Man! The Anderson Cooper special on 2003 is ultra depressing yet again… Time to recruit the talents of Jon Stewart.
But first, 2003 was actually a pretty nice year for me. Work was good and I had started acting a lot more than I had in the previous two years. I was called upon twice to replace actors who were fired less than two weeks prior to opening night: Quincy in ‘Dracula’ and George Bailey in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. As you can imagine, learning all of George Bailey’s lines and blocking (where I move on the stage) in such a short amount of time was pretty nerve racking… especially since the only time I left the stage was intermission. Think what you will about me being in alone Pakistan… but nothing is more stressful or rewarding than taking stage under rehearsed and pulling it off… that’s the kind of stress that makes you feel alive. Other than the theatre, I’ve yet to experience anything like it (expect for the time Serena, Grayson, and I narrow missed being involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer on I-75… but that’s a different story).
Anyway, it was really fun and in a lot of ways, theatrically speaking, I had finally settled back into the kind of reputation I had left behind in Charleston… back then I had a very similar experience stepping into the role of Louis in ‘Angels in America’ (a three hour play) two months into the rehearsal process, with only two weeks to go. Then in Atlanta, without really trying, I had somehow regained my reputation of being dependable and good under pressure… a combination that doesn’t always go together in the theatre world. It felt really good.
But enough about me… I bet you’re wondering what Serena is up to during this time. Well… I neglected to mention in my 2002 review, but Serena had joined the Peace Corp as a Small Enterprise Development volunteer in Kenya, a two and a half year commitment. By 2003 she had finished her training, was fluent in Kiswahili and was working on a USAID funded project aimed at natural resource conservation and management, looking specifically at indigenous resources and methods of using the resources to generate income while supporting conservation efforts… but it was her stories about being attacked by a hippo and an elephant that stole my heart.
Take it away Jon (Sorry, the embedded link wasn't working:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-november-9-2009/decade-in-review---2003
No comments:
Post a Comment