Saturday, October 28, 2006
What Do Actors Want to Learn About?
If you are an actor, and you are reading this blog, tell me : ( by sending comments to this blog with ideas)....what is it about our work, our business, our various careers that you have curiosity about???
Do auditions terrify you and you want to know how to work with your own energies so they do not scare you as much? Is there some aspect of our work that totally mystifies you and you want to know more about it? Are there people, in our business, whose experiences would help you know more about what your choices can be? A question I so often get asked: how can a woman have a full and successful career and still have a good marriage and children? Also, along with that: how can a man do well enough in this business to have a family? Of course, I don't mean those actresses or actors fortunate enough to have married into tons of money, or married to a lawyer or doctor who earns a ton of money, but rather working actors and actresses who have to make their own way and want a full family life, in that conventional sense, as well... Another question i get asked: what's it like to be in a huge Broadway hit and sit through a long run for years? How do you keep it fresh and good? And what do you do with all the money you earn? How can you make it work for your future? Meeting agents is always an important topic for actors...as is, for the young ones: should I go Equity or not? Where does the most experience lie: union or non-union? And are there enough benefits to offset either choice?
Personally, I would love to write about how meditation can help actors do better work in every single arena of their working life. How RELAXATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE, and can serve actors in any imaginable way, before , during and after an audition/performance process....also, focusing on one's mission: why is one an actor? Why does one remain an actor,through the years, no matter what? How does wanting to be an actor when you are 16 and dreaming differ from remaining an actor when you are 60 and have a different understanding of dreams? And most importantly: WHY IS BEING AN ACTOR AN IMPORTANT AND HONORABLE PROFESSION IN THIS DAY AND AGE? WHY ARE ACTORS, WHY IS THEATER, IMPORTANT TO A SOCIETY? How can we serve to help the world? Heal the planet? How can we use our gifts to help, not make worse, the way mankind treats each other?
So...have you guys got any ideas? If so, please send them...I wanna hear...
Being in the theater, making it one's life and work, has been viewed , through the centuries, in many ways by various societies. . More often than not, theater has been viewed as evil and licentious, and actors treated as agents of all sorts of devils. As we all know, theater and the profession of acting was viewed as so sordid, that women were prohibited from even going near a stage, except to be the audience of one, covered from head to toe in luxurious, but nonetheless, obfuscating clothing: rather like the women in Muslim countries are treated today, being required to dress in mufti. Women of good breeding, Queen Elizabeth's love of theater notwithstanding, were not theater material, and if they were, they were viewed as whores and worse, so that, again as we all know, Shakespeare wrote his greatest female roles for men to perform. Actors, of the male variety, were generally viewed (and many still are, with the prurient press helping all they can) as drunks, shiftless, irresponsible and not to be trusted. Forget that an actor may have just shown you your deepest most emotional self, as you watched him in a performance of some masterpiece or other; you still were not about to rent him a room in your house!!! Actors as artists? Pleeeeze! He doesn't even have a painted canvas to give in lieu of the inevitable late rent! Actors were viewed, and again still are by so many, as fools.
So, how do we combat that? And how is , that despite the stupid image theater and actors have had through the ages, it (and WE) have not only endured, but proudly endured! If we are such fools, how is it our salaries have increased and women now can get paid millions of dollars for making a film, right up there with the male actors? Maybe not quite as "up there"? But you get the idea...ALSO: WHY IS IT that EVERYBODY wants to be one???? And EVERYONE thinks they CAN be one, if only they get that lucky break! Sadly, many talentless and ambitious-for-the-wrong-reason actors DO get certain opportunities and soon are making outrageous money per episode, thus perpetuating the myth that anyone can become an actor!
But that is our job: understand and make others feel, the true importance of what we do! Not only to legitimize our efforts, ( for ourselves as much as for anyone else) but also to open peoples' minds and hearts to how much we can be of use in their lives. And not only in bright shiny Broadway musicals and sexy tv shows: but in out- of- the- way places where they least expect it! Peoples' need to sit around the campfire and tell stories is a forever thing.
So, Actors......rock on! And write in!
Do auditions terrify you and you want to know how to work with your own energies so they do not scare you as much? Is there some aspect of our work that totally mystifies you and you want to know more about it? Are there people, in our business, whose experiences would help you know more about what your choices can be? A question I so often get asked: how can a woman have a full and successful career and still have a good marriage and children? Also, along with that: how can a man do well enough in this business to have a family? Of course, I don't mean those actresses or actors fortunate enough to have married into tons of money, or married to a lawyer or doctor who earns a ton of money, but rather working actors and actresses who have to make their own way and want a full family life, in that conventional sense, as well... Another question i get asked: what's it like to be in a huge Broadway hit and sit through a long run for years? How do you keep it fresh and good? And what do you do with all the money you earn? How can you make it work for your future? Meeting agents is always an important topic for actors...as is, for the young ones: should I go Equity or not? Where does the most experience lie: union or non-union? And are there enough benefits to offset either choice?
Personally, I would love to write about how meditation can help actors do better work in every single arena of their working life. How RELAXATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE, and can serve actors in any imaginable way, before , during and after an audition/performance process....also, focusing on one's mission: why is one an actor? Why does one remain an actor,through the years, no matter what? How does wanting to be an actor when you are 16 and dreaming differ from remaining an actor when you are 60 and have a different understanding of dreams? And most importantly: WHY IS BEING AN ACTOR AN IMPORTANT AND HONORABLE PROFESSION IN THIS DAY AND AGE? WHY ARE ACTORS, WHY IS THEATER, IMPORTANT TO A SOCIETY? How can we serve to help the world? Heal the planet? How can we use our gifts to help, not make worse, the way mankind treats each other?
So...have you guys got any ideas? If so, please send them...I wanna hear...
Being in the theater, making it one's life and work, has been viewed , through the centuries, in many ways by various societies. . More often than not, theater has been viewed as evil and licentious, and actors treated as agents of all sorts of devils. As we all know, theater and the profession of acting was viewed as so sordid, that women were prohibited from even going near a stage, except to be the audience of one, covered from head to toe in luxurious, but nonetheless, obfuscating clothing: rather like the women in Muslim countries are treated today, being required to dress in mufti. Women of good breeding, Queen Elizabeth's love of theater notwithstanding, were not theater material, and if they were, they were viewed as whores and worse, so that, again as we all know, Shakespeare wrote his greatest female roles for men to perform. Actors, of the male variety, were generally viewed (and many still are, with the prurient press helping all they can) as drunks, shiftless, irresponsible and not to be trusted. Forget that an actor may have just shown you your deepest most emotional self, as you watched him in a performance of some masterpiece or other; you still were not about to rent him a room in your house!!! Actors as artists? Pleeeeze! He doesn't even have a painted canvas to give in lieu of the inevitable late rent! Actors were viewed, and again still are by so many, as fools.
So, how do we combat that? And how is , that despite the stupid image theater and actors have had through the ages, it (and WE) have not only endured, but proudly endured! If we are such fools, how is it our salaries have increased and women now can get paid millions of dollars for making a film, right up there with the male actors? Maybe not quite as "up there"? But you get the idea...ALSO: WHY IS IT that EVERYBODY wants to be one???? And EVERYONE thinks they CAN be one, if only they get that lucky break! Sadly, many talentless and ambitious-for-the-wrong-reason actors DO get certain opportunities and soon are making outrageous money per episode, thus perpetuating the myth that anyone can become an actor!
But that is our job: understand and make others feel, the true importance of what we do! Not only to legitimize our efforts, ( for ourselves as much as for anyone else) but also to open peoples' minds and hearts to how much we can be of use in their lives. And not only in bright shiny Broadway musicals and sexy tv shows: but in out- of- the- way places where they least expect it! Peoples' need to sit around the campfire and tell stories is a forever thing.
So, Actors......rock on! And write in!
Friday, October 27, 2006
WAITING FOR GODOT
....last night, at Kimmel Hall, NYU...amazing, and a night I will not soon forget. The Gate Theatre from Dublin has come to campus to perform this masterwork, and I got faculty rate tix for Peter, Pat and Charles (they are on a wonderful visit with us) and myself, and we went, en famille, for a night at the theatre!!
