Archive for April, 2010
My mom sent a cute forward today… We all know Fridays are all about reading forwards at your desk and watching the clock. And though this is later in the evening, this might make your Monday morning a little brighter. This also happens to be great advice, especially for those who have their work reviewed by critics (professional or otherwise).
Enjoy!
–Sue
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The Pastor’s Ass
A pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again.
The local paper read:
PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT
The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.
The next day, the local paper headline read:
BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS
This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.
The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:
NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN
The bishop fainted.
He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.
The next day the paper read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10
This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.
The next day the headlines read:
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE
The bishop was buried the next day.
The moral of the story is. Being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery, even shorten your life.
So be yourself and enjoy life.
You’ll be a lot happier and live longer!
April 30th, 2010
A friend of mine just returned from a trip she took with her family to South Carolina. It was an eye opening experience in many ways. She got a sense of her ancestry, and the culture her family has been steeped in for years. She ate new foods, and finally understood why some of the foods and words she’s grown up with her whole life came from.
Sometimes, when I’m trying to figure out a character, I try piecing together a personal history… usually memories of specific events that reveal why this person is who s/he is.
More than a mirror, personal history can be a window into the soul… or a door where one can pass through, and find him or herself on the other side.
I keep writing personal because unlike a history lesson that can be cut and dry — a jumble of dates, names, places… personal history is imbued with feelings… some of which come readily to the surface, and others which have that take time to bubble up.
It’s a undertaking to be sure, but it’s well worth the process.
–Sue
April 29th, 2010
Growing up, I heard my Israeli cousins say, “Zeh loh fher!” English translation: “It’s not fair!” The first two words are in Hebrew, the last is in English, they just say it with a different accent than we do.
I always thought it was funny… why couldn’t they just use a word in Hebrew? It did, though, teach me how powerful the word is, and how hung up we are on fairness — the idea of whether something is fair or not.
Last night, was spent in a small courtroom in our town fighting a ticket that wasn’t fair. I renewed my registration, paid for it online, but the new registration got here a day after I was issued the ticket (which was issued a day after the first registration expired).
I brought my paperwork in to show the judge, sure he would dismiss it. I gave it five days to get here, and I thought it would. His answer was, “You should send it in a month in advance.”
We sat in that courtroom for an hour and a half, and returning for a trial wasn’t an option…so I took the guilty plea and have to send in the check.
They say the lessons you remember are the ones you learn the hard way…
There were scads of people who did much worse things in there than I did (in my eyes nothing, in his eyes procrastinated), and they were let off, or their fees reduced substantially. And honestly, it seemed like a lot of it was subjective… based on whom he deemed could pay the fine and who had a harder time with paying… I realize now that I was judged the second I got up there… and once I opened my mouth, no matter what came out of it, I was going to have to pay the ticket.
So, is it fair?
Not so much…
But honestly, sometimes life isn’t… and unfortunately, sometimes we’re going to be put in a position where others judge us, or our work, in ways that seem harsh or unfair. And sometimes, no matter how good an argument you make, it is what it is…
It’s a harsh reality, to be sure, but it’s only my reaction that I can control…and it’s in this fact that I can find my own power in what seems like a powerless situation.
–Sue
April 28th, 2010
As featured on Playbill.com, there’s a contest where theatre fans can sing their way onto the televised TONY awards! Here’s the info from Playbill:
Sing Your Way to the Tonys!
The Tony Awards, Macy’s and CBS have launched a nationwide online contest to find two theatre fans who will have the chance to walk the red carpet, attend and be featured on the June 13 Tony Awards.
Contestants ages 13 and over can now upload video content of themselves singing one of the following Broadway tunes:
96,000, In the Heights
Gimme, Gimme, Thoroughly Modern Millie
Good Morning, Baltimore, Hairspray
I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa my Hair, South Pacific
The Lonely Goatherd, The Sound of Music
Maybe, Annie
One, A Chorus Line
Stars, Les Misérables
Ya Got Trouble, The Music Man
Entries can be uploaded by visiting www.cbs.com/tonys. The competition ends May 27 at 3 PM ET.
Two rounds of public voting will precede the five finalists being flown to New York City to participate in a live sing-off in Macy’s Herald Square June 11. A panel of Broadway stars and online voters will choose the two winners, who will also receive a $1,000 gift card from Macy’s.
Good luck!
–Sue
April 27th, 2010
Most of my readers know I have an identical twin sister. There are no words to describe how close we are, and she is one of the best gifts of my life.
But being a twin hasn’t always been easy. Imagine being mistaken for someone else. Imagine being constantly compared to someone else. Imagine people assuming you are one in the same, instead of seeing you for who you really are.
Living with this took time… establishing my own voice took even longer.
So imagine my confusion when I stumbled upon Phantom of The Opera! I mean, Baron Webber is already on his sequel out this year in London…
I haven’t seen this new Phantom, but I already feel like I saw the definitive version years ago… which, by the way, is still on Broadway.
The Broadway original is called “The Phantom of the Opera”. This new version is called “Phantom of The Opera”… a smart way of getting around infringement, I guess. But my question is, why not just do a show about something else… something we haven’t seen before? Because I know from experience, the comparisons are inevitable… and the one who gets the short end of the stick is never the happy one.
–Sue
April 26th, 2010
Today is Shakespeare’s birthday! Apparently, Twitter users were asked to include their favorite line from one of the bard’s works to celebrate. Scott’s can be seen @sdrosenb on Twitter.
For those of you who don’t have a Twitter account, like myself, I thought I’d start the ball rolling here and encourage readers to join in. My favorite lines are from Julius Caesar. Cassius says it to Brutus in Act I, Scene 2:
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves,that we are underlings.
