Every day it's a gettin' closer

A little Buddy Holly to spark up the weekend. Always works for me.

Our NYC date is confirmed for March 2nd at 8pm. If you live in the New York area, I sincerely hope you can make it. Will post ticket information as soon as I have it. I was not expecting a Saturday night spot, and I am really happy about it, what an honor. It feels great to be working toward this.

A note about rehearsals. They seem slow and methodical at times. Other times we'll be shooting the breeze or playing with the beautiful Valentina (Magali's little girl). And that is the core of the creative process. Sometimes it's really intense. Other times light and slightly out of focus. It allows me to relax and feel more myself in the piece and after each session there's a lot more clarity.

Check out this beautiful post that David Dabney of Red Rooster Creative made!

I really love it. I am a performer, first and foremost, and a writer. I deal with tangibles like words and emotions in time and space. To have a creative team expanding the project is a new experience for me. It's a new experience to watch them take the tangibles that we bring out in discussion and translate them into the visual metaphor using light, sound, physical space, and design.

Here's the team: Lee Kitts - Director; Magali Henderson - Stage Manager; Karen Perlow - Lighting; Karen Anselm - set and costume; & Laura Pirard - Sound Design.

More next week!

Watching the Ravens and the Patriots duke it out. I love the Ravens, not because I am such a huge football fan, but because of what they pulled off last week up against the Broncos. They were at elevation, in 8 degree weather, never giving up even in the last 30 seconds. Talk about Never Give Up! I love the team, even though all I see when I watch football is big strong men sustaining irreversible brain damage voluntarily.

Today was a great day. We are remounting The Bark & The Tree and were able to get into The Cell Theater to check blocking and adjust things. Script still in hand, there are a few moments that are coming to life in new ways. Interesting that when I wrote and performed the play 3 years ago, I didn't really understand what it was about. Now, working with Lee Kitts, and having had time to sit with the material, the core of it is getting clear. It is a lesson in trust. It didn't really matter if I knew what the play was about. It was more important to get it up on the boards and let it unfold. It reminds me of some songwriters I've talked with who's song means one thing to them, but the audience has it's own experience and emotional response. Soon I will be able to sum up in one line what the meaning is for me . . . soon.

In attendance at the run through today was documentary film maker Donna Lee Wells (She Had Some Horses). She came to see us at work, and I believe is interested using the process of getting B & T up and running as the focus of her next project. I am looking forward to finding out what she has in mind. I hope it will have something to do with women of a certain age creating meaningful work!

We should have a date for the New York show this week. Time is flying! 

Well, that flew by...

Hello and Happy New Year, again... I am sitting at Annapurna's World Chai House in Albuquerque, sipping a "cup of productivity." The owner Yashoda Naidoo tells me it's all the oxygen the spices cause to flow into my bloodstream. I think it's the caffeine. I drink caffeine on special occasions now, like others turn to champagne. That's sound a bit pathetic, but trust me, I am much more entertaining caffeinated than filled with bubbles.

So happy new year! Last year was filled with a lot of forward momentum. After teaching at Sol Acting Academy for almost a year, John and I bought the place and moved it to a new location at 5500 San Mateo Blvd, NE in ABQ. It is a studio filled with joy, laughter, and some really GREAT acting work. I am so proud.

We also moved to a new home in Albuquerque. 2012 was a year where I don't think I sat down much, except on airplanes. A year filled with travel, and work, and family. It was quiet compared to the previous years that were preoccupied with the illnesses and loss of my dear in-laws. We celebrated the arrival of a new grand daughter, Francis Sophia Dillon-Varner and went to visit her and her loving parents in Germany. What a thrill! Pictures on Facebook!

I am calling 2013 the Year of Dreams Come True. I started this blog in 2009 taking small steps to explore the path back into acting. My goal was simply to enter into the profession again full time without going nuts. I've shared here the great learning experiences I have had along the way. I am really excited to say that many seeds of the dreams and goals are now starting flourish.

Which reminds me of this thing I learned. John and I visited a state park in eastern Arizona recently and I learned that there are these little tiny organisms that lay dormant in the sandstone. In their slumber they can withstand huge degree temperature differentials. Some scientists even shot them into space on the outside of a Space Shuttle to test this out. They can last over 50 years this way only to be revived, when the causes and conditions are correct, as a living shrimp-like organism  that thrives in rain water puddles that gather in the sandstone. Crazy.

So, if their dream of life can hold steadfast, mine can, too! Maybe this sounds goofy... sorry.

The Bark & The Tree is going to be in NYC, which means I will be, too, because where she goes I go... we'll be on at The Barrow Group's FAB Project festival of solo works March 1, 2, 3 2013. After that we'll be in ABQ for two nights at the Cell Theater as part of Women and Creativity Month March 16 & 17. I will be posting info here and on my FB page. Hope to see you at one of the shows!

And dream on...