Another Openin’, Another Show

I’d like to start tonight by thanking everyone for the wonderful comments and advice.  It’s very easy for me to get down on myself and it’s been a while since anyone at all has been my champion.  So it’s nice to hear all the positive feedback from all you guys.  You have no idea how much it means to me.

I’ve had a great day, but I’m very much not used to the very typical New York day where you leave for work at 8 a.m. and get home at 11 p.m.  As a New Yorker you get used to this very quickly.  It’s rare that you get to go home after work, to change clothes or freshen up before going out.  Very few people I know, live in the areas of town they socialize in so you learn to carry what you need for the day.  Every New Yorker carries a bag of some sort with them.  Some of them are purely functional.  Some of them are pure fashion statements.  Some are both.  In this bag you learn to carry your life.  It holds your gym clothes, a change of clothes, your Ipod, whatever book you are reading, a toothbrush and toothpaste.  Mouthwash.   A journal.  Maps of they city.  A camera.  Pen and paper.  Sometimes your computer.  And just about anything else you might need when you leave home in the morning.

The reason I don’t traipse home is because it’s a minimum 30 minute ride on the subway to my stop.  That doesn’t count waiting for the train, or walking to and from the station.  So it can easily take an hour to get home.  Plus an hour to get back downtown.  So it’s almost impossible to run home for a change of clothes, to shower, or to freshen up.  By the time you get there and back the evening will be well underway.  It might also explain why many people who are going out to bars for the evening don’t even start till midnight here.

The point to all of this is that I left home this morning at 8:45 to go the theatre.  I didn’t get home till 11:30.  I was exhausted by the time I got here.   And I did all of this without my “bag” because I left my book bag in Maine and it’s the only bag I have.  What I realized is that if I’m going to go back to being a New Yorker I’m going to have to re-acclimate myself to it.  Get used to sleeping with the noise, and the light, and being out all day.

All of that being said.  I had a great day.  I got to the theatre around 9:45 and found everything going according to schedule.  Just as I predicted it was a stress free day.  Which I loved.  We spent about 4 hours teching the show.  Teching is the process where we figure out the technical elements and for lighting specifically, we program the computer to turn the lights on when we want them on, at the right intensity and at the correct speed.  Things went so smoothly that we were able to run the show twice before our time was up.  Then we took a little break and then came back to the theatre to run the whole evening’s entertainment.  It went okay, although the first piece (It’s two one-acts) was about as boring as you can get.  I was miserable for the 45 minutes they were running their show.

After the run, we all left to get dinner and then to take a little break before we had to be back for the actual show.  When I got back to the theatre, it turned out to be a big grad school reunion.  There were about 20 people there that I had gone to grad school with, and it was great to see them all.  I discovered through conversation that about 10 of us live within about 7 or 8 blocks from each other.  Although, they all live on top of the hill, in the nice section.  I live at the bottom of the hill in the sketchy section.

Overall the show went well.  It was not bad for something that was thrown together as quickly as it was.  The playwright and the director are using this production to find out what works and doesn’t work about the play so that in the next year or so they can turn it into a full two act show.  It definitely needs some work, but the foundation is there, and it’s an interesting story.  Hopefully, in 6 or 7 years when it plays on Broadway I’ll get to design it and win the Tony award and then won’t have to wait tables again.

And that brings me to the end of my post.  I have my lunch tomorrow.  I have to say that I’m a little nervous, but am going to make the best of it.  As I have said before I just need something to make some quick money that will pay the bills for the moment.  I’m hoping it all works out tomorrow and I can start soon.  It would be nice to be able to pay September’s rent out of earned money and not my savings…but that’s another story.

Thanks again for the all the support.  Tomorrow I will go in with my head held high and will be pleasant and charming and laugh at my friends jokes and make the best of it.  What’s the worst that can happen.  And as we all know, I have no intention of being fat forever.  And I have even less intention of being a waiter forever.

I got hamper’s of ironing to do, and my diet pill is wearing off…

Not much to report today.  Saw the movie Hairspray.  It was toe tapping fun.  It won’t change your life, but it was definitely worth the 11.00 bucks I paid for it.  Of course I got the musical theatre gene with my gay gift bag so it’s hard for me not to like it.  I was upset that two of my favorite songs from the show were missing.  Well sort of.  Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now is played during the credits but The Big Dollhouse is missing all together.  Hmmm.  They definitely should have asked my opinion before they cut it.

The review I read today commented on John Travolta’s performance I kind of agree with.  They noted that both Divine and Harvey Fierstein did the role of Edna without the help of hours of makeup and latex and performed it with their own strength.  It’s clear that John spent hours in the make-up chair and most of his weight is padding.  His performance is good, but it would have been nice to see a “real” full size man in the role.

I also got to witness some of the things that my roommate has been bitching about with my sublettor.  I got up today at 4:30 (no comments please) and went out to the living room to find the air conditioner running and all the windows open.  She acted completely surprised when I called her on it.  How stupid do you have to be not realize something as simple as this.  I feel bad that the roommate has to deal with her for 5 more weeks.  It can’t be too soon when she decides to move out.

One last note.  I haven’t recieved a comment in four days.  Was just curious if something is wrong with my blog or have I pissed you guys off some how.  It may be that everyone’s just too busy.  Either way, someone please say something and let me know you’re out there.

Day Forty-Five: Oklahoma

It’s 3:00 a.m.  and I’m still awake.  This wouldn’t be so bad except that I have to be up in six hours to drive three and a half hours to our last tour stop and our final show.  Ugh, why have I done this to myself.  At least I was having fun for part of the time even though I probably won’t go into that here.

Tonight was closing night for one of our shows.  It was kind of sad because it’s the show everyone likes.  Unfortunately, it’s not the one we are touring with.

I talked to my roommate today.  Seems the girl subletting my apartment isn’t working out so well.  She’s a bit of a pig, drank all of his Diet Coke and didn’t pay the rent on time.  This upsets me because I thought she’d be fine and it will make having a subletter again hard to convince him of.  I’m afraid of what my room will look like when I get home on Wednesday.

Yes, Wednesday.  I’m actually driving back.  The technical director has become a good friend of mine and is leaving for NYC on Tuesday in his car.  He had kind of joked about me joining him, so I finally asked if he would like the company and he said yes.  So on Tuesday we’ll drive from Oklahoma to Kentucky and stay at my mom’s house.  And then on Wednesday we’ll drive on in to NYC.  I can hardly wait to sleep in my own bed.  I may stay there for two days straight.

And one final note.  I didn’t receive one comment today.  I know it’s not really important, but it’s nice to know people are out there.  It’s the first time in many months that no one’s commented.  So if your stopping by to read, say hello.  I’d like to know who you are.  And it will validate me.  And god knows I need some validation.

Have a great weekend.