And though Cassius’ plot, to kill Caesar, is a sinister one… it’s still an amazing quote, especially considering that Romans were so convinced astrology had so much to do with their fates… This quote still resonates today because even in our modern society, we still put so much stock in so many other things outside of ourselves.
I do believe there is a greater force in the universe, and I’ve benefited many times — feeling that someone or something was watching over me, but I also feel that we are here RIGHT NOW for a purpose, for a reason, and it is our duty to fulfill that purpose as best we can. No one can fulfill his or her own destiny without working for it… Luck can put you in the right place at the right time, but you’ve gotta work to stay there.
Bottom line: We get as far as we get by our own hands… at the end of the day, the praise or the blame lies at our own feet.
And that’s why, hundreds of years later, we’re still celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday and his works… He showed us who we are, and continues to do so.
–Sue
April 23rd, 2010
Last weekend I had the opportunity to have my work read aloud and then got some feedback on it.
After that reading, a lot of ideas began to bubble… and things that had been brewing under the surface came to the fore.
Oftentimes, that would spurn me to write quickly… making sure I can address everything I’ve heard. But this time, I’ve decided to take some time and chew on things…
I haven’t written a single word on paper yet, though I’ve been writing in my head… I’m planning to give myself a few more days to digest all I heard, thought, and felt.
It’s been a long road with this piece, and I want to nail it this time around…
–Sue
April 22nd, 2010
Standing on line last night at Filene’s Basement, I overheard a mom talking to another mom she knew…
“She’s at Billy Elliott tonight with her school… So you know she’s having a good time.”
“Of course!”
“She’s a dancer…”
This conversation made my heart dance in a few ways: a.) Both moms agree Broadway shows are an almost guaranteed good time; b.) Schools still see the value in exposing students to theatre, so much so that they arrange school trips on school nights; and finally… c.) The mother proudly saw her daughter, and in fact billed her daughter, as a dancer (something Billy wished for so desperately from his dad). Her daughter is 16, I found out as the conversation progressed, and it sounds like her mom would be more than happy if her daughter continued to pursue that path… as hard as it is.
I’m privileged to live in an area where most folks can afford to go to the theatre… but what makes me happiest and most thankful is hearing that kids WANT to go to the theatre. The next generation is already here.
–Sue
April 21st, 2010
One of my best memories while studying abroad in London was how much live theatre I saw. I was in a class where we saw shows together usually once a week. On my own, while others were pissing their money away on pints, I bought tickets to more shows, usually seeing two or three shows a week. For somewhere around 10 quid (pounds), I could get a seat in one of the first two rows… sometimes even further back.
No matter how close I was to curtain, and there were a few times I cut it pretty close, I was never turned away from a show, never denied a seat, and never asked to pay any other price but the student price.
In England theatre is a part of the culture; the policies in place to make seats available for students on meager incomes was just another way of confirming that.
Theatre in the United States is seen more through the guise of entertainment, not an essential vehicle of expression. And unfortunately, the policies on capitol hill, and the monies secured for the arts confirm that.
Fortunately, many producers on Broadway are looking to give students and those on fixed incomes a chance to experience live theatre… and hopefully they will continue to do so in the future, offering programs even closer to those of their compatriots across the pond. Playbill featured an article detailing the policies for each show, which vary across the board. Click here for details… and make your way to the theatre!
–Sue
April 20th, 2010
“The Race Street Team and the Morality of Arts Marketing,” by Allie Houseworth was an interesting article featured in 2am.
First, a little backstory… David Mamet is a playwright known to be a provocateur. To promote his new play, Race, currently on Broadway, a street team of young women in red sequined dresses are passing out fliers about the play. The red sequined dress is important to the play (and the poster advertising the play) because the a character in the play (who I understand is talked about but not seen on stage) wears it during a sexual act in question. What makes the sexual act questionable was whether it was consensual… in this instance whether she was raped, or is lying about being raped.
Obviously this character, who doesn’t have any stage time and can’t and doesn’t physically speak for herself because of the set-up (the case is argued by lawyers on both sides), is some what of a stand in for a woman… since we know her exclusively through what she wore, and possibly agreed to, or didn’t agree to… and what she is either being honest about or lying about.
The red sequined dresses walking around Times Square sound like they’re serving a similar function, standing in for women… flirting and taking pictures with male tourists.
But beyond the anti or pro feminist interpretations, the article mentioned above asks a solid question, “…do they [the sequin clad women] convey an appropriate message so that an audience member’s expectations are met when they see the show?”
And though I understand (from one of the commenters on the article) that the women can answer questions about the show, and have seen it themselves, I wonder how many tourists are asking questions? How many are just coughing up their money and walking in expecting something totally different?
Yes, you can argue, a person should ask questions before they buy something, or buy into something… but beyond the responsibility of the consumer, the question here is about the responsibility of the advertiser (producers/marketers) to uphold truth in advertising.
My biggest concern lies in the fact that this play isn’t the only play on the great white way, it is one of MANY… so when the tourist who felt swindled and bamboozled by the campaign and sucker-punched upon seeing the show goes home and tells all his friends meekly about how he got duped, how much harder is it going to make it for the REST of the shows on and off Broadway to reach the next wave of consumers considering seeing a show in New York?
Theatre’s best advertising HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE WORD OF MOUTH.
More than anything, it’s about perception… and if the perception about marketers, producers, playwrights, the shows they represent, and theatre in New York in general is compromised, then we’ll all be paying an incredibly steep and dear price to sell a paltry few tickets to a single show.
–Sue
April 19th, 2010
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