Is It Time for an Update?

That's a rhetorical question.  These life update posts have no schedule and probably have little to no audience, but I'll publish one anyway, because I like to hear myself talk (and see myself write).

I haven't done a post like this since the end of December.  I suppose that's because not much has gone on.  It's not that nothing has happened.  It's more about quality versus quantity.  

I spent the early part of the year in rehearsals for my most recent play, William Inge's Picnic.  When I was reading the script to prepare for the audition, I knew what part I wanted and what part I didn't want.  It was the part I dreaded being cast in.  It was the role of Christine, an occasional walk-on character with no defined personality, no interesting lines, and no major relevance to the story.  I saw the play in the Broadway revival in 2013 and I barely remembered her, because she was not a memorable character.  Of course that was the role I was cast in.  

I had a decision to make.  Should I accept the role and suck it up, or not accept the role and see if I could find something else?  What if I didn't find another play to audition for?  What if I auditioned for another play and wasn't cast?  Isn't doing a crap role better than no role at all?  I had a feeling I would regret not doing it more than I regretted doing it.  I accepted the role and decided the role would be what I would make of it.  I did my best to give the character some kind of personality.  I was also cast in a second small role as the offstage voice of another character's elderly mother.

I don't regret doing the show at all.  This was a beautiful production. There were a few old friends in the cast as well as some actors I never worked with before.  We all worked well together and got along beautifully.  The cast was hard working and dedicated.  Usually I am in a panic a week or two before a play's opening night as it feels like nothing will come together and everything is a mess.  That wasn't the case with this cast. Everyone had lines and blocking memorized.  Actors always showed up for rehearsal and showed up on time.  They committed themselves while they were there and cast and crew were always respectful.  The roles were well suited and well played.  

The set was gorgeous too.

Still, after my last few shows and some unsuccessful auditions, I do worry I will never be taken seriously as an actor.  I fear I will perpetually be thought of as The Girl Who Does Funny Voices.  If the play doesn't need a funny voice, nobody will give me a chance with anything else.

So far spring holidays have been low key.  Most of the family was away for Easter.  Mom hosted a brunch at her place for Kevin and me and we spent the day with the horses.  

After Easter Mom and I went downtown to see the Immersive Monet exhibit.  This was supposed to be her Christmas present.  She told me she wanted experiences and not stuff for Christmas.  What she wanted the most was for someone to take her to one of the popular local events.  I bought tickets for Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo, but it was pouring rain the night we were supposed to go.  I suggested we go to Immersive Monet in January instead.  She missed the Immersive Van Gogh when it was in town and wanted to have a similar experience.  We missed that one because of a medical emergency.  Immersive Monet was set to leave town in February and I was starting play rehearsals.  I told her to pick an event or place she wanted to go for April after the play was over.  

Then I saw Immersive Monet was going to be staying around for a few extra weeks.  I suggested we try again.  

I didn't take food photos, but we had a great lunch at a café called La Parisienne.  It doesn't take reservations, but it has a little electronic kiosk outside where you can put your name on the waiting list.  Every time you move up on the list, it sends you a text.  You can go for a walk as you wait for a table and you can keep track of approximately how long you will have to wait.  The food is satisfying.  I was tempted by the case full of pastries, but my lunch was so filling I couldn't eat anything else.  (Shocking I know)

The exhibit was lovely.  Immersive Van Gogh was only a long presentation of music and animated paintings.  The Monet exhibit started out with exhibit rooms on Monet's life and work and a simulated Giverny garden.  

See the water lilies under this fake bridge?  These are made by contributors.  The exhibit provides a coloring template and crayons.  You color it in and then scan it and your water lily appears under the bridge.

After viewing the interpretive exhibits, we were shown into a big open room with the paintings projected all over the walls and set to music.  There was narration involved as well.

About that medical emergency.  I had a strange health issue this winter.  It started out with what I thought was an earache.  At first it seemed to be in my ear, but then it was behind my ear and moved down to the back of my neck.  I went to urgent care when the pain become too bad.  Urgent care said it could potentially be serious and if it still hurt to go to the hospital.  I went to the ER two days later.  The ER said I jumped the gun a bit and sent me to an ENT the next day (my original Monet day) to double check. The ENT said it was only a likely viral infection and take some Flonase.  Then the pain began migrating to the back of my head and neck.  I couldn't touch my head because it was so tender.  I ended up going to a neurologist.  

After a meeting with the neurologist and an MRI my ultimate diagnosis was occipital neuralgia - a fancy way of saying I have nerve pain in the back of my head.  I got some meds for it and after a while it went into remission.  I have no idea if this will be a chronic thing.  At its worst it hurt to move my head.  I have no idea what caused it.  I sometimes have neck pain from sleeping in weird positions.  I suspect I'm pinching nerves all over the place. 

Also this spring I was able to catch my nephew’s spring band concert.  Charles is a senior now.  The cliché about kids seeming to grow up fast is true.  I watched him conduct a small ensemble who played a piece he composed.

In other performing arts news…

This weekend Kevin's play opens up.  He's playing the part of Eddie in Lost in Yonkers (performed, appropriately enough, in Yonkers).  I'm hoping it's as good of a production as Picnic.  

Once that's all over it will be the two of us with lots of free time to spend together with the horses, which sometimes feels like a rare treat.  We are gearing up for back-to-back July vacations, which is our main upcoming excitement (and when it happens I will tell you all about it).  There will be holidays and birthdays to celebrate along the way.  The blog will update as needed.

I got my bi-annual blowout too!