I don't know the last time any of you have sat in the presence of great work, but, lest we forget why we live, I highly recommend that each and every one of you go sit in a theater and watch greatness as soon as you can!!! The problem is, of course: there is so little of it around, these days! Greatness, I mean . In theater, or any other arena of human endeavor.
But, last night, at Kimmel, we were the lucky ones. The Irish came to town! And brought their knowledge of the Master with them: Becket, being Irish, was, and is, one of their own, and even though the play was originally produced in France, in French!, it is thoroughly Irish through and through...the melancholy and poetry are pure , the dilemma far too familiar to the people of that war-torn land...but, then again, one of the things that makes WAITING FOR GODOT
magnificent is its terrifying and gratifying universality: Estragon and Vladimir, Pozo and Lucky.....could be any people, anywhere...their fates are so deeply ours. Their waiting, their striving, so very much everyone's.
And so there we were, in the maginificent NYU community (so much talent in that one theater, brains and intellectual power, sitting side by side, waiting for Beckett), part of yet one more audience for this astonishing and ever-modern play. And it did not disapoint.
The Gate's finest Beckett interpreters: Johnny Murphy as Estragon, Barry McGovern as Vladimir, Stephen Brennan as Lucky and Alan Stanford as Pozzo. Showing us how it's done! Not an amplified voice in the place...all pure actor sound..and subtle and terrifically powerful..elegantly physical, (and these are not young men), perfectly realized...the words, those strong sad words rang out, ("I CAN'T GO ON!!!) and we laughed at the futility of it all, as we felt the horror of the simple fact that Godot never does come. And the innocent, scary little boy played by a marvelous Devin O'Shea-Farren, patiently briging the news that Godot will make them wait one more day...it's all so damned current! Chilling. And that spare moon rising over the skeletal tree....ideal design. A familiar aching gathering around this particular camp fire....it was wonderful wonderful, wonderful. Truly.
And, on thinking back, it seems I now have a new understanding of what clowning and comedy are ...what they are meant to be for...the old adage about how we must laugh or we will cry...there is no clearer definition of life than that....the simple samsara..the Hell/Nirvana of it all.....the horrible laughable truth....and last night we shared that. It is so brave to choose GODOT over GREY's ANATOMY...to choose live theater instead of dead television...and no matter how hard and how brilliantly even the best writers strive to make TV a live proposition for all the millions who they hope will watch, the fact is: what happened in Kimmel last night cannot be replicated...that slow silent torture of elegant stage picture held in suspended realization...brave and daring and true...not possible anywhere but a live theater stage.
I don't know what it is that keeps me coming back for more, in this world of theater I have matured in, but last night may be one way for me to sort it out. To think on, dissect, bathe in the memory and honor the sheer fact of last night's WAITING FOR GODOT may assist me on this part of my continuing journey of discovery.
I am grateful for the company of such art.
I don't know the last time any of you have sat in the presence of great work, but, lest we forget why we live, I highly recommend that each and every one of you go sit in a theater and watch greatness as soon as you can!!! The problem is, of course: there is so little of it around, these days! Greatness, I mean . In theater, or any other arena of human endeavor.
But, last night, at Kimmel, we were the lucky ones. The Irish came to town! And brought their knowledge of the Master with them: Becket, being Irish, was, and is, one of their own, and even though the play was originally produced in France, in French!, it is thoroughly Irish through and through...the melancholy and poetry are pure , the dilemma far too familiar to the people of that war-torn land...but, then again, one of the things that makes WAITING FOR GODOT
magnificent is its terrifying and gratifying universality: Estragon and Vladimir, Pozo and Lucky.....could be any people, anywhere...their fates are so deeply ours. Their waiting, their striving, so very much everyone's.
And so there we were, in the maginificent NYU community (so much talent in that one theater, brains and intellectual power, sitting side by side, waiting for Beckett), part of yet one more audience for this astonishing and ever-modern play. And it did not disapoint.
The Gate's finest Beckett interpreters: Johnny Murphy as Estragon, Barry McGovern as Vladimir, Stephen Brennan as Lucky and Alan Stanford as Pozzo. Showing us how it's done! Not an amplified voice in the place...all pure actor sound..and subtle and terrifically powerful..elegantly physical, (and these are not young men), perfectly realized...the words, those strong sad words rang out, ("I CAN'T GO ON!!!) and we laughed at the futility of it all, as we felt the horror of the simple fact that Godot never does come. And the innocent, scary little boy played by a marvelous Devin O'Shea-Farren, patiently briging the news that Godot will make them wait one more day...it's all so damned current! Chilling. And that spare moon rising over the skeletal tree....ideal design. A familiar aching gathering around this particular camp fire....it was wonderful wonderful, wonderful. Truly.
And, on thinking back, it seems I now have a new understanding of what clowning and comedy are ...what they are meant to be for...the old adage about how we must laugh or we will cry...there is no clearer definition of life than that....the simple samsara..the Hell/Nirvana of it all.....the horrible laughable truth....and last night we shared that. It is so brave to choose GODOT over GREY's ANATOMY...to choose live theater instead of dead television...and no matter how hard and how brilliantly even the best writers strive to make TV a live proposition for all the millions who they hope will watch, the fact is: what happened in Kimmel last night cannot be replicated...that slow silent torture of elegant stage picture held in suspended realization...brave and daring and true...not possible anywhere but a live theater stage.
I don't know what it is that keeps me coming back for more, in this world of theater I have matured in, but last night may be one way for me to sort it out. To think on, dissect, bathe in the memory and honor the sheer fact of last night's WAITING FOR GODOT may assist me on this part of my continuing journey of discovery.
I am grateful for the company of such art.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
My Even More Favorite Year
Now that i have had a work session with the talented and patient David Holcenberg , Musical Director for the re-workings we are doing for Lynn and Steve, I like the score even better than I did before, especially as he explained to me the new direction the writers are taking with the quality of the story they want to tell. "Belle's" song ROOKIE seems more useful to me now, as we worked on how the writers want it to be sung...and as we worked on it, I began to see it's true value in the story. I enjoyed our session. And getting to know this interesting David a bit. I am glad to know him.
I woke up under more of the cloud that has been hanging over me for a few days and I suddenly realized that it could well be the start of something like a cold or a bit of a flu bug. I feel actually ill...achy and sore eyes and scratchy throat, stuffy nose, so why not call it what it is?! It depresses me to feel ill, and so I tend to call the state of unwellness something other than what it is, like it is almost under my control if I call it something else...this morning I decided to admit I may be "under the weather" (all sorts of weather) and let myself feel it. The minute I let myself be where I actually am, I felt a lifting of a burden. Thus feeling somewhat better...oops...i just sneezed hugely! I have a Fall flu bug! So, there!!!
Still must teach class at 2:00....and pick up my cellphone at the NYU Lost and Found Department...yep...I lost my cell phone on campus yesterday. And thankfully got a call from the Lost and Found Department on Washington Place that they had found it! Yay! But that uncharacteristic loss is typical of how my mind has been roaming over the past few days: I feel scattered and at odds: a sure sign of my not feeling healthy.
But, Peter's dear parents will be here late tomorrow night. And we are very glad. All of us: even the puppies. They adore cuddling with their grandparents, and both Peter and I love having them near. All four of us will go to see WAITING FOR GODOT on Thursday night, the 26th, down at NYU: The Gate Theater from Dublin is here, performing this Irish classic, and NYU is hosting them at Kimmel Hall. It should be wonderful, and I have urged all my students to see it, no matter what their feelings about Beckett. At the very least, they wil be seeing a legendary theater company performing one of their own. That sort of history and lineage matter.
We received the Barter Theatre 2007 line-up, and it is filled with shos i could direct or perform in, so it made me feel slightly nostalgic for the dear place. But, a committment to Barter is an important and large decision...one that I simply am not in the frame of mind to make right now, especially since I am not feeling so well. And I respect and honor Rick Rose's decision to keep his company intact and well cared for and faithful. I know how tough it is to bring someone in for a brief time to work, as the balance and efficiency are skewed. Plus which, I am not sure how happy I would be only going for a short time. Part of me still wants to be there forever. And for always. But home is here now. (See what I mean? I am in this pickle of indecision and ill ease... cannot seem to get comfortable in either thought or body) IN ANY EVENT: it still feels good to love a place so much (as I do love Barter) that it throws an emotional curve ball every now and then. The Barter 2007 company has a great and interesting year ahead of them. And so do their audiences. Bless them!!
