Today marks the one-week anniversary of my move to the Berkshires. More money has been spent in the past week than I would have preferred, but such is the burden of moving. All in all, it has been a great week, and I'm looking forward to what's in store for the next nine months. I've gotten to reconnect with people I had the pleasure of working with last summer and meet a lot of new people (well, new to me) that I'll be working and hanging out with for many months. I'm four days into rehearsals for the touring children's show I'll be performing for the duration of my residency, a fusion of the Hansel and Gretel story with another of Grimm's fairy tales, "The Three Golden Hairs." Rehearsals have been going really well so far, though they run 9-5 and can get exhausting.
Of course, the logical resolution would be to go to bed early and get lots of rest. But for those of you who don't already know, that ain't how theatre people do. Whether it's been family-style dinners, oohing and aahing over new episodes of The Office, or going to acclaimed restaurants a half-hour away and starting a "beer card" (you don't wanna know), I've been burning the proverbial midnight oil on a regular basis. But the important thing is that I'm having fun--more so, in fact, than I was having living in New York. One of the best things about my current setup is that I'm living in community with like-minded people with whom I get along, and there's always something to do. And with the onset of fall, my favorite season, the leaves of the Berkshires are just starting to change colors, and they're already beautiful. It may not have everything, but it has enough of what I need for it to be a little slice of heaven.
The coming of autumn always gives me this great feeling that I can't quite identify. I love breaking out the sweatshirts and jeans, smelling that crispness in the air...and certain music just makes more sense at this time of year. Pretty much everything by The Early November, for sure; I'm also discovering that I like a lot of Iron & Wine beyond the "Such Great Heights" cover from the Garden State soundtrack, and that it provides nice accompaniment for the autumnal mindset. I've started compiling an "Autumn" playlist in my iTunes, but I'm bad at making playlists, so I wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't go very far. I just had a discussion with one of my roommates about choral music, and I had fun re-remembering my love of Bruckner's "Os justi," Pärt's "The Beatitudes," and pretty much everything Eric Whitacre has ever written. Sadly, I don't think they would fit well on my autumn mix.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The next crazy venture beneath the skies
As you can see, I have given my long-neglected blog a spiffy new makeover. (Fancy new things always makes up for being a deadbeat, right?) It comes on the eve of yet another large-scale transition in my life, as tomorrow I am making the trek up to Stockbridge, MA to begin my year at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. I've spent the past two days packing my pertinent belongings, and every time I do it I marvel at the colossal amount of junk I've accumulated, as well as the bizarre pack-rat mentality I've adopted toward it all.
I haven't been as diligent about packing as perhaps I should, largely in part to my introduction to a fantastic new TV show called Party Down. It's a Starz original that centers around a bunch of actors/writers/other artistically-persuaded people working as caterers and the hijinks they get into at various events they service. It's only been on for a season (viewable on Netflix and Starz's website), but the higher-ups have been wise enough to bring it back for a second. It's one of those shows that's funny no matter who you are, but is particularly funny if you're an actor and understand the mode of life being represented (a la Slings and Arrows).
As much as I dislike television and the stranglehold that mind-numbing reality programming has on it, I'm realizing there is actually quite a lot of smart, compelling, really enjoyable stuff on TV, particularly on premium cable networks. I also suppose it doesn't hurt to be aware of what the industry is trending toward, seeing as how my career aspirations are kind of tied up in it.
Not a whole lot else has happened lately, other than I finally got around to seeing In the Heights last night with my dear friend Meghan. I'm sure there will plenty of delightful nuggets of news in the coming days, though, so I will make sure to update. Farewell for now! (Please comment!)
I haven't been as diligent about packing as perhaps I should, largely in part to my introduction to a fantastic new TV show called Party Down. It's a Starz original that centers around a bunch of actors/writers/other artistically-persuaded people working as caterers and the hijinks they get into at various events they service. It's only been on for a season (viewable on Netflix and Starz's website), but the higher-ups have been wise enough to bring it back for a second. It's one of those shows that's funny no matter who you are, but is particularly funny if you're an actor and understand the mode of life being represented (a la Slings and Arrows).
As much as I dislike television and the stranglehold that mind-numbing reality programming has on it, I'm realizing there is actually quite a lot of smart, compelling, really enjoyable stuff on TV, particularly on premium cable networks. I also suppose it doesn't hurt to be aware of what the industry is trending toward, seeing as how my career aspirations are kind of tied up in it.
Not a whole lot else has happened lately, other than I finally got around to seeing In the Heights last night with my dear friend Meghan. I'm sure there will plenty of delightful nuggets of news in the coming days, though, so I will make sure to update. Farewell for now! (Please comment!)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Where have I been for the last 2 and a half months?
If there is anyone out there who has been checking this thing with any kind of frequency in the last few months, hoping against hope for a new update on the events of my life, 1) I'm honored and incredibly embarrassed for not having fulfilled your wish sooner, and 2) You really need to get a life. I'm not that interesting!
