Fuller post to follow, but a quick by-the-numbers:
Days: 9 Houses: 6 Miles: 28 Attendees: 54 Songs Played: 42 Songs Written/Improvised: 7 Liquor: 4 Manhattans 4 dbl Jim on the Rocks 3 Glasses Wine 3 tall Frog-in-a-Blenders 4 Glasses of "I Don't Know, Something Tasty" 11 Beers Lessons In Brief: - Better Packing for Better Living - The Right Footwear and the Right Deodorant solve 90% of your problems. - Shut Up and Take a Compliment - Why Would You Ever Be Afraid? - Fun is Completely Free - Why Aren't We Always Smiling at One Another?
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The first week of August I was very fortunate to go on the Freedom Art Retreat, an annual magic trick put together by Ilana Brownstein and the amazing folks at Playwrights’ Commons (which is really Ilana and her lovely assistant, Corianna Moffatt). We spent a week in North Conway, NH, in a lodge house near a pond, with 10 strangers (mostly strangers, all strange), spending every day making theatre, music, and amazing food. Not kidding: it was a magic trick. Except it wasn’t a trick.
I tried as hard as I could to know nothing about what I was in for, and I’m glad I did. Since I got back it’s been difficult to process what exactly happened and what I learned. I’m not sure I can put it into words, and I don’t think it’s an experience that translates at all to a blog. To try to recreate the journey feels wasteful and inappropriate for a blog. So without trying to recapture the events, a few things I learned that are more than applicable to the world outside of North Conway, NH 1. Silence and Darkness = soul sorbet. They cleanse the palate. Necessary. 2. Swimming! 3. You can make an amazing piece of theatre from anything. 4. You can make an amazing piece of theatre with anyone. [Aside: I’ve spent a lot of time and energy in my life wanting/trying to work with “the right people.” Dumb. The only time there are “right people” is when your idea is very rigid. Work with any people, in an open and loving way, and the “right” project for the group will naturally flower.] 5. Be Grateful (and express it) for your food and for the company you are lucky enough to be in. You won’t always have either. 6. An idea doesn’t have to come to fruition through my working alone in a room. Not exactly revolutionary but writers (this one anyway) can maybe get a little stuck in that idea. It’s not true. You can give your idea to someone else. It’s allowed. And amazing things will happen when you do. 7. How and Why are important questions that maybe don’t need to be answered concretely. 8. Music is more necessary to my life than I’ve ever given it credit for, and that will now change. 9. Every morning should begin with giggles, and every evening should end with a jam session. (And scotch. But maybe a little less scotch). 10. It’s incredibly freeing to approach a piece of theatre from the POV of a playwright, but never even consider picking up a pen and paper. You can write with actions, with bodies, with color, with dust, with sounds. Much more interesting. Those, and the 10 new Bitties in my life, are what I brought back with me from North Conway. The one other thing I’d like to say is this is an amazing company who is making an impact in Boston theatre, and on individual artists. In two years, they’ve taken 20 + artists on these retreats, in addition to hosting monthly gatherings. This January they’re starting a new winter retreat, where even more writers will be served. This is all done out of pocket. I urge anyone who cares about theatre, theatre artists, playwrights, or play development, to consider a donation to Playwrights’ Commons. The investment will go incredibly far. It’s the time of year that you just can’t get away from holiday music. Like all music, some holiday tunes are fantastic and some is downright horrible. Some folks can't get enough and some quickly get too much. I’m not a lover or a hater. I have a few standard favorites but I’m not someone who has a playlist 5 hours long and just puts it on repeat for the month. The songs I return to over and over are the collection Vince Guaraldi put together for the CB special, Deano’s “baby it’s cold outside” (although Kurt and Blaine’s is pretty lovely too) – even though that’s a WINTER song and not strictly a holiday song. And you can’t really go wrong with the Jackson 5 Christmas tunes or anything Harry Connick touches. Though I'm not a member of the chosen, I also have a soft spot for Sandler's Hannukuh Song. However there is one song that I cannot get enough of. Ever. And I’m ashamed of it, frankly. But for me I don’t think of the holidays at all until I hear it for the first time: Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Xmas Is You (the 1994 version sans Justin Bieber). Let’s face it, Mariah’s a fabulous singer who’s kind of gone to seed. At this point in her life she’s essentially a Kardashian with a talent. But god what a talent it is. She’s in good form on the song, and it’s a tune that – from the slow-burn opening, to the speed-up piano riff, to the horns and the beat – is built really well. It’s so well produced and so fun. It’s got a great bridge. And best of all it's got a kick ass back-up part. And if you know me, you know that all I really want to do with my life is be a singer in a girl group. THIS is an awesome girl group song, even if it's men singing the back up. Honestly I can’t hear the song without smiling and dancing my booty off. There is no thing that fills me with holiday joy like this song, and no matter how many times I hear it I have the same reaction. In fact I have been known to play it a second time immediately after it finishes, because I just need MORE. So there it is. I’m out of the closet. How about you – what’s your all time favorite Xmas tune? |