The importance of ritual became so apparent yesterday, celebrating Thanksgiving with our family, and the newest member of it. There was a chance we were going to celebrate the holiday in the hospital… and even yesterday’s venue was a little different than the norm… But we found a way to make it work, and celebrated together.
Rituals not only reinforce routines, they bring communities together, and anything that is powerful enough to do that (like a holiday, or a show) is well worth celebrating.
Inspired by the video I posted yesterday, and just wanting to keep things fresh, I made some of the old standards like carrots and sweet potatoes new again by reinterpreting them for our Thanksgiving feast.
It’s amazing to rediscover the taste of something in a different guise, and wonderful to add new techniques to my repertoire.
When a revival stays true to the original, while at the same time bringing something totally new and unexpected, it’s not a reworking, but it’s a new work in its own right. See exhibit a below:
As I did after the birth of my niece a few weeks ago, I took the day off from blogging to let her birth soak in. So this past Monday, I basked the glow of my new nephew. (Yes you read that right, two new babies in one month.)
That’s how we do things around here, in twos… Like Two From the Aisle, “Disillusioned” and “Chrysalis” this summer, and now two babies in one month.
Celebrating all this new life this month, we’re going to have to change November to Newvember.
Working at home has a whole host of its own issues, the paramount issue for me is balancing keeping our home running, getting my work done, and being an active part of my family.
Some weeks, I manage this delicate balance better than others.
Earlier in the week, I had bought two eggplants, and hoped to make my famous parmesan… But between everything else that seemed to creep up this week, I never got to the eggplant until yesterday, and by then, they’d turned.
I could invest in Debbie Meyer GreenBags and try to stop or slow the inevitable, or just be at peace with the fact that there will be times that I won’t get to using all my produce, and that’s okay.
Sometimes I’ve just gotta let the smaller things slide…
The American Theatre Wing’s new book The Play That Changed My Life a book of essays written by playwrights about the shows that shaped them and their careers sounds like an interesting read. An interview with the editor, Ben Hodges, is even more interesting. He doesn’t say anything here that I don’t already know from my own life, but I thought I’d share a snippet of an interview with him below. Hodges relates a story of his own work on a play, and being stuck in the middle of the second act for the last ten years. After talking with the playwrights featured in the book, he realized that to be a playwright takes one thing more than any other, determination.
…every single one of these writers absolutely had to do what they do and couldn’t have lived any other way. And I’ve always had such a diverse and kind of “jack-of-all-trades” sort of approach to life that I don’t think there’s anything that I couldn’t live without (well, almost anything!). So it really made me think that there’s more to theatre and “making it” than just being in the right place at the right time. We’ve always heard it as a cliché, but it really is true, and these writers are a testament to it – that you have to want this above all else, and you have to continue to do it, no matter what, if that’s what you want to do.
Every single one of these writers knew at a very early age that this was what they were meant to do, in one way or the other, and every one kept at it. I don’t even think I had one tell me either through their essays or privately that they’d ever considered doing anything else. I don’t recall a single reference to being discouraged, and the point is that is the point – they just kept going no matter the good times or the bad.
While living in London, I was struck by how inventive theatre is there. Part of it is the aid from the government, but a big part of it is that they’re not scared of taking risks there.
It seems that risk has paid off for Three Sixty Entertainment, who produced a re-imagined version of Peter Pan. For their efforts, and business savvy, they won the Startups Business of the Year at the 2009 Startups Awards.
This honor is not only great for theatre in terms of recognition for a good show, it’s also great because it applauds these producers for going outside the box and bringing something new and wonderful to audiences… and it makes it “okay” for them to make money doing it too.
Let’s hope this enlightened thinking translates to this side of the pond as well…
I’ve gotten back to my newest musical lately, and finally heard some dialogue from the quietest of the four characters in the show.
I couldn’t even remember his name when I sat to write… and that bothered me. I’m all about the details, especially details I made up! And as I wrote, I realized why… This character’s M.O. is not being present. He does this mentally and physically when he doesn’t want to deal with situations or people.
I love this stage of development… when I’m still learning and discovering new things…
When Ragtime was first on Broadway at the beginning of this decade, I was just starting out as a writer… It was my first year of grad school, and I came home for the break between semesters. I was dating a guy at the time (I can’t remember his name) who took me to see the show… maybe hoping to score points by taking me to a flashy show.
The Model-T was on stage, and everyone was singing like there was no tomorrow. The show was beautiful in its pageantry, absolutely stunning. The stage could barely contain it. It was so big, at times, I felt it wash over me. And by intermission, I was numb.
I started to cry, and not just a tear rolling down my cheek, but full on, snot running down my face crying. My date was beside himself. He didn’t understand why I was so upset. He’d paid “good money” for the tickets, and he thought I’d be happy being taken to a Broadway show.
I was happy that he’d made the effort, and the show was okay… but I was crying because I didn’t (and more often than not, don’t) write that way. At the time, I was still writing short stories, and I was scared that I’d never be able to write a show with a full sized car and throngs of actors on stage. It’s just not my style.
He tried to calm me down, but he said things that made it even worse… I realized that night how different we were as well, and that was the beginning of the end of that relationship.
About ten years later, and the revival of Ragtimeseems to have been pared down quite a bit. Brantley in his Times review applauds the shift, seeing some of the delicate beauty that had been hidden under the hoopla.
Reading the review, I smiled… realizing how far I’ve come in the last ten years… and being glad that I’ve listened to my inner voice, knowing even then who I am as a writer, and though flash and splash can be nice, they don’t rival story, character, or craft… and in theatre, the intimate, tender moments are the ones we take away.
Indie Theatre Producer Mike Roderick has an insane schedule, in that he tries to see everything he can. We were glad to have him see our show, and now, in addition to his own blog, Mike has a sounding board on Broadway World.com.
