I am in the home stretch of my New York stay. Opening night of
boom is tomorrow! I just bought a nice coat for the event and am now having concerns about it being too short. Would my mom approve? Probably not. I can definitely lengthen the sleeves and maybe get it tailored more when I get home. I hope. It was a little bit of a pricey purchase.
MTABF has just arrived is napping off some of the effects of the red-eye. Yay! BroGeo is en route as we speak. And I am prepping my opening night gifts.
As is inevitable with every trip to New York for theatrical purposes, I have engaged in numerous "when are you moving to New York" conversations. The short answer is not anytime soon.
I love love love this city and I particularly love being here under these delightful "belle of the ball" conditions. The definite pro to being a playwright and living in New York is the opportunity to see people socially and professionally on a regular basis. That is a big pro. People like to work with people they know, especially when you're going to be stuck in a room with them for a few months.
Also there is so so so much theater here, so much to see, to be inspired by, so many talented actors performers designers producers and everything elsers. It's a great jacuzzi to be sitting in and oh how I have been soaking in it. And if the folks at Ars Nova feel like subletting their penthouse at a reasonable artist rate I might consider it, though their whole security for entering and leaving the building always gets me ansty.
But the con to living in New York is that I wouldn't be living in San Francisco. It is a city that is beautiful, cultural, and feels like my home. I wouldn't be on Valencia St in my comfy (rent controlled) apartment with my super MTABF. If I moved to New York, I would have to find other ways to make money that wasn't from playwriting, whereas in SF I seem to have found a certain amount of supportive cash (in murder mystery acting, trade shows, voice work, light prostitution, kidding) where I am also able to write with full energy and gusto. There is also a, albeit smaller, strong support network of theatre artists in SF that are quite talented and extraordinary. And we look out for each other as best we can. I also think where I write affects how and what I write about. Thus my plays are hilly and have good food in them.
If I lived in New York would I write less? That is my big big fear!! The point I'm at in my career is one where I need to be writing a shitload of work. I'm in my "building the cannon" phase of emergement. It's nice to be living in a place that inspires me and doesn't crush me.
So my current thinking is I'd rather come here a few times a year and be able to come with more work in my hands rather than being here and struggling to find the time to get it all done. Does that make any sense? A conundrum. Sort of. And maybe not so much when you take a national perspective of theater in this country. New York theatre definitely seems to take notice mostly of itself, occasionally forgetting the vast world of work that's going on just past these islands. But maybe that's because you don't have to here. There's so much right out the door.
I'm rambling. Workin some shit out. Speaking of whch I got to hit the bathroom pretty soon too. And I promised Mark I'd have a slice of pizza waiting for when he wakes up.
