A Good Year

Around the end of December I start seeing Facebook posts pop up that say things like, "Fuck you 2012! I can't wait for you to be out of my life." Or, "Good Riddance to this year!" I understand, I suppose, it's part of welcoming the New Year in: shunning the previous one. Not only that but acknowledging that we are looking forward to the possibilities of a fresh start and noting all the things, places and people we left or were taken in the year before.

I have to be honest though. I had a pretty killer 2012. It's not the first year that my income produced from theater work (to be clear, that's not JUST acting. A majority of that is teaching) outweigh my "other random stuff" income, but this year it tipped the scales pretty heavily.

I thought I'd take a moment and reflect upon the huge variety of projects, shows and performances I was lucky enough to be a part of this year.

January-April: I toured some Shakespeare for high school students all over the state. I've mentioned the content of awesome of which this tour is filled, and this year was no different. We toured Macbeth, terrifying and inspiring children all over the state, bringing Shakespeare to people who wouldn't have an opportunity to see it otherwise.

Sadly, my computer crashed shortly after the tour ended, so I have very few photos from this tour (we took upwards of 1000).

April: Me and My Shadow. This show was unlike anything I'd ever done and it was pretty terrifying. Written by a good friend of mine with whom I went to college, working with many of the tour cast, plus some other favorite colleagues from college, designed by good friends and performed in a space that I'm slowly starting to realize is becoming my home as a performer, this show was for an improvisational experimental music festival. We had a nine piece band that underscored much of the production, live projection VJs, and a whole lotta weird. So glad I had the experience.

Also worth noting: Stage handing for Red Light Variety Show. More on that later.

I feel like photos like this is generally why people thing performers are weird. They're right.

May and June: I began rehearsals for my first main stage show at a company I've been working for since I graduated college in 2009 and have been wanting to work for since I saw one of their show for the first time in 2000. Pretty rad. Oh, and teaching. LOTS of teaching.

You can't quite see it, but my hair looks amazing in this shot.

July: TEACHING. SO. MUCH. TEACHING. I taught 3-5 year-olds Shakespeare for the first time. So that was... Well, it was. Also. A play reading at the end of the month for the show I ultimately directed in September.

August: MORE TEACHING. And another reading. This one written by three good friends of mine based upon the Lewis Carol poem; Jabberwockey. We had a fantastic turn out, great response and a really wonderful time.

Post show discussion. Sadly, you cannot see how sweaty we all are. We turned off the AC for the reading.

September: Rehearsals began for The Basement Company. A show that a previous roommate and friend wrote as a one act dark comedy. This show was really important to me, largely because it made me realize what incredibly talented, kind and generous people make up my co-workers and friends. So many people went pretty far out of their way to help me on this project, with very little gain for themselves, and I will be eternally grateful to all of them.

Again, worth noting: Another stage hand gig for Red Light.

October: You guys. I can't for the life of me remember this month. And I have no record of it. WHAT HAPPENED?!?

November: A really ridiculous and ambitious notion that I would write one blog post per day of this month that failed pretty miserably. You are welcome. Also, a surprise offer of performing in Breadcrumbs, with Alley Rep. Another really wonderful experience. The smallest cast I've been apart of and some really interesting text.

December: I began "directing" for Red Light Variety Show. The quotations are there because Red Light is my first experience directing something that doesn't have a script. And that's weird. It was certainly a learning curve, but a really enjoyable one. I mean, it's a bunch of people taking off their cloths in funny, sexy and talented ways, how could that not be anything less that fun?

Red Light is pretty near and dear to my little always-clothed heart. I have a lot of respect for the ladies (and gentlemen) that perform with them. The range of body types they exhibit, the confidence they have and the courage to honor the burlesque tradition is just inspiring. They all have normal bodies, that are all completely different, and all completely beautiful, and they know it, which makes them the sexiest theater group in town, for sure.

So. That was last year. Thanks 2012. Well hi there, 2013.