Saturday, September 13, 2008

(this is not a dress rehearsal, you know)

I saw the matinee performance of 43 Plays For 43 Presidents today. It was a lovely production, and it was great to see all the great changes they made. I think we always wished we could mount it with a larger budget - allowing us to do more with it. So it was extremely gratifying to see it produced with such support and thoughtfulness... and so wonderful to get to meet everyone behind (and in) the show who so clearly have put their full energy into this production. Nice people with good hearts and great ideas.

One thing The Actors Theatre has been able to do that we had talked about but never were able to accomplish is to set aside several shows specifically for school-aged audiences - complete with materials designed to encourage study and discussion in the classroom before and after the show. It really is such a great piece of edu-tainment... it's so cool to see a theatre take that opportunity and run with it so thoroughly.

It was also very odd to come see it in the capacity of one of the playwrights. Someone said to me and Andy, "You're celebrities here." Which was so very, very, very odd. I don't feel like a celebrity. My life right now, and the path I'm currently on, is even so far away from theatre and the arts as to make this whole experience somewhat surreal (albeit wonderful).

And so I will finish this blog, having put the little one to bed, and then turn my attention to my homework - which is all about quantitative and qualitative research and the context of my current school counseling internship. Sometimes it's confusing to have so many hats that fit just fine. It makes deciding what to wear a little tricky. But I suppose that's not a bad conundrum to have.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Dude, you guys were celebrities when we did the show at the Neo space. Remember how sold out the run was and how when the opening music would start people would cheer like crazy?! I have very fond memories of that show. If you guys ever want to remount, count me in!

Genevra said...

I guess I always separated the wow factor of the show from myself, you know? Like it was the collective work that was the star... not any one of us. It has always been a hot ticket though... hopefully there will be more productions in its future!!