Yes We Did

It's an incredible moment in time and I'm proud to be an American.

Long As God Can Grow It, My HAIR!

Holy love making musical gloriousness my friends! Last night I saw the musical HAIR at the Public Theatre in Central Park. It was incredible! I left with such a buzz from the excitement I was wondering if they somehow slipped drugs to the audience.

I'm a theatre snob so every time the directing seems a little off or the character isn't totally there I take notice and ruin the moment for myself but I have to tell you, this story is so damn good you love it no matter what.

Let me tell you the set up of the stage. The Public Theatre is outside and is fairly small. The stage is level with the first row of seats making the whole show feel very intimate. All you see on stage as far as a set goes is grass and at the back a little paint splattered raised section for the band. The cast spent a lot of time running around the audience and getting you involved. At the end it turned into a giant dance party. It was one of those moments where my head spins in circles and I keep saying "Is this really happening?" Only in New York!

Before the show began the director gave a speech saying how this is the 40th Anniversary of Hair and so much has changed since the original production. He went on to compare the war we are in now to the war we were in then and gee do they sound similar. It certainly brings a whole new perspective to the show. The draft may be gone but we are still watching children die for us. That isn't completely what the show is about though. It's about bohemian life, sexual revolution, poverty, racism, religion, environmentalism, politics, and the youth of America. Just to name a few.

I truly love this show in every way. I think it can be summed up pretty well in the following quote:

"...be free, no guilt, be whoever you are, do whatever you want, just as long as you don't hurt anyone."

Why can't we all live by that? Why do we get class, skin color, religion, and various other crap in the way? I better not get started on that topic. I will leave you with a video of one of my favorite bits from the show. This is from the movie version.

Provoking Emotion

I spent about six hours sorting through my playlists on itunes last night. It doesn't look like I did anything. Mostly I uploaded music folders hiding throughout my computer. Listening to all these old songs that have specific memories and moments in time attached got me all emotional and sentimental. I realized I attach a lot of baggage to specific songs. Songs I will always love for what they evoke. I'm sure some tunes I listen to now on a regular basis will always be associated with this period in time but I wonder what I will remember most. Hopefully all the good things. At one point last night I teared up and couldn't for the life of me figure out why this song in particular still had that effect on me. The song playing marked the end of a love. I'm very certain I no longer care for the person so this confused me but then I realized, it wasn't them. I was able to bring back what I actually felt inside at that time regardless of who else was involved. The same thing happened with memories of graduation, moving to New York, saying goodbye to close friends, and all kinds of things. I'm hoping that I can use this as a singer to bring more honesty to whatever I'm singing. Hopefully if I associate the songs I can pull some real emotion without losing myself. I've always had a problem with disconnecting. For most of my life I have been very cold and built walls to avoid expression. That has decreased significantly in the last few years but deliberate expression is still hard. So unbelievably hard. Maybe I have found some sort of key.

Neglect and continued Manic speak

I love this city to an extent that is unnatural and I know many people feel the same way. We came here because we knew we had to. It's a beautiful siren calling to us from wherever we were and we knew we had no choice. Not everyone can understand that but I know some of you do. odle. NYC is a place where anything you are looking for is available to you. Set your mind to a new idea and it's all right there waiting for you to find it. The thought of how expansive this is I can not put into words because I would ramble for hours and that is cruel. Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is that I've been neglecting my city. I don't take advantage of the opportunities anymore. I have not been introducing myself to new places, scenes, and people like I used to. I'm getting lazy. I'm too young to be lazy and wasting my time. So, that is going to change starting tonight. If anybody else want to come along for the ride you just let me know. We have to do it now before the famed city burnout happens and we no longer find it exciting. Then we will all move to different parts of the nation where we never see each other. It's inevitable because none of us are actually crazy. We just like being exposed to it. Unless, of course, I get rich and have two homes. Then one will be in New York. Don't laugh. It could happen in New York!

In an Up-Swing

Life is good my friends. Take in that Autumn-is-a-comin' air and let it hit the bottom of your lungs. You're alive damnit and even though most of us are bitterly stuck in an office all freakin day we still have options. There are things to learn, people to meet, revelations, revolutions, conversations, dinners, projects, creations, and by Jebus I'm going to live it! Anybody else feel like doing something? Anything? Anytime? I'm up for it all. I feel talkative and I'm looking for some inspiration. Join me in my manic state!

P.S. Darla, where did you go?

Doing Stuff!

One baby step in the right direction this past week. On Thursday I went to my first actual voice lesson in years. It was fantastic! I love the way this guy teaches and when it was done I felt wonderful. This is my therapy. It's amazing the change one little lesson can make.
On another note, last night Ava brought me along to a theater that does weekly cold readings of submitted pieces in a competitive style. It was incredibly exciting and full of intelligent creative people. Drinking at the bar afterwards I had the chance to really converse with a few of the actors and writers. I can't tell you how happy it made me to be surrounded with people like this again. It has been far too long since I was exposed to this world. I could cry thinking about it. I hope I can stay on this path for a little while. Baby steps.