Treading Water

Periods like this in my life always feel like treading water. One event, or series of events, has ended, and the next has yet to begin. So, I get the feeling of remaining stationary while life swirls around me.

"Bye Bye Birdie" ended as a success, and I was lucky enough to have my long-time soul-mate Judy with me to help with the Post Show Depression. She spent several days with me in DC, and I barely felt the usual let-down. We had a quiet and uneventful visit, with a movie ("Hairspray") and a stage show ("Democracy") sprinkled in. Mostly, we caught up on each other's lives, and spent a good deal of time enjoying my newest favorite TV series, "Slings and Arrows." Judy and I had a ball following this Canadian series which deals with the hilarious trials of running a major Shakespearean Theatre (read: Stratford in Ontario.)

Jude hopped the train to Newark, and a plane to Edinburgh, and I spent several days doing mundane things such as the dentist and the eye doc.

I helped celebrate the Very Low-Keyed 20th anniversary of "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center. An elaborate cake was commissioned to help commemorate this DC institution, currently the second longest running non-musical play in the history of American Theatre (the Boston production of "Shear Madness" is number one). But other than an informal gathering of the cast and KenCen crew, this auspicious birthday passed, well, inauspiciously. This was surely at the wishes of the creators, who consider the Kennedy Center production the Jewel in the Crown of the show.

And now, I have a few short weeks before theatrical activity begins again. Next week, I'll have two auditions (one show I really really want, and the other I'm non-committal) for productions in the spring. It would ease my mind a bit if one or both come through, as I have nothing on the books beyond October.

But, I'm not complaining. Not too much, anyway. In a few weeks, I'll be tossed back into the "Opus" remount, for only a week or so, during which I will also begin rehearsals for "Of Mice and Men." So, similar to last spring, I'll be pulling double duty, but with a twist. This time I will have to give up my role in "Opus" after we reopen, in order to concentrate on my horseshoe skills in "M&M".

Ah well, too much work. This is a GOOD problem to have...