Monday, June 1, 2009

I WILL FOLLOW accepted into New York International Fringe Festival!

Unemployment: Day 107 in Business Days; Day 147 in Human Days

It's been 7 hours and 147 days...since they took my job away.

I have not written in many moons.  But worry not.  Unlike my silent period back in March, this lapse in bloggin is not due to macaroons and SVU, but rather to a happy, busy, wondrous, exciting, fantabulous, creatively amazing reason.  My first full-length play, I WILL FOLLOW, has been accepted into The New York International Fringe Festival.  Holy hot damn Bono, this is for realz.  

The timing couldn't have been more opportune.  It was three weeks ago.  I was on the verge of receiving a job offer that would have sent me to San Francisco, the very same city where I left my heart back in February.  Now, I'm an East coast gal through and through, but I decided that New York City had chewed me up and spit me out.  My marriage failed, my boyfriend dumped me, my job dumped me, and I lost my apartment.  All of the signs were telling me to make my grand exit from the big apple... to start fresh on the opposite coast.  Maybe switch up my sexual orientation for a bit.  I even began browsing apartment listings in San Fran.  And then, literally the very next day after my heart and mind decided to leave, I found out I got into the fringe.  

Since then, my life has been a fantastically frenzied flurry of meetings and readings and plottings and plannings.  I'm suddenly busier than I've been since I had a shitty job.  But this brand of busy is far from shitty.  But enough about me - let me tell you about the masterpiece!

I WILL FOLLOW chronicles the true tale of one fan's 20-year search for U2, magic, men and religion.  Yes, I wrote a play about how much I love U2 and how they've guided me through my life.

As amazing as all of this is, I'm still a bit stressed out.  Even the smallest play is expensive to produce, and funding this baby with no job is going to be a challenge.  But if I had to juggle a demanding day job on top of this show, I probably wouldn't be able to give this play all the time, energy and love that it needs to be the best it can be.  And so I've decided that being unemployed and not landing a job yet is actually a blessing.  I don't need to eat between now and August, right?

FringeNYC runs in downtown Manhattan from August 14-30, 2009.  Of course, I'll write here when I know my venue and performance times, and you can bet I'll regale you with rehearsal stories and tales of how much I heart a band.  And my life.  But you can also read more about the festival at www.fringenyc.org.

As Bono often says when he visits me in my dreams..."She's gonna dream up the world she wants to live in.  She's gonna dream out loud."  

Jobless City Challenge: Produce a Play on a Shoestring Budget.  Who's writing me a check?!


7 comments:

  1. hahaha, i could write you a very small check! or feed you by sending delivery food your way--take your pick!

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  2. Sweetie, how can you ask for a "check" without a PayPal Link?

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  3. Haha, Paypal link on the way... :)

    And Marianne - I'll take any check size. And delivery food! Seriously, just find a way to get your booty to NYC in late August. I'd love for you to see the show.

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  4. I'm on staff of the largest U2 fan site, www.atu2.com, and was looking at the Google alerts for news to post on the site earlier today. I ran across the link to your post about the play and thought I'd see if you wanted to do an interview. I'm sure there are a lot of fans in your area who aren't aware of the play and would be interested in seeing it at the festival. If I didn't live on the West Coast, I'd be going! If you're interested, just click on the "Email Rashas" link on this page: http://www.atu2.com/contact/bio.src?ID=15

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  5. Shit, I am coming--Kristy is delaying our trip until the fringe is over, so what else do I have to do? (some people might say my job, but... no, not really.)

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  6. How cool! Congrats, IWillFollow. Not too long after your debut show, there's a U2 conference happening. Just sayin' ... www.U2conference.com

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  7. Rashas - Hello! And so nice to "meet" you. An interview would be fantastic. Expect a message from me shortly. And thank you!

    Calhouns - A U2 Conference?! Magnificent! I'll do all I can to get there in the fall!

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