Since we last left our intrepid college grad in the wilds of New York, a great many events have transpired. My iPhone is now my new favorite toy, and life is in many ways easier because of it (though it has become a bit of an electronic ball-and-chain). I just recently concluded the run of As You Like It at the Secret Theater in Long Island City, Queens--a good experience on the whole and a good first show in New York. Of course, as a result of my extremely self-judgmental nature, there were many aspects of the show for me which I would like to have improved upon...but, to quote Dean Moriarty from Kerouac's On the Road (my current read), "we know time." I also have gotten to see a lot of good theatre this summer--the previously mentioned production of Nocturne, Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park, the current revival of Our Town at the Barrow Street Theater, and a fantastic new play which is sure to blow up and become an off-Broadway hit this season: The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side.
Now that my show has closed, I have made a brief venture back to the Old Dominion. I came back down with my mom (she came to see my show closing weekend, how sweet) and was in Richmond for a few days, and now I am once again in the DC area at my friend Jessica's before returning to New York. However, I will not be in the Big Apple for much longer. If you have not yet heard, I was offered a position as an artist-in-residence at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, where I spent last summer as an acting apprentice, and next week I will begin a 9-month long stint of touring children's shows and teaching school kids theatre.
In some ways I feel bummed about leaving New York for so long and essentially putting active pursuit of my acting career on hold for almost a year, but on the whole I really feel this is a great opportunity to get closer with the BTF family, do something new and challenging (and important!), and ride out the recession before jumping head-first into the insanity of the real world. Plus, I can think of fewer places more beautiful than the Berkshires of western Massachusetts to spend a year of watching the seasons pass--from the colors of fall (sure to be gorgeous from all the rain the Northeast has gotten this summer) through the postcard-worthy winter and into the blooming of spring.
The day came and went for me like most days this year, but I only just now rewatched footage of the 9/11 attacks, and I am thoroughly convinced that it is impossible for anyone who recalls that day to watch the footage without tearing up. That day touched us all in unexplainable ways, but I had a very intense involvement with the events of that day. I knew my uncle had been working in the World Financial Center, not far at all from the World Trade Center, and because I knew he was right in the thick of the chaos I was terribly concerned for him. It was not until later that day, once we received word of his safety, that my family and I learned that his office had since moved into the World Trade Center, and that he was walking into the first tower as the plane hit it, and he saw a fireball explode from the elevator as well as people running around on fire. His company was fortunate enough to have only lost one person in the attacks, but the horror of what he went through that day is more than I can even imagine...more than I care to.
Thinking about things like this--the past, the future--really make you wonder how we go through it all and come out standing on the other side. I think it's best summed up by that great chronicler of the absurdity of our world, Samuel Beckett: "I can't go on, I'll go on."
Since we last left our intrepid college grad in the wilds of New York, a great many events have transpired. My iPhone is now my new favorite toy, and life is in many ways easier because of it (though it has become a bit of an electronic ball-and-chain). I just recently concluded the run of As You Like It at the Secret Theater in Long Island City, Queens--a good experience on the whole and a good first show in New York. Of course, as a result of my extremely self-judgmental nature, there were many aspects of the show for me which I would like to have improved upon...but, to quote Dean Moriarty from Kerouac's On the Road (my current read), "we know time." I also have gotten to see a lot of good theatre this summer--the previously mentioned production of Nocturne, Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park, the current revival of Our Town at the Barrow Street Theater, and a fantastic new play which is sure to blow up and become an off-Broadway hit this season: The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side.
Now that my show has closed, I have made a brief venture back to the Old Dominion. I came back down with my mom (she came to see my show closing weekend, how sweet) and was in Richmond for a few days, and now I am once again in the DC area at my friend Jessica's before returning to New York. However, I will not be in the Big Apple for much longer. If you have not yet heard, I was offered a position as an artist-in-residence at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, where I spent last summer as an acting apprentice, and next week I will begin a 9-month long stint of touring children's shows and teaching school kids theatre.
In some ways I feel bummed about leaving New York for so long and essentially putting active pursuit of my acting career on hold for almost a year, but on the whole I really feel this is a great opportunity to get closer with the BTF family, do something new and challenging (and important!), and ride out the recession before jumping head-first into the insanity of the real world. Plus, I can think of fewer places more beautiful than the Berkshires of western Massachusetts to spend a year of watching the seasons pass--from the colors of fall (sure to be gorgeous from all the rain the Northeast has gotten this summer) through the postcard-worthy winter and into the blooming of spring.
The day came and went for me like most days this year, but I only just now rewatched footage of the 9/11 attacks, and I am thoroughly convinced that it is impossible for anyone who recalls that day to watch the footage without tearing up. That day touched us all in unexplainable ways, but I had a very intense involvement with the events of that day. I knew my uncle had been working in the World Financial Center, not far at all from the World Trade Center, and because I knew he was right in the thick of the chaos I was terribly concerned for him. It was not until later that day, once we received word of his safety, that my family and I learned that his office had since moved into the World Trade Center, and that he was walking into the first tower as the plane hit it, and he saw a fireball explode from the elevator as well as people running around on fire. His company was fortunate enough to have only lost one person in the attacks, but the horror of what he went through that day is more than I can even imagine...more than I care to.
Thinking about things like this--the past, the future--really make you wonder how we go through it all and come out standing on the other side. I think it's best summed up by that great chronicler of the absurdity of our world, Samuel Beckett: "I can't go on, I'll go on."
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