Well....I must go off to class. But first, some meditation and chanting in our Purple Room!
I woke up under more of the cloud that has been hanging over me for a few days and I suddenly realized that it could well be the start of something like a cold or a bit of a flu bug. I feel actually ill...achy and sore eyes and scratchy throat, stuffy nose, so why not call it what it is?! It depresses me to feel ill, and so I tend to call the state of unwellness something other than what it is, like it is almost under my control if I call it something else...this morning I decided to admit I may be "under the weather" (all sorts of weather) and let myself feel it. The minute I let myself be where I actually am, I felt a lifting of a burden. Thus feeling somewhat better...oops...i just sneezed hugely! I have a Fall flu bug! So, there!!!
Still must teach class at 2:00....and pick up my cellphone at the NYU Lost and Found Department...yep...I lost my cell phone on campus yesterday. And thankfully got a call from the Lost and Found Department on Washington Place that they had found it! Yay! But that uncharacteristic loss is typical of how my mind has been roaming over the past few days: I feel scattered and at odds: a sure sign of my not feeling healthy.
But, Peter's dear parents will be here late tomorrow night. And we are very glad. All of us: even the puppies. They adore cuddling with their grandparents, and both Peter and I love having them near. All four of us will go to see WAITING FOR GODOT on Thursday night, the 26th, down at NYU: The Gate Theater from Dublin is here, performing this Irish classic, and NYU is hosting them at Kimmel Hall. It should be wonderful, and I have urged all my students to see it, no matter what their feelings about Beckett. At the very least, they wil be seeing a legendary theater company performing one of their own. That sort of history and lineage matter.
We received the Barter Theatre 2007 line-up, and it is filled with shos i could direct or perform in, so it made me feel slightly nostalgic for the dear place. But, a committment to Barter is an important and large decision...one that I simply am not in the frame of mind to make right now, especially since I am not feeling so well. And I respect and honor Rick Rose's decision to keep his company intact and well cared for and faithful. I know how tough it is to bring someone in for a brief time to work, as the balance and efficiency are skewed. Plus which, I am not sure how happy I would be only going for a short time. Part of me still wants to be there forever. And for always. But home is here now. (See what I mean? I am in this pickle of indecision and ill ease... cannot seem to get comfortable in either thought or body) IN ANY EVENT: it still feels good to love a place so much (as I do love Barter) that it throws an emotional curve ball every now and then. The Barter 2007 company has a great and interesting year ahead of them. And so do their audiences. Bless them!!
Well....I must go off to class. But first, some meditation and chanting in our Purple Room!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Bobst Library- NYU
...is one impressive structure, filled with graceful space and floor after floor of knowledge...a gracious, inviting place for NYU students to come and sit and read and learn...i like it here, and have found it to be a most congenial spot for hanging out between my classes. There is ample room for me to be comfortable in, read anything i want , find a free computer and blog or do anything else I need to do, and generally relax. The modern architecture is so airily beautiful, it feels good just to walk in to the building itself. And it is located midway between all the places I need to be on this campus, so it is convenient. A good rest stop. And since this afternoon I have to do one more sub-eaching class for Evan Mueller, I have a few hours to kill and being here at Bobst is ideal. I can fritter away the time creatively. And comfortably. Thank you to the Bobst family for providing such shelter. NYU is so well endowed.
Uneventful weekend. Except for lots of good sleep and cuddling. Peter really caught up on much-needed slumber.A few of the things we wanted to get done got done, but there is much still left to do to prep for his parents' arrival. And this week is busy, even without that.
WHY DO I FEEL LIKE GOING RIGHT BACK TO SEA RANCH AGAIN RIGHT NOW???
The pace of my life is anything but overwhelming...in fact, with all I am doing , teaching and reading and meditating, it really is an ideal balance of activity in my daily life. And, thank God, all is well. Then, why do I want to go away to the Ocean right now? I am filled with a sort of gray-sky, chill in the air, vague discomfort. And whereas mugs of fresh hot cider and other Fall goodies generally cheer me up, I feel something else is afoot here...and I cannot seem to specify what it is. A vague malaise. The sort of thing I usually have gotten rid of by shopping too much, or working too hard...but now, neither of these things matter to me as much as they used to, so I am left with feeling..and meditating does help, but in a way, meditating is also making me more sensitive to it, whatever it is. So, I sit and i look at it from as many points of view as I can. Meditating gives me that chance. It also helps me become incredibly conscious of so many levels in my thinking, as I dive deeper and deeper. It becomes quite entertaining sometimes, actually.
Until a place of joy and calm is inevitably found and I sigh with a releasing sort of relief.
And when i look at all the learning that men and women have put into books here in this enormous library, when i realize how much time people have spent learning about the world we live in and discovering new things every moment, I am stunned into appreciation. And awe. THERE IS SO MUCH. And, generally, WE ALL KNOW SO LITTLE!!! But we behave as though we know it all, and are scared of anyone finding out we know relatively nothing!
And so we go down fighting! Unaware that we did not have to struggle nearly as much as we thought we had to ...sadly victimized by our own spritely ignorance...and that brings me to the subject of REALITY SHOWS ON TELEVISION!!!
The new fascination..the popular thing...is closer to the "bread and circuses"of the Roman Empire than is comfortable: REALITY SHOWS: real things happening to real people...stories told about and by the same "normal, everyday" people about the commonplace occurrences in their lives, as they pertain to certain subjects (like finances, art, designing clothing, running races and vying for huge greedily bloated sums of money)...and tv audiences around the world sit and watch these real life things happening, not necessarily in real time, but to real people ...not actors...real people...who become over-night reality tv stars!!! Peter and I shamefacedly admit watcing several of these...PROJECT RUNWAY is our favorite...but the really prurient ones, like the ones dealing with peoples' finances...are downright embarassing... the grosser and more embarassing, the more popular they seem to be...we're all Holy Roman Empirites on our way to dissolution and demise!!! we roar at the Christians and the lions....we want to see blood, and then we want to call the bleeding people stupid! Judging let we be judged,obviously. Reality TV Shows are taking over the popular cultural scene. And I, increasingly an old fuddy-duddy, disapprove!!!
Uneventful weekend. Except for lots of good sleep and cuddling. Peter really caught up on much-needed slumber.A few of the things we wanted to get done got done, but there is much still left to do to prep for his parents' arrival. And this week is busy, even without that.
WHY DO I FEEL LIKE GOING RIGHT BACK TO SEA RANCH AGAIN RIGHT NOW???
The pace of my life is anything but overwhelming...in fact, with all I am doing , teaching and reading and meditating, it really is an ideal balance of activity in my daily life. And, thank God, all is well. Then, why do I want to go away to the Ocean right now? I am filled with a sort of gray-sky, chill in the air, vague discomfort. And whereas mugs of fresh hot cider and other Fall goodies generally cheer me up, I feel something else is afoot here...and I cannot seem to specify what it is. A vague malaise. The sort of thing I usually have gotten rid of by shopping too much, or working too hard...but now, neither of these things matter to me as much as they used to, so I am left with feeling..and meditating does help, but in a way, meditating is also making me more sensitive to it, whatever it is. So, I sit and i look at it from as many points of view as I can. Meditating gives me that chance. It also helps me become incredibly conscious of so many levels in my thinking, as I dive deeper and deeper. It becomes quite entertaining sometimes, actually.
Until a place of joy and calm is inevitably found and I sigh with a releasing sort of relief.
And when i look at all the learning that men and women have put into books here in this enormous library, when i realize how much time people have spent learning about the world we live in and discovering new things every moment, I am stunned into appreciation. And awe. THERE IS SO MUCH. And, generally, WE ALL KNOW SO LITTLE!!! But we behave as though we know it all, and are scared of anyone finding out we know relatively nothing!
And so we go down fighting! Unaware that we did not have to struggle nearly as much as we thought we had to ...sadly victimized by our own spritely ignorance...and that brings me to the subject of REALITY SHOWS ON TELEVISION!!!
