Another Opening, Another Show

New Year's has passed and with it brings many goings on and tech week and for my first big show in New York. Well, big I wouldn't use as much, but show it most definitely will be. The cabaret-improv piece opens this Thursday at Theater for the New City. It feels good to once again flex my show muscles, the stage lights pumping new blood in my veins. There is something delightfully familiar about sitting in dark corners backstage, waiting for my turn to take the stage. Cliché as it is, the song "What I Did for Love" continues to come back to me, celebrating the sacrifice we make to have a life on the (wicked) stage. This show has helped me remember who I am, why I came here, and what's really important to me. Perhaps given either the show's content or pieced-together quality, I am constantly reminded of Fucking A and my two "Sex/Death" ventures in Bloomington. It's a time of new beginnings for me here in New York, of rebirth and redetermination and maybe even rescue. Going home really helped to center me, to give me time to reevaluate some things in my life, and even motivate me to do better. Surely my one trip to the New Castle Super Wal-Mart served as a necessary kick-in-the-pants telling me to get the hell out of Indiana. As I continue to reflect on Granny's passing, I know she would want me to follow my dreams and live my own life (as I think she always lived her own life), even if it is in that wicked city. This show would probably affirm all of my great-grandmother's fears.

I have also been especially thankful of the new friends I have made here in the city, especially my little family at Locale. They got to see me at my finest on New Year's: after an especially busy night, I took to drinking, dancing, screaming, and eventually passing out in my plate of gyros. Speaking of a motley crue, a band of Locale-ites, led by brunch's Katrina, laid siege to the restaurant's bar last night. I was surprised to see that giddy bunch still there when I stopped by to get my money from brunch. Somehow they convinced me to join their fold and have a drink. Giggles and gossip ensued. Stefano's expression read, "Shame. Shame. Shame." I couldn't have been prouder. Things have been going fairly well there; since I have been back, I've enjoyed everyone's company, even his. I hope they are able to survive while I am away with my show. The winds have been blowing hard and cold here, I've taken to wearing long underwear and layers and scarves a plenty. But hopefully these are winds of change, bringing good and exciting things into my life.