2012 so far . . .

I feel like reflecting a bit about what has happened so far this year. It's been a bit of a blur, things moving fast and gaining momentum and then . . . stopping.

That stopping is the big adjustment. You get so revved and work so hard for so long, or in the case of Like a Sack of Potatoes, not so long but so intensely, that it sort of takes your breath away. It was predictable though. You can't keep up that pace forever and once a show is up and running you get into a rhythm . . . or again, in the case of LSP: it's up on its feet and then you're done.

At any rate, the sudden stop can give you whiplash!

It has been a wonderful year so far, I have to say! Working on Old Hickory again to present it in Nyack was a joy (though I still don't know why some of the people that didn't show didn't show) and the fact that it was better and richer than before was a real surprise . . . felt like an old friend who you haven't seen in a while, but when you do you pick up right where you left off. Jumping right from that to LSP was daunting, especially since we had a bit over two weeks to get it done! Well we got it done and the result was very satisfying . . . but I do want more life for both of these pieces. Well, one of the beautiful things about both of these pieces is that I will never necessarily get too old to play them; especially LSP, so as long as I can be propped on a stage and remember the lines I'm there!

Oh, remembering the lines brings up an interesting point about Sunday's performance: I left out almost a whole page early in the piece. I knew I had done it the minute I did it, but there was no way to go back and recover without screwing up everything else, so I just kept going. No one knew the difference. Funny how many things you can process: I'm on stage in front of twenty or so people, saying the lines, creating the character and all the while trying to figure out a way of salvaging what was left out . . . it was a flash of a moment but while that was going on I was still in the moment. Couldn't be happier with the audience response. No one knew where it was going, they thought it was gonna be a family comedy, but then the screw turns and you have them right where you want them . . . you could have heard a pin drop in there . . . magic.

So a pretty good start for the year. And next? A reading of a new piece in April. Old Hickory again in May, no dates yet however. And in August is the Woodstock Fringe Festival, which I hope to be part of again this year. And who knows what is out there that I don't even know is coming . . . one thing I do know . . . after however many weeks away from writing (you can only do so much as I do have a job on top of everything else) I need to get those muscles in shape again . . . looking forward to it all!