Comedy of Tenors. Not exactly a sequel to the hilarious Lend Me A Tenor, but could be considered as one since 4 of the 7 characters are the same just older. With that being said, please note that one is not dependent on the other. And to make it even better is that this is my 6th team up with director Allie B! I may be more of a nuisance to her at this point. She is probably thinking “Why do I keep bringing this fool into my projects?!” as she shakes a fist to the sky. 😂

Of course, Sweet Reader, I am saying all of this in jest. At this point, she is a dear friend and I enjoy the shorthand that we have accumulated over the course of these projects. Nearly a decade ago, I was lucky enough to play Max in Lend Me however, Allie was not the director of that project. As a matter of fact, I have a post about it. It was a great lesson that I learned doing that show. It was one of those things where I was so sure that my way was the right way but found that I can keep my intentions the same but add different actions and the stage picture would be what the director was aiming for.

That lesson has helped me in so many ways. It has given me the courage to ask for clarification when I need it if something isn’t clear right away so that I don’t build up frustration. Not only does it build and feed the collaborative spirit but it really makes me feel like I am freer to try creative choices. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t but being able to feel the impulse and adjust your intentions to it in the moment really lets me live in the world on stage.

Opening night is just a few sleeps away, Kind Reader and we are getting into costumes and mics the next few rehearsals. I wish I still had the glasses that I wore for this character last time, but alas, the frames bent at some point and I could never get them back to the same shape they were before.

Interestingly enough, that is the same feeling that I get when I think back about Max. Being much older and a little wiser, I know that the way I am revisiting this fellow isn’t quite the same. Granted, the character has also done some growing up. So maybe not having the glasses is a good thing. One can still see that squirrely, tense, ambitious dreamer that he used to be but time has altered the shape of his world a little with a balancing act of artist and husband. It is a very interesting emotional arc that I get to play with and shape and I hope that the way I am playing it will pay off for that beautiful ending that this play has.

Well, Dear Reader, I thank you for once again, taking a few minutes of your life to entertain the ramblings of a vagabond actor looking for ways to make sense of this human experience called life. Before I sign off though, I am curious if any of you have looked back and examined where you are now versus where you were 5 or 10 years ago? Have you grown in the areas that you have wanted to? I hope you have accomplished what you have wanted. I know that Max has some unfinished work. As do I.

Until the next time, stay safe and aware. Take care of yourself and those around you.