This month marks the 10th anniversary of the last show I directed.

The cast photo above was taken after the final performance of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and even though I am all smiles, I knew then that I wouldn’t be directing again at HART. I had already taken a year and a half off from directing because of the utterly miserable experience I had directing Urinetown: The Musical in the fall of 2014. But I agreed to direct again when approached about Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike because the show had a small cast, easy set and costumes, and (most importantly) was very well written and caught my interest. I thought, “This should be an easy, fun, and enjoyable experience.”

I didn’t post about this show at all back then. For various reasons, at the time I had turned this blog into a mirror of my Instagram feed. So, posts from that time were nothing but photos.

We actually had a really great time mounting this show. The cast was on point. I had an awesome crew to make it run. But, if I had been posting, you would have heard about how the director of the next show (and Executive Director of the theater) started teching the lights for the next show after our opening weekend and screwed the lighting up for the rest of our run. You would have heard about how he added lights behind my set the following week that would have definitely caused a fire during my show, but for the fact that theater curtains are mandated by law to be flame-retardant. His attitude when confronted about this was a big “so what” shrug. When it became super clear that the guy in charge couldn’t give two shits about shows he wasn’t in charge of was when I knew I should probably bow out. We finished the run of the show, and I have not directed since then. I was approached a few more times, but turned those down. And within a few years, I wasn’t being approached at all.

It just sucks that one person made it miserable to do shows. And I know I am not the only one who felt this way. Other directors were more willing to put up with the bullshit than I was. No director should accept their show being compromised because the person in charge of producing it didn’t give you a proper budget, reneged on the set he promised you would have, didn’t provide proper tech support, or failed to promote the show properly. I had these things happen to varying degrees on at least five of the shows I directed.

Do I miss it? For sure. It was always great to be handed a script, read it, and be able to visualize how I would stage it. That moment was always magical. That’s when I would know if a show was right for me to direct or not. I miss that. I miss working with cast and crew to put on the best show we could. But I don’t miss the aforementioned bullshit.

A friend keeps saying that one day I will have the opportunity to say all this to the person who needs to hear it. That’s not ever going to happen. It’s been nearly four years since he and I have spoken, and I actively try to avoid being places that I know he will be. And, ultimately, what good would it do? His indifference and, at times, open hostility really killed my love of acting in and directing shows … and I don’t think it’s ever going to come back.

So, yeah. I am going to New York City this coming weekend. There are two Broadway shows currently running that I am dying to see (plus a show that an acquaintance of mine is in) … so, I got off my homebody ass and planned it.

This is the first major trip I have done since March of 2020 when David and I made that ill-fated Eve of COVID Shutdowns trip to New York. And, these will be the first Broadway shows I have seen since 2010. I am pretty excited to see the city and the shows. I am staying with a friend who did shows at the local theater before he went to NYC for school. He ultimately ended up staying, so it will be good to reconnect with him. (I did see him briefly on that 2020 NYC trip).

Back in the day, I used to go to the city once a year. But, my free place to stay vanished,  life happened, and I just got out of the habit of going. This will be my first time traveling by myself in a loooooooooooong time. I am a nervous traveler by default but feel pretty calm about it right now. I expect that by tomorrow night I will be in full on meltdown mode and in a total panic by the time I am boarding the plane. Fun times!

Here’s what I am seeing …

In the last few weeks, I have made a return (somewhat) to doing theater-y kinds of things after not having been onstage in well over three years.

After 30-plus years at the helm, the Executive Director of the local theater is retiring. A couple of weekends ago, there was an event at the theater to celebrate his time there. Part of the event was a retrospective of his time in charge and I was asked to sing a duet from one of his favorite shows he directed (I was in the original production). I must say that it did feel really weird to sing that song while holding a microphone. I’m only used that on karaoke night in the local bar. Ha, ha.

Here’s the group of fine folks that spoke and performed that evening.

And, I am currently in rehearsal for the short play Tooth or Dare that’s part of The Magnetic Theatre‘s 3rd Annual One Act Play Festival.  It’s been fun to rehearse so far and I had forgotten how awesome the discovery process is during rehearsals. Plus, it’s been pretty light duty (as far as a time commitment) since our piece runs about ten minutes. Only three more rehearsals over the next two weeks and we are up and running. Tooth or Dare is part of the Schedule B performances if you are in the area and are inclined to come support live theater.

A spring trip to NYC has been planned! It’s been ten years since I have been to the city … so I am really looking forward to it.

And, I am pretty excited that we already have tickets to two Broadway shows (The Book of Mormon and the newest Martin McDonagh play, Hangmen).

So, we finished up Stardust yesterday at the theater. We had sold out houses all weekend and it’s nice to know people seemed to really like the show. Though I can’t say I will miss it too much as I am super ready to get my weekend nights back.

Meanwhile, the freelance gig is taking a few years off my life. I had a stress headache all day on Friday and into Saturday. Ugh.

The weekend went by too fast and now the work week is underway. Let’s see if we survive it.

Even though the boyfriend has been out of town for a week now, things here have been quite busy.

Even though it was a rainy weekend, I managed to be social with five friends over the three days. I did get a mega nap in on Saturday afternoon. I need more mega naps.

I got sucked into doing a show for a friend and we are currently in tech week for that. So, only two more rehearsals and we open. It’s a 1940’s nightclub show. So, there is no plot. It’s just the cast singing different songs. I have a solo (complete with top hat and cane) and sing on three other group numbers. Backstage has been a bit crazy this week with 22 people sharing one dressing room. Calgon, take me away!

You might be able to find me …

Meanwhile, I auditioned Monday at ACT for their production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole. At this point, I am not thinking I am going to get cast (which is fine) and am currently awaiting my rejection letter so I can get some things planned for July.