The new fascination..the popular thing...is closer to the "bread and circuses"of the Roman Empire than is comfortable: REALITY SHOWS: real things happening to real people...stories told about and by the same "normal, everyday" people about the commonplace occurrences in their lives, as they pertain to certain subjects (like finances, art, designing clothing, running races and vying for huge greedily bloated sums of money)...and tv audiences around the world sit and watch these real life things happening, not necessarily in real time, but to real people ...not actors...real people...who become over-night reality tv stars!!! Peter and I shamefacedly admit watcing several of these...PROJECT RUNWAY is our favorite...but the really prurient ones, like the ones dealing with peoples' finances...are downright embarassing... the grosser and more embarassing, the more popular they seem to be...we're all Holy Roman Empirites on our way to dissolution and demise!!! we roar at the Christians and the lions....we want to see blood, and then we want to call the bleeding people stupid! Judging let we be judged,obviously. Reality TV Shows are taking over the popular cultural scene. And I, increasingly an old fuddy-duddy, disapprove!!!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
My Favorite Year...
....and me....on this Sunday morning, as Peter sleeps and I write...the new computer that Peter set up for me enables me to listen to the show I have to learn , while I continue to write...I love this...and the speakers that came with the desk top give such great sound!!! Wonderful...it feels like my old pal Evan Pappas is singing right to me as he exclaims about beig "Benjy Stone" and I love it...and now here is my part as his Mom, in the middle of the Opening Number: 20 MILLION PEOPLE..a lovely opening number, full of vitality and old fashioned joy...I can even detect certain elements of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, melodically and harmonically, as if Lynn and Steve are paying homage to their very own traditions at the same time that they are honoring the musicals of the '50's...chord progressions, building harmonies,etc...very signal of their style, and I truly like that. Now the wonderful song (a favorite of so many young men in classes I teach) LARGER THAN LIFE...a truly crafted song, tells the story and enlightens the character the way a terrific theater song should. This song alone made me a fan of the musical. And now, I get to work on their re-writing process and I am most curious to see how they will change it. I will work with the Musical Director, David Holcenburg on Tuesday morning here at my place...i look forward to that.
Today, Peter and I have a day at home, and that is a wonderful thing. His parents, two of my favorite people , are arriving for a few days' visit this coming Wednesday night, and we need to organize our lived-in mess a bit to make it more welcoming for them, though they are most comfortable to be with, whenever they come...they are comfortable and loving people, no matter how messy we are...but we want to clean up a bit, and so we shall. Also, we can talk about the fun time we had last night, our night on the town:
Peter is a new member of the illustrious Blue Hill Troupe and last night was the welcoming party for the new members, and their mates...I was the mate, and went along in that role...we had a good time. This lovely group, that has been in existence for decades now, is basically a very up-scale NYC community theater group, founded on the country estate of some marvelous wealthy family (was it the Vanderbilt's? I must remember, and put it down correctly), and the name of their estate was the Blue Hill Farm, and so when they took their amateur theatricals to the City to raise money for needy charities, they took the name with them, and it has been the Blue Hill Troupe ever since. Every year, they raise thousands of dollars for a charity they pick each year. they do good work, and the mainstay of their productions is the inestimable Gilbert and Sullivan, whose works they have done repeatedly over the years, to actual great acclaim!! Our darling pal Jackie Yang has been with the Troupe for 9 years, and is now their President, so when she learned that Peter was no longer pursuing theater as a career, she begged him to apply to the Troupe for membership so they could utilize his many skills...and so, he applied ,was asked to join, and he said he would, as long as he could work backstage! And so, he is now they call a Backstager! And we had a great time at their party....good food, lovely people and a nice loud dance floor with Disc Jockeys!!! We danced! And that was really fun. Interesting, no matter how many different ways these folks earn their livings in the real world, in the theater world of Blue Hill you can tell a Backstager from what they call a Frontstager...i had fun guessing. But no matter where they work in the Troupe, the people we met were delightful, and could not have been more welcoming. And we were home by 9:30...Peter and I are not what you would call "party people"...we like our home too much.
And so another sunny gorgeous cool NYC Sunday stretches before us, and will be over too soon, and I have begun it my favorite way (while listening to MY FAVORITE YEAR): writing.
Thanks for reading.
Today, Peter and I have a day at home, and that is a wonderful thing. His parents, two of my favorite people , are arriving for a few days' visit this coming Wednesday night, and we need to organize our lived-in mess a bit to make it more welcoming for them, though they are most comfortable to be with, whenever they come...they are comfortable and loving people, no matter how messy we are...but we want to clean up a bit, and so we shall. Also, we can talk about the fun time we had last night, our night on the town:
Peter is a new member of the illustrious Blue Hill Troupe and last night was the welcoming party for the new members, and their mates...I was the mate, and went along in that role...we had a good time. This lovely group, that has been in existence for decades now, is basically a very up-scale NYC community theater group, founded on the country estate of some marvelous wealthy family (was it the Vanderbilt's? I must remember, and put it down correctly), and the name of their estate was the Blue Hill Farm, and so when they took their amateur theatricals to the City to raise money for needy charities, they took the name with them, and it has been the Blue Hill Troupe ever since. Every year, they raise thousands of dollars for a charity they pick each year. they do good work, and the mainstay of their productions is the inestimable Gilbert and Sullivan, whose works they have done repeatedly over the years, to actual great acclaim!! Our darling pal Jackie Yang has been with the Troupe for 9 years, and is now their President, so when she learned that Peter was no longer pursuing theater as a career, she begged him to apply to the Troupe for membership so they could utilize his many skills...and so, he applied ,was asked to join, and he said he would, as long as he could work backstage! And so, he is now they call a Backstager! And we had a great time at their party....good food, lovely people and a nice loud dance floor with Disc Jockeys!!! We danced! And that was really fun. Interesting, no matter how many different ways these folks earn their livings in the real world, in the theater world of Blue Hill you can tell a Backstager from what they call a Frontstager...i had fun guessing. But no matter where they work in the Troupe, the people we met were delightful, and could not have been more welcoming. And we were home by 9:30...Peter and I are not what you would call "party people"...we like our home too much.
And so another sunny gorgeous cool NYC Sunday stretches before us, and will be over too soon, and I have begun it my favorite way (while listening to MY FAVORITE YEAR): writing.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, October 20, 2006
I AM A CONVERT!!!!!!
That is to say, I am now the proud owner and user of a new MAC desk top computer, and, just as Peter said it would, it has thrilled me to learn how to use it. It is easier, faster, funner and more versatile than any computer I have had before it, and I am so delighted with it I can hardly drag myself away to go teach class!! But, drag I must...so this will be a short entry, I fear.
Just had late breakfast with Paul and Steve...the grey skies seem to be getting everyone down, though the air is cool and fresh because of the rain, so I am not minding the grey as much as i usually do. The guys have just finished entertaining a housfull of beloved guests, so they are not doubt tired and need some rest. And as ever, I adored being with them, but I hate seeing my friends who I love so dearly feeling "down".....such, however, is life. And don't we all know that?
The weekend promises to be a cozy one, and we go to our first BlueHill Troupe function as a couple. Peter is glad to be part of the Troupe and feels good about being of some help in the tech areas and we both look forward to seeing our first production there: HOW TO SUCCEED....the thing we both love about the Blue Hill efforts is that the money goes to a charity of their choice. And they always seem to be able to raise a substantial amount for some very good causes. Anything our dear pal Jacky Yang is part of has to be worthy. A wonderful woman. When I brought her onto the CAP 21 Board a decade ago, I had no idea we would become such enduring friends, and I am so glad to have.
Great meeting with Bill Wesbrooks and John Simpkins downtown at Steinhardt yesterday. Such terrifically collaborative men, and the conversation about Song Analysis left us all stimulated and ready to move foreard with the work. Each of us is making discoveries in our individual classes that we truly want to share with the others, and these meetings are great for that. Once again, I find the Steinhardt process, as exemplified by Bill W. to be one in which I find respect and growth for all involved. No ultimatums, no threats, no censure...just good plain sharing and collaborating. Argument, yes...but healthy and respectful...disagreement , of course....but encouraged and listened to...not like other places I have experienced. I prefer it this way, of course. Who wouldn't?
We got the sweetest email from Amanda Aldridge down at Barter. I miss her so much. And the fun of wearing her clothes designed for each role I played there...she is so gifted. And became such a dear important friend to me. I miss that too. But, oddly, I do not miss performing. Strange, isn't it? After all these years of doing it...I simply am enjoying my evenings at home. And would prefer to be home with Peter than backstage anywhere. How long will this last? I don't know...but it feels right for now.
