Wednesday, January 11, 2006
plugif life's a stage and we're all the actors, who's manning the lights? who's playing the music? who wrote the script? what happens after curtain call? ah. God MUST exist.
i wake up early. on this day, lives will change and reasons will be realized. people scurry back and forth, preparing themselves, the sets, the sounds and every little placement (at one point, they inhale Lipovitans and devour Extra Joss filled Gatorades like water on a hot day). they're all emotional screw-ups. a cross between how it is for a gambler to wait for race results and how the first few seconds of free-fall for a skydiver is. focus is a mantra, confidence, a commandment. there is no margin for error. yet there is no limit to how much fun they're allowed to have.
as everybody lines up for make-up and sound-check, i take time to visit the old maiden of every show and performance, the dark yet gentle stage. i walk around and finally sit in the middle. the feeling of being alone on a tranquil stage hours before the show, just watching the empty seats applauding louder than any other sold-out audiences - there's nothing quite like it. i sigh and look back at everything that has been said and done that lead to this very moment. truly, this growing tree has reached its peak of majesty (after withstanding storm after storm) and is about to bear the sweetest fruits of labor. another breath as i ponder on the near future as we're about to make completely ridiculous spectacles out of ourselves for the amusement of others and for our own fulfillment. there shouldn't be much/any money in the performance industry. no superficialities - bodyless faces or faceless bodies without the ability to differentiate a smile from a pout. it's all about the passion. the emotion/drive that fills you up hours before you give part of yourself to other human beings.
this is why we do it. again and again. this is why we face the pain and keep on growing. so watch us do it again.
Avenue Q on February 25, 2006.
the adventure ended at 9:56 PM
