The Great Pride March of Marvelous New York City is moving down Fifth Avenue. (That's not its official name, just mine.) And nothing could be more fortuitous. Because of one Supreme Court decision, just days ago, every person in America can marry and receive all the benefits, and responsibilities, that legally come with doing so. (Not to mention, with that other decision, they can be insured.) Before this week, many elected officials were still spouting bile about the "sanctity" of marriage between a man and a woman, using this hate speech to rouse fundamentalist conservatives to vote for them. Of course, none of them seem to mention divorce, which seems to "de-sanctify" it to me! Or claim Marriage Equality will lead to people wedding their pets. Seeing some of these morons, I'd say we already have that. Well, now they can rant and rave all they want. It's fucking done! How to celebrate where you are? Love each other.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
A Beginning and an Ending
Finally, all the checking, the seemingly endless paperwork, the final "approved" bank transactions have led to the completion of the Kickstarter campaign. The money has come through. And I have had another myriad, powerful series of emotional responses: this entire endeavor has been rife with them. I started the process a year ago, before my novel was completed--well, to my satisfaction anyway. I researched and researched and researched until I felt I had gained enough knowledge to put together a workable campaign and see it through to the end. I enlisted help from friends and family. And I continued to work on my novel while I worked on everything else. As the time grew nearer, my anxiety grew stronger. I began to have manic episodes more frequently. I even changed the beginning and ending dates twice. Mostly from fear that I was not prepared. Then I took the plunge... Six weeks of frustration and worry and thankfulness and joy were the results. It's done!
This entire process has been humbling, marvelous, and personal. I've felt a little numb lately. So much work brought so much gain. How many beautiful people gave so I could finish this dream of mine! I will never be able to show them my full gratitude, because that would be impossible. But my budget is set, my post-campaign started, the long wait for publication begun. And they have ensured all of it.
As celebration, my husband Jav and I went to see the final performance of a Broadway musical, The Visit, that proved to be historic in many ways. (We bought very inexpensive seats in the balcony, lest you think we spent Kickstarter funds.) Happily, it began the final journey for a work decades in the making. Producers are already interested in creating productions around the world. So said one of the producers from the stage after the performance. It made history in two more important ways: it was the final work of the great musical writing team of John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics.) Ebb died in 2004. never seeing his work make it to Broadway. The team worked on it for over a decade. Kander is 88. The book was written by the famed playwright Terence McNally, aged 76. But perhaps most auspicious of all, this was the farewell to Broadway of the great musical star, Chita Rivera. At 82, she was still starring in a show, singing (and dancing!) for all but a few minutes of the 95 minute musical. Eight shows a week. She had created the role of Anita in West Side Story. That was in 1957. She has rarely been off stage since. To many of us, she is an icon of a system fading fast away. She was a stage star, not someone popular from another medium that gained enough fame to make it to Broadway. She worked with most of the great composers and lyricists. This was her fourth Kander and Ebb work, including the role of Velma Kelly in the original production of Chicago. She won Tony awards for two of them. This was the third time I saw her perform live. Delightful though the first two were, neither quite prepared me for this glorious swan song: of her close friends, of her last score, and her final Broadway performance. Many of us (including Chita) couldn't stop tears from coming. This is what all lovers of theater so rarely see. How could any of us not be moved? Shocking though it may seem, her voice is still recognizable as the young performer singing "America" and "A Boy Like That." Here she is in her final number from The Visit. She is performing with the ghost of her younger self. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypYmkev9Sfg Perhaps she'll go to London, if it moves there. But probably not. She went out at the top of her game. I was honored to witness it. In the audience were John Kander and Terrance McNally. Equally fitting, two actors were making their Broadway debuts. The torch was passed. Jav and I waited by the stage door for an autograph from her, something we rarely do. She signed our program, a picture of her backstage during the run of West Side Story. She posed for a picture with me. This is one of the great things about living in New York. Sometimes you meet royalty.
This entire process has been humbling, marvelous, and personal. I've felt a little numb lately. So much work brought so much gain. How many beautiful people gave so I could finish this dream of mine! I will never be able to show them my full gratitude, because that would be impossible. But my budget is set, my post-campaign started, the long wait for publication begun. And they have ensured all of it.
As celebration, my husband Jav and I went to see the final performance of a Broadway musical, The Visit, that proved to be historic in many ways. (We bought very inexpensive seats in the balcony, lest you think we spent Kickstarter funds.) Happily, it began the final journey for a work decades in the making. Producers are already interested in creating productions around the world. So said one of the producers from the stage after the performance. It made history in two more important ways: it was the final work of the great musical writing team of John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics.) Ebb died in 2004. never seeing his work make it to Broadway. The team worked on it for over a decade. Kander is 88. The book was written by the famed playwright Terence McNally, aged 76. But perhaps most auspicious of all, this was the farewell to Broadway of the great musical star, Chita Rivera. At 82, she was still starring in a show, singing (and dancing!) for all but a few minutes of the 95 minute musical. Eight shows a week. She had created the role of Anita in West Side Story. That was in 1957. She has rarely been off stage since. To many of us, she is an icon of a system fading fast away. She was a stage star, not someone popular from another medium that gained enough fame to make it to Broadway. She worked with most of the great composers and lyricists. This was her fourth Kander and Ebb work, including the role of Velma Kelly in the original production of Chicago. She won Tony awards for two of them. This was the third time I saw her perform live. Delightful though the first two were, neither quite prepared me for this glorious swan song: of her close friends, of her last score, and her final Broadway performance. Many of us (including Chita) couldn't stop tears from coming. This is what all lovers of theater so rarely see. How could any of us not be moved? Shocking though it may seem, her voice is still recognizable as the young performer singing "America" and "A Boy Like That." Here she is in her final number from The Visit. She is performing with the ghost of her younger self. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypYmkev9Sfg Perhaps she'll go to London, if it moves there. But probably not. She went out at the top of her game. I was honored to witness it. In the audience were John Kander and Terrance McNally. Equally fitting, two actors were making their Broadway debuts. The torch was passed. Jav and I waited by the stage door for an autograph from her, something we rarely do. She signed our program, a picture of her backstage during the run of West Side Story. She posed for a picture with me. This is one of the great things about living in New York. Sometimes you meet royalty.
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