I do go to work next week on the rewrites for MY FAVORITE YEAR, because Lynn Ahrens called personally to help them out, in the role of "Belle", Benjy's Momma, played at Lincoln Center by Lainie Kazan...a sweet role. I'll start working with the Musical Director next Tueday, and must cram some listening in over the weekend...though I do have the CD, it is not a show I am familiar with yet, and there is scant time to learn it, for the readings we must do of it by the end of this month and the beginning of next......I will be most curious to see how they re-shape it. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are probably my two favorite American Musical theater writers, along with Adam Guettel, of course, so i respect their work, and am glad to help out. Honored in fact. I am simply glad, as I feel so often lately, that it is not a long committment!
After all, I have a new computer to come home to now, as well as the best husband in the world, who is actually helping me learn how to use it!!!! Bless him and his patience!
Just had late breakfast with Paul and Steve...the grey skies seem to be getting everyone down, though the air is cool and fresh because of the rain, so I am not minding the grey as much as i usually do. The guys have just finished entertaining a housfull of beloved guests, so they are not doubt tired and need some rest. And as ever, I adored being with them, but I hate seeing my friends who I love so dearly feeling "down".....such, however, is life. And don't we all know that?
The weekend promises to be a cozy one, and we go to our first BlueHill Troupe function as a couple. Peter is glad to be part of the Troupe and feels good about being of some help in the tech areas and we both look forward to seeing our first production there: HOW TO SUCCEED....the thing we both love about the Blue Hill efforts is that the money goes to a charity of their choice. And they always seem to be able to raise a substantial amount for some very good causes. Anything our dear pal Jacky Yang is part of has to be worthy. A wonderful woman. When I brought her onto the CAP 21 Board a decade ago, I had no idea we would become such enduring friends, and I am so glad to have.
Great meeting with Bill Wesbrooks and John Simpkins downtown at Steinhardt yesterday. Such terrifically collaborative men, and the conversation about Song Analysis left us all stimulated and ready to move foreard with the work. Each of us is making discoveries in our individual classes that we truly want to share with the others, and these meetings are great for that. Once again, I find the Steinhardt process, as exemplified by Bill W. to be one in which I find respect and growth for all involved. No ultimatums, no threats, no censure...just good plain sharing and collaborating. Argument, yes...but healthy and respectful...disagreement , of course....but encouraged and listened to...not like other places I have experienced. I prefer it this way, of course. Who wouldn't?
We got the sweetest email from Amanda Aldridge down at Barter. I miss her so much. And the fun of wearing her clothes designed for each role I played there...she is so gifted. And became such a dear important friend to me. I miss that too. But, oddly, I do not miss performing. Strange, isn't it? After all these years of doing it...I simply am enjoying my evenings at home. And would prefer to be home with Peter than backstage anywhere. How long will this last? I don't know...but it feels right for now.
I do go to work next week on the rewrites for MY FAVORITE YEAR, because Lynn Ahrens called personally to help them out, in the role of "Belle", Benjy's Momma, played at Lincoln Center by Lainie Kazan...a sweet role. I'll start working with the Musical Director next Tueday, and must cram some listening in over the weekend...though I do have the CD, it is not a show I am familiar with yet, and there is scant time to learn it, for the readings we must do of it by the end of this month and the beginning of next......I will be most curious to see how they re-shape it. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are probably my two favorite American Musical theater writers, along with Adam Guettel, of course, so i respect their work, and am glad to help out. Honored in fact. I am simply glad, as I feel so often lately, that it is not a long committment!
After all, I have a new computer to come home to now, as well as the best husband in the world, who is actually helping me learn how to use it!!!! Bless him and his patience!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
This Love Affair
....as it does....another day...another chance to be inspired and inspire...lunch with two valued colleagues down at NYU then my Song Analysis Class...which is so hardworking and talented...the more I teach, the more my own younger passions are recalled those days when it actually mattered to me that the craft of acting have integrity and fullness of life...those days when running off with The Living Theater seemd a truly terrific idea..those days when it all mattered so much that living each day was exhausting in its demands...and most of the demands were in service of protecting myself from so many imagined terrors...if there is one thing about youth I do not miss, it is the necessary passage through those oh-so-real-seeming Forests of Doom...but because I went through them and came out the other side into the relative sunshine , I am thus able to help my students through them as well, and for that I am grateful. It enables me to not minimize their experiences, but rather to give them full measure of importance and thereby, hopefully, helping these journeys through the Forest be as growth-producing as possible.
I am so deeply in love with my students. I can only imagine parenthood is what i feel, but an infinite amount magnified....i do not presume to know what a parent feels...but I do know that when I see them struggle and grow, and even struggle and fail, (which is only delayed growth), I love them even more. It takes courage to live, and, in my book, it takes double that courage to profess wanting to be an artist. It is a darng and life-affirming profession.
I am so deeply in love with my students. I can only imagine parenthood is what i feel, but an infinite amount magnified....i do not presume to know what a parent feels...but I do know that when I see them struggle and grow, and even struggle and fail, (which is only delayed growth), I love them even more. It takes courage to live, and, in my book, it takes double that courage to profess wanting to be an artist. It is a darng and life-affirming profession.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Planetary Joy and Cosmic Dust!
....seem to be bombarding the earth on this rainy cool day...at least, according to an email I received from the ever-darling Ed Dixon, that is what is happening today...some sort of energy allignment with the human heart chakra...allI can tell you all is I woke up today feeling fabulous, and have fairly floated above ground today, as I wend my way through a full and busy NYU day...and this is with rain falling everywhere,grey and dim of light...somehow , it all seems terrfic and great with me today...
Maybe I got enough sleep last night. That is a rare but useful thing to do: go to bed early enough, and actually sleep through the night. I went to bed, after a truly tiring day, and was asleep well before 10 pm....Peter cooked a gorgeous and delicious dinner, then went off to his basketball practise...I fell into bed, snuggled with puppis and read til my eyes slammed shut! And to day i do feel so good,whatever the reasons.
I sat in on Bill Wesbrooks' class this morning. Another thoroughly enjoyable and collaborative session,as he engaged me and John SImpkins in discussion of the students' work...there is such a feeling of relaxation and friendly sharing when he opens up his classes like that, and the kids benefit, as do we as teachers. Really fun. I had this idea last night about abook the three of us could collaborate on about the three slightly varied apporaches we take to Song Analysis: all adding up to the Steinhardt approach. We each approach it differently enough to make it interesting, and the important thing is to make sure the students know each approach is not only valid, but truly able to blend with the other approahces to create an individual technique. So, to embrace the seeming contradictions is the goal.Because they are not really contradictions at all. Simply other aspects of the same goal-seeking: to enable a totally free and expressive intrument in the student singer/actor.
This afternoon, in my Song Analysis Class, I will employ a thing or two I learned this morning. ANd that will be easy to do.
Peter starts his new job at Inductis, downtown in the Wall Street neighborhood tomorrow. A new phase of our life shall begin. I am so rpoud of my husband.
And I must go get tickets now for my in-laws to join us to see WAITING FOR GODOT on the 26th of this month, down here at Kimmel Hall...the Dublin Gate Theatre is bringing their world-acclaimed production of the Beckett play here to campus. I can hardly wait. And we faculty get speacial tix prices! Another "perk"of the job.
It feels like Fall today. I got word that an old colleague of mine died: Edwin Owens. We did A CHRISTMAS CAROL as the "Fezziwig, twice at McCarter Theater, and shared some Barter time together as well. Dear gifted Edwin: I'll miss you, but enjoy your time wherever you are and come back to be a wonderful actor in another life! I send love and peace.
Maybe I got enough sleep last night. That is a rare but useful thing to do: go to bed early enough, and actually sleep through the night. I went to bed, after a truly tiring day, and was asleep well before 10 pm....Peter cooked a gorgeous and delicious dinner, then went off to his basketball practise...I fell into bed, snuggled with puppis and read til my eyes slammed shut! And to day i do feel so good,whatever the reasons.
