Visiting Allston
Taking a cue from my good friend Piddmus, I kept up my ritualistic weekly observance of Comic Book Day (for those of you who don't speak geek, every Wednesday, the new comic books come out). I was disappointed, nay, angered and dismayed, to hear that Marvel's Civil War is delayed, pushed backed to next year (though, truth to tell, I was starting to get a little bored with it...). Anyway, the one I was really looking forward to was Phonogram, which reveals the truth that most of us knew already, namely that Pop Music is Magic. Yes. It. Is. I love it, even though I don't get half the music references.
But this is about Theatre, at least nominally, so let's talk about that for a moment (I'll get back to the comics shortly). Rehearsals continue to proceed nicely. No diva-ish behavior, no weird psychological stuff. Everybody still seems lovely, and I'm finally starting to feel relaxed enough where I don't feel I need to apologize for existing, which allows me to then remember that I'm actually a pretty cool guy, sometimes, geekdom notwithstanding. The 7 hour days are still extremely demanding, but I'm learning quite a bit just by being in the space, doing the moves, making the thing happen. It's everything that AMDA didn't teach me, or rather the application of everything that they tried to teach me, but happening in such a way that they actually don't dehumanize me and suck the creative joy right out of acting. Suffice to say that I'm having a great time, really enjoying the process, and not feeling like I suck. I don't really even have time to suck. Sucking is really a function of the mind (i.e. "Oh my god, I can't believe how bad I suck, oh everyone must think I suck..." etc., etc., blah, blah, blah), and if the mind is usefully engaged, say, in rehearsing like a mad thing, then there's literally no time to suck. The mind (wherein suck resides and works its poisonous way) looks at suck, and, since it is not immediately pertinent to learning lines, blocking, or acting, throws it away. How lovely it is to be busy, how good and joyful is our complete lack of free time!
Today, I spent most of my day being a frog. As I believe I've mentioned, it's a workout, and I'm hoping to come back a fit, muscular, cut God/frog. Anyway, I'm exhausted, which should explain the rambling, almost entirely nonsensical nature of this post.
So, back to comics. The one comic I was looking forward to, Phongram, wasn't in stock at the first place I went, so I had to get back on the bus and ride down to Allston. Now, for those of you who don't know (and most of you who actually read this monumentally narcissistic little creation do know) I've worked for a few years with a terrific little group of miscreants called Nosedive Productions. The very first play I saw them put on was a meditation on race and being Young, Angry, and Drunk called Allston. It was quite good. However, from what I had learned of Allston from that play, I expected it to be more like, I don't know, the Bronx or something. It was actually quite nice. A lovely little neighborhood. It reminded me of Astoria.
No point, I just thought I'd shout out my Nosedive buddies. That's all.
But this is about Theatre, at least nominally, so let's talk about that for a moment (I'll get back to the comics shortly). Rehearsals continue to proceed nicely. No diva-ish behavior, no weird psychological stuff. Everybody still seems lovely, and I'm finally starting to feel relaxed enough where I don't feel I need to apologize for existing, which allows me to then remember that I'm actually a pretty cool guy, sometimes, geekdom notwithstanding. The 7 hour days are still extremely demanding, but I'm learning quite a bit just by being in the space, doing the moves, making the thing happen. It's everything that AMDA didn't teach me, or rather the application of everything that they tried to teach me, but happening in such a way that they actually don't dehumanize me and suck the creative joy right out of acting. Suffice to say that I'm having a great time, really enjoying the process, and not feeling like I suck. I don't really even have time to suck. Sucking is really a function of the mind (i.e. "Oh my god, I can't believe how bad I suck, oh everyone must think I suck..." etc., etc., blah, blah, blah), and if the mind is usefully engaged, say, in rehearsing like a mad thing, then there's literally no time to suck. The mind (wherein suck resides and works its poisonous way) looks at suck, and, since it is not immediately pertinent to learning lines, blocking, or acting, throws it away. How lovely it is to be busy, how good and joyful is our complete lack of free time!
Today, I spent most of my day being a frog. As I believe I've mentioned, it's a workout, and I'm hoping to come back a fit, muscular, cut God/frog. Anyway, I'm exhausted, which should explain the rambling, almost entirely nonsensical nature of this post.
So, back to comics. The one comic I was looking forward to, Phongram, wasn't in stock at the first place I went, so I had to get back on the bus and ride down to Allston. Now, for those of you who don't know (and most of you who actually read this monumentally narcissistic little creation do know) I've worked for a few years with a terrific little group of miscreants called Nosedive Productions. The very first play I saw them put on was a meditation on race and being Young, Angry, and Drunk called Allston. It was quite good. However, from what I had learned of Allston from that play, I expected it to be more like, I don't know, the Bronx or something. It was actually quite nice. A lovely little neighborhood. It reminded me of Astoria.
No point, I just thought I'd shout out my Nosedive buddies. That's all.
posted by Scott | 6:16 PM
2 Comments:
No, Allston is pretty nice and Astoria-esque. Still, from what I hear, the gentrification issues that I had written about waaay back in 1998, '99 have gotten much worse in the area.
At any rate, good to hear that the tour's going well, and thnks for the shout-out. Woo-hoo!
And Nosedive shouts back at you!
(Nosedive also shouts at traffic cops, small babies, and the corner mailbox, so don't take it personally)
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