I sat in on Bill Wesbrooks' class this morning. Another thoroughly enjoyable and collaborative session,as he engaged me and John SImpkins in discussion of the students' work...there is such a feeling of relaxation and friendly sharing when he opens up his classes like that, and the kids benefit, as do we as teachers. Really fun. I had this idea last night about abook the three of us could collaborate on about the three slightly varied apporaches we take to Song Analysis: all adding up to the Steinhardt approach. We each approach it differently enough to make it interesting, and the important thing is to make sure the students know each approach is not only valid, but truly able to blend with the other approahces to create an individual technique. So, to embrace the seeming contradictions is the goal.Because they are not really contradictions at all. Simply other aspects of the same goal-seeking: to enable a totally free and expressive intrument in the student singer/actor.
This afternoon, in my Song Analysis Class, I will employ a thing or two I learned this morning. ANd that will be easy to do.
Peter starts his new job at Inductis, downtown in the Wall Street neighborhood tomorrow. A new phase of our life shall begin. I am so rpoud of my husband.
And I must go get tickets now for my in-laws to join us to see WAITING FOR GODOT on the 26th of this month, down here at Kimmel Hall...the Dublin Gate Theatre is bringing their world-acclaimed production of the Beckett play here to campus. I can hardly wait. And we faculty get speacial tix prices! Another "perk"of the job.
It feels like Fall today. I got word that an old colleague of mine died: Edwin Owens. We did A CHRISTMAS CAROL as the "Fezziwig, twice at McCarter Theater, and shared some Barter time together as well. Dear gifted Edwin: I'll miss you, but enjoy your time wherever you are and come back to be a wonderful actor in another life! I send love and peace.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Rubin Museum
...down on 17th Street, between Seventh and Sixth Avenues....a most wonder-filled place. So wonderful , in fact, that Peter and I spent hours there yesterday strolling the gorgeous galleries and listening to the live music events they had scheduled all over the museum! The Silk Road Project, founded by YoYo Ma, has been in residence down at the Rubin all the month of October, and yesterday was their final day, so the various floors and the sumptuous mandala staircase , all these varied locations in the museum, were alive with trios, quartets, and full ensemble expressions of the music they have all been creating while at the Rubin, and Peter and I managed to gleefully stumble into this artistic cornucopia by chance. We simply went to see what Asian art the Rubinhad to offer. Instead, we entered several different entire worlds and cultures. It was amazing.
The Rubin's mission is to gather art from Himalayan countries, and in so doing, present the art in the religious and social contexts from which it all came. Also, in so doing, they focus on educating their museum patrons in the details and general histories of the countries and religions of the Himalayan Region...so, not only are centuries and eons of tradition on display, but thousands of miles of the various peoples' cultures are lovingly explained and written about for the edificationof the public....it's one of the most interesting museums, therefore, that I've ever been in. And since so much of this art is basically religious, it is also one heck of a spiritual place!!! One entire floor is devoted to the glorious art of the Sikh religion...and since I have known nothing at all about the Sikhs, it began to open my eyes to so much of their world...and its comparative youth as a world culture: only 500 years old...barely older than America! And the art is sumptuous. An art that honors its beliefs in the One True God, and the close relationship of all peoples, no matter their social castes...in its day, it was no doubt revolutionary. How it relates to Buddhism I am most curious about.
In fact, even though the Rubin seems mainly a Buddhist-centered musuem, that is probably because my focus is mainly that and so that is what I saw there on my first pass through...i am interested in going back soon and learning more about other things. Also, by the way, the cafe , right off the lobby, is terrific...the food quite good. Peter and I had lunch there.
On the whole, a perfect New York City day....Fall, crisp and clear, and the musuems like the Rubin offering things no other places on earth can offer....quite the reason to live here.
It was what I would call a perfect afternoon with my adorable husband.
This adorable husband has been offered a superb job down at a Wall Street firm, full time and amply recompensed, benefits and all...and it looks as though he will be taking the offer. I am so proud of him. And he seems so genuinely happy. Which, finally, is all I really care about. Today, he goes to help paint sets for the illustrious Blue Hill Troupe...more on that later.
I am determined to make some sense out of the messiness of this wonderful home of ours and shall begin in our bedroom....we tend to live hard and fast in our home, so piles build up...and no matter how wonderful our cleaning lady is, and no matter how much better it all looks after she's been here, there are still these mysterious and mighty piles of stuff...so today, the piles! And a fresh change of sheets on our bed! Time for a little tender loving care of the old homestead!
So, off to the piles!
The Rubin's mission is to gather art from Himalayan countries, and in so doing, present the art in the religious and social contexts from which it all came. Also, in so doing, they focus on educating their museum patrons in the details and general histories of the countries and religions of the Himalayan Region...so, not only are centuries and eons of tradition on display, but thousands of miles of the various peoples' cultures are lovingly explained and written about for the edificationof the public....it's one of the most interesting museums, therefore, that I've ever been in. And since so much of this art is basically religious, it is also one heck of a spiritual place!!! One entire floor is devoted to the glorious art of the Sikh religion...and since I have known nothing at all about the Sikhs, it began to open my eyes to so much of their world...and its comparative youth as a world culture: only 500 years old...barely older than America! And the art is sumptuous. An art that honors its beliefs in the One True God, and the close relationship of all peoples, no matter their social castes...in its day, it was no doubt revolutionary. How it relates to Buddhism I am most curious about.
In fact, even though the Rubin seems mainly a Buddhist-centered musuem, that is probably because my focus is mainly that and so that is what I saw there on my first pass through...i am interested in going back soon and learning more about other things. Also, by the way, the cafe , right off the lobby, is terrific...the food quite good. Peter and I had lunch there.
On the whole, a perfect New York City day....Fall, crisp and clear, and the musuems like the Rubin offering things no other places on earth can offer....quite the reason to live here.
It was what I would call a perfect afternoon with my adorable husband.
This adorable husband has been offered a superb job down at a Wall Street firm, full time and amply recompensed, benefits and all...and it looks as though he will be taking the offer. I am so proud of him. And he seems so genuinely happy. Which, finally, is all I really care about. Today, he goes to help paint sets for the illustrious Blue Hill Troupe...more on that later.
I am determined to make some sense out of the messiness of this wonderful home of ours and shall begin in our bedroom....we tend to live hard and fast in our home, so piles build up...and no matter how wonderful our cleaning lady is, and no matter how much better it all looks after she's been here, there are still these mysterious and mighty piles of stuff...so today, the piles! And a fresh change of sheets on our bed! Time for a little tender loving care of the old homestead!
So, off to the piles!
Friday, October 13, 2006
Peace
"Can we be permitted to be at peace when millions are dying from violent war and crime every year?" ....a question that formed the basis of so much of our deeper discussion at Menla ...and the answer of, of course: We must find peace within ourselves, or we are, indirectly, responsible for the very thing we want to remedy. In the most basic sense, we are all so vitally connected to each other, that the very fabric of the planet is composed of how we interelate, even though it may seem most of the time that what we think, who we are, and how we behave has no effect at all.
The most violent societies in man's history are the ones where the people conceive of themselves as "good" and others are "bad"....People who are able to tolerate ambiguity about themselves are able to tolerate others more patiently.
The most illogical thoughts are ones of self-righteousness, because, no matter what it is we sit in even the mildest judgement on, we have all done it too!!! That is what unites us! And the more self-cherishing is crushed, the more the selfless, blissful self is released....that does not mean becoming passive or permissive of "evil" or "badness"...we must still be alert to what crushes the human spirit. But being re-active is different from being positively recognizing: re-activity is animalistic and a form of mental killing....bad karma....postive recognition leads to taking personal responsibility, and to possible fruitful action....
All this sort of stuff is what we discussed at the 5 day Menla retreat...and so much more...all based in Buddhist teachings written down 2000 years ago!!!! The very idea that over the centureis, we all still have to re-invent the wheel, rediscover the good of peace and the bad of war...it's all so odd...can we never learn? Is it always a losing game? The more powerful ways we invent to destroy ourselves, the more powerful ways we must recognize to love each other. And to recognize our very selves in each person we meet. Ihave been trying that a lot ont he subway this week...whew! It is hard and emotional work...but, after all, worth the effort...
And I share it with my classes....they seem to deeply understand it. And the subsequent work in class reflects that understanding.
I am very proud of them. My students.
An absolutely stunning cool and clear day out today...NYC is glorious in this sort of early Fall weather...a gift waiting to be opened...a shiny toy ready for play.
And there is an extra bounce in peoples' walk, as they anticipate the joys of the season ahead, if they are lucky enough to have warm soup whenever they want it, cozy clothing in the latest styles and money with which to buy a Christmas tree...the smell of cinnamon and apples...can be comforting. If you have an oven to bake a pie in. So, Peter and I have decided to have a special Thanksgiving here at our home this year. As generous one as we can manage. After all, we have so much for which to be grateful.
The most violent societies in man's history are the ones where the people conceive of themselves as "good" and others are "bad"....People who are able to tolerate ambiguity about themselves are able to tolerate others more patiently.
The most illogical thoughts are ones of self-righteousness, because, no matter what it is we sit in even the mildest judgement on, we have all done it too!!! That is what unites us! And the more self-cherishing is crushed, the more the selfless, blissful self is released....that does not mean becoming passive or permissive of "evil" or "badness"...we must still be alert to what crushes the human spirit. But being re-active is different from being positively recognizing: re-activity is animalistic and a form of mental killing....bad karma....postive recognition leads to taking personal responsibility, and to possible fruitful action....
All this sort of stuff is what we discussed at the 5 day Menla retreat...and so much more...all based in Buddhist teachings written down 2000 years ago!!!! The very idea that over the centureis, we all still have to re-invent the wheel, rediscover the good of peace and the bad of war...it's all so odd...can we never learn? Is it always a losing game? The more powerful ways we invent to destroy ourselves, the more powerful ways we must recognize to love each other. And to recognize our very selves in each person we meet. Ihave been trying that a lot ont he subway this week...whew! It is hard and emotional work...but, after all, worth the effort...
And I share it with my classes....they seem to deeply understand it. And the subsequent work in class reflects that understanding.
I am very proud of them. My students.
An absolutely stunning cool and clear day out today...NYC is glorious in this sort of early Fall weather...a gift waiting to be opened...a shiny toy ready for play.
And there is an extra bounce in peoples' walk, as they anticipate the joys of the season ahead, if they are lucky enough to have warm soup whenever they want it, cozy clothing in the latest styles and money with which to buy a Christmas tree...the smell of cinnamon and apples...can be comforting. If you have an oven to bake a pie in. So, Peter and I have decided to have a special Thanksgiving here at our home this year. As generous one as we can manage. After all, we have so much for which to be grateful.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Published for Pay!
Though I vaguely recall getting some small fee for a few poems I once had published by a poetry journal long gone, that may be the figment of my yearning imagination. So much , though, is now clear: BACKSTAGE has put my first article for them into today's edition, and they will be paying me 75 whole dollars for it!!!! I may frame that check....though Peter says we can frame a copy of it....I can now consider myself a professionbal writer! Yikes! We shall buy today's issue and see what it looks like in print!
Meanwhile, Menla and our Peace Retreat stays with me so vividly...Peter went down to Tibet House last night to listen to the first of four lectures Bob Thurman is giving on Tibetan teachings....called The Lam Rim....and while there, as had been agreed, he spoke with Justin Cruz about volunteering to help digitalize a slew of lectures for use online....Peter goes back today for further discussion on that. And I will join both Peter and Paul at next Wednesday's Lam Rim lecture...
I would also be going to hear Sharon Salzburg's talks on Tuesday night at Tibet House, but my committment to the 4610 Villagers and our Drama Group there remains strong, and the work we are doing on MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM is too much fun to interrupt. These 8 elderly new-born actors are having the time of their lives! And so am I....and they GET Shakespeare so well...understand and speak it like it has been a part of their lives forever,.,,and they adore it...frankly, it's a revalation to me: age and life experience enrich understanding...and these people are so smart.
I am stunned how deeply being at Menla affected Peter. Also being in the presence of a strong, articulate, wonderfully crazy and larger-than-life man like Robert Thurman...Peter really "got " him and adored being in his company, sitting, as it were, at his feet and learning. The fact that Thurman is an athletic and vigorous man, climbing Tibetan mountains in his mid-60's, braving snows and ice to circle sacred mountains, also is deeply appealing to a man like my husband...as well as to the rest of us! He lives his Buddhism vigorously and is passionate about the state of the world....one of the things I will always remember about this latest time at Menla is the way he wept for the sad illusions our world leaders live under...we all felt it. And it was powerful. Compassionate. That sort of vulnerability is human enough to make us all feel honored in the sharing. I know I felt that way.
And in the meantime, the Blade Wheel teachings kept mercilessly slicing away at even the subtlest attempts of my thinking to hide away from the inevitable realizztion: I have lived my life in the illusion that I actually am the most important person on this planet...and though i value my strength and abilities to conribute to others in meanful ways, I had to weep for my innate and arrogant selfishness. My unconscious living by taking unfair advantage of others. We all do it...it is on so many levels socially acceptable...we are, none of us, evil people...not even close to evil...but we are so often UNCONSCIOUS of how we live in the world...and this retreat made me more deeply conscious....took a layer of protective skin away and left some sensitivites...though it feels tender, I am nonetheless, grateful. And, of course, deeply thoughtful. Negotiating the City under the canopy of thought that currently accompanies my every move is an interesting experience. Subways are interesting for sure in my state of mind. But more on that later...
Time for more exploration of the world, as I wend my way to class.....xxevalyn
Meanwhile, Menla and our Peace Retreat stays with me so vividly...Peter went down to Tibet House last night to listen to the first of four lectures Bob Thurman is giving on Tibetan teachings....called The Lam Rim....and while there, as had been agreed, he spoke with Justin Cruz about volunteering to help digitalize a slew of lectures for use online....Peter goes back today for further discussion on that. And I will join both Peter and Paul at next Wednesday's Lam Rim lecture...
I would also be going to hear Sharon Salzburg's talks on Tuesday night at Tibet House, but my committment to the 4610 Villagers and our Drama Group there remains strong, and the work we are doing on MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM is too much fun to interrupt. These 8 elderly new-born actors are having the time of their lives! And so am I....and they GET Shakespeare so well...understand and speak it like it has been a part of their lives forever,.,,and they adore it...frankly, it's a revalation to me: age and life experience enrich understanding...and these people are so smart.
I am stunned how deeply being at Menla affected Peter. Also being in the presence of a strong, articulate, wonderfully crazy and larger-than-life man like Robert Thurman...Peter really "got " him and adored being in his company, sitting, as it were, at his feet and learning. The fact that Thurman is an athletic and vigorous man, climbing Tibetan mountains in his mid-60's, braving snows and ice to circle sacred mountains, also is deeply appealing to a man like my husband...as well as to the rest of us! He lives his Buddhism vigorously and is passionate about the state of the world....one of the things I will always remember about this latest time at Menla is the way he wept for the sad illusions our world leaders live under...we all felt it. And it was powerful. Compassionate. That sort of vulnerability is human enough to make us all feel honored in the sharing. I know I felt that way.
And in the meantime, the Blade Wheel teachings kept mercilessly slicing away at even the subtlest attempts of my thinking to hide away from the inevitable realizztion: I have lived my life in the illusion that I actually am the most important person on this planet...and though i value my strength and abilities to conribute to others in meanful ways, I had to weep for my innate and arrogant selfishness. My unconscious living by taking unfair advantage of others. We all do it...it is on so many levels socially acceptable...we are, none of us, evil people...not even close to evil...but we are so often UNCONSCIOUS of how we live in the world...and this retreat made me more deeply conscious....took a layer of protective skin away and left some sensitivites...though it feels tender, I am nonetheless, grateful. And, of course, deeply thoughtful. Negotiating the City under the canopy of thought that currently accompanies my every move is an interesting experience. Subways are interesting for sure in my state of mind. But more on that later...
Time for more exploration of the world, as I wend my way to class.....xxevalyn
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Menla, Peace and all...
You know, Menla is one of the Medicine Buddhas...there are 7...and since it is Robert Thurman's dream to make the Menla Mountain Retreat a center for Tibetan Medicine and what he calls "Industrial Medicine" to get together and dialogue and discover ways to work together, Menla is the perfect name for this astonishing place in the middle of an enormous crater where a meteorite once fell to earth! The name of the subsequent mountain range is Pantherkill, because of the blue-black color of the rock and shale, and also because of the glorious river running dramatically through the valley...("kill" being Dutch for "river")...one day, Thurman hopes the mountain will actually be called Menla...because the Menla Buddhas are all blue-black in color as well!!! Anyway....all this is preface to the tale of our five days there...it was wonderful....stirring on may levels and disturbing, as well as peaceful and deeply centering...it was alive with thought, discussion and meditation.
The central theme was peace...the central teachings, The Blade Wheel of Mind Reformation that the Dalai Lama taught while he was here at the Beacon Theater two weeks ago....Bob and Sharon Salzburg decided that since the Dalai Lama hd to rush through so much of the profound latter part of the teachings , that to focus on them in a more concise and provocative way over this retreat time would be a good grounding in talking about peace...and so...that is what we did...thoroughly understandable, since Peace does begin with us as individuals, and the Blade Wheel is all about conquering the "enemies" of self-cherishment and self-centeredness...the Blade Wheel, as poetic as it is, is sharp and harsh in its demands that we face and get rid of as much self-ego-selfishness as we can on a conscious level....it is subtle and clever in pointing out the ways, in verse after verse, we delude ourselves into thinking we are selfless, and in reality are deeply, stingily and destructively anti-the-other! AMazing..and scary and wonderful! We humans are so full of clever tricks!!! It delightful as well as infuriating...as complex as we are as human animals....more on that ...
Right now...I have to go pick up puppies at our friends Janice and Sue who took care of them while we were gone....thank you Susan and Janice!
The central theme was peace...the central teachings, The Blade Wheel of Mind Reformation that the Dalai Lama taught while he was here at the Beacon Theater two weeks ago....Bob and Sharon Salzburg decided that since the Dalai Lama hd to rush through so much of the profound latter part of the teachings , that to focus on them in a more concise and provocative way over this retreat time would be a good grounding in talking about peace...and so...that is what we did...thoroughly understandable, since Peace does begin with us as individuals, and the Blade Wheel is all about conquering the "enemies" of self-cherishment and self-centeredness...the Blade Wheel, as poetic as it is, is sharp and harsh in its demands that we face and get rid of as much self-ego-selfishness as we can on a conscious level....it is subtle and clever in pointing out the ways, in verse after verse, we delude ourselves into thinking we are selfless, and in reality are deeply, stingily and destructively anti-the-other! AMazing..and scary and wonderful! We humans are so full of clever tricks!!! It delightful as well as infuriating...as complex as we are as human animals....more on that ...
Right now...I have to go pick up puppies at our friends Janice and Sue who took care of them while we were gone....thank you Susan and Janice!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Retreat Into Peace
...which is exactly what I will be doing this afternoon, as Peter, Paul, Steven and I drive away into the north of New York State, up to Menla Center for a 5-day Buddhist study and retreat the subject for the 5 days is Peace...and, given the state of the world, and of human lives in general, I can think of no better subject to meditate and contemplate on than that particular subject: peace...pace...pacificity...peace. I can hardly wait to get onto the mat and wrestle in the most peaceful way possible: this subject...contemplation...breathing..and being in the presence of Sharon Salzburg and Robert Thurman once more.
I am missing a Song Analysis class tomorrow, but old pal Judy Kuhn has agreed to teach it for me, and all the students are very excited to be in the presence of one of their childhood Disney heroines: Pocahontas! It will be good for them to hear what she has to teach about breath and language. And good for me to get away and get some perspective on NYC and teaching, for a few days..I have been so in the thick of it!
So, for all who read these pages I will be computer-less and cell phone-less for 5 entire days! So I will answer mail when I return!
Chirstopher Columbus discovered new worlds...i intend to do the same within 5 days of silence and beauty. Peace indeed.
I am missing a Song Analysis class tomorrow, but old pal Judy Kuhn has agreed to teach it for me, and all the students are very excited to be in the presence of one of their childhood Disney heroines: Pocahontas! It will be good for them to hear what she has to teach about breath and language. And good for me to get away and get some perspective on NYC and teaching, for a few days..I have been so in the thick of it!
So, for all who read these pages I will be computer-less and cell phone-less for 5 entire days! So I will answer mail when I return!
Chirstopher Columbus discovered new worlds...i intend to do the same within 5 days of silence and beauty. Peace indeed.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Steinhardt Triumph
...and a triumph it honestly was: probably the best show I have ever seen produced at NYU, at Tisch or anywhere else! URINETOWN, last night, at the Frederick Loewe Theater on West Fourth Street....really a terrific student production, directed by the obviously gifted John Simpkins, a fellow teacher of mine in the Steinhardt program! WOW, DID HE DO A GREAT JOB, as did his terrific choreographer Jennifer Werner....wonderful work !
And the cast was so exciting! Pretty much all of them threw themselves into the passionately physical style of the show and made it their own, and the resulting characters were real, engaging, funny, sly, and totally entertaining...also, the company sounded wonderful, under the musical direction of James Cunningham.....James plays for my Song Analysis class as well, but I had no idea he was capable of such intricate and strong orchestral work and conducting....impressive! I was really proud of two students of mine from last semester: Jenna Dallaco and Lars Vercelli....! YAY! Terrific character work...and they sounded terrific! Gorgeous!
Peter and I had a perfect time there, and i felt proud to be part of Steinhardt School...ut I felt that after working rehearsals for Bill Wesbrook's MERRY WIDOW as well, last semester...there is just really sound and good work that goes on at Steinhardt! And the kids are being well taught. From John Simpkins works alone, on this URINETOWN, I can teach effective classes for the rest of this semester, based on what was shown by the students in that work....and all my students, who are required to see every show will have seen and will understand what I talk about when I praise the physical work and committment of the URINETOWN cast. It all adds up when you see it on a stage.
This morning , I spoke with Judy Kuhn, not only a beautiful actress/singer but also a truly good teacher, and she agreed to do a Master Class with my Song Analysis kids this coming Thursday, since I have to miss class to go up to a peace retreat at Menla....I do hope it all works out, since the kids will get a great deal from working with her, and I trust her style and approach, to do with breath and language.
And I can tell that Judy really wants to teach more. So I do hope it all works out.
That way I will also fell less guilty about missing class. I do hate to do that. But this I must do....
LAUGHING MATTERS was even more powerful on Friday, and by the time we finished reducing that full house to tears, we were all bonded as a company, and I actually miss some of the nice people I met on that job....terrifc talents. And ,boy, did we decimate that group of 90 or so people!!! Tears flowed and laughter rocked the room!
A great piece of work, that LAUGHING MATTERS! Hope it goes somewhere farther...whether or not I am further involved with it...that is how much i truly love the piece. It tells an important story. I was very fortunate to be part of it.
And the cast was so exciting! Pretty much all of them threw themselves into the passionately physical style of the show and made it their own, and the resulting characters were real, engaging, funny, sly, and totally entertaining...also, the company sounded wonderful, under the musical direction of James Cunningham.....James plays for my Song Analysis class as well, but I had no idea he was capable of such intricate and strong orchestral work and conducting....impressive! I was really proud of two students of mine from last semester: Jenna Dallaco and Lars Vercelli....! YAY! Terrific character work...and they sounded terrific! Gorgeous!
Peter and I had a perfect time there, and i felt proud to be part of Steinhardt School...ut I felt that after working rehearsals for Bill Wesbrook's MERRY WIDOW as well, last semester...there is just really sound and good work that goes on at Steinhardt! And the kids are being well taught. From John Simpkins works alone, on this URINETOWN, I can teach effective classes for the rest of this semester, based on what was shown by the students in that work....and all my students, who are required to see every show will have seen and will understand what I talk about when I praise the physical work and committment of the URINETOWN cast. It all adds up when you see it on a stage.
This morning , I spoke with Judy Kuhn, not only a beautiful actress/singer but also a truly good teacher, and she agreed to do a Master Class with my Song Analysis kids this coming Thursday, since I have to miss class to go up to a peace retreat at Menla....I do hope it all works out, since the kids will get a great deal from working with her, and I trust her style and approach, to do with breath and language.
And I can tell that Judy really wants to teach more. So I do hope it all works out.
That way I will also fell less guilty about missing class. I do hate to do that. But this I must do....
LAUGHING MATTERS was even more powerful on Friday, and by the time we finished reducing that full house to tears, we were all bonded as a company, and I actually miss some of the nice people I met on that job....terrifc talents. And ,boy, did we decimate that group of 90 or so people!!! Tears flowed and laughter rocked the room!
A great piece of work, that LAUGHING MATTERS! Hope it goes somewhere farther...whether or not I am further involved with it...that is how much i truly love the piece. It tells an important story. I was very fortunate to be part of it.
