there have been one or two evenings recently where doing the play felt like we were some surreal version of the carol burnett show…we broke each other up in moments but not to the point where things fell apart…i like that this play can go there CONSCIOUSLY and then come back…the play should be like elastic not stone…it seems like everyone is really starting to get comfy with exploring the parameters of this piece…like where to push and pull and when…
((I hear De’Adre playing with the notes of the Church Lady’s monologue from night to night just like a jazz musician would…she takes a fresh solo in every show…she’s a shape shifter…she doesn’t become the Church Lady – she IS the Church Lady…and it gets so real sometimes I gotta just look away…))
but back to the subject of the collective…we aren’t yet the Lakers of the 80’s or some psychic jazz combo or a couple that’s been dancing together for 40 years…but it is utterly clear to me that that is exactly where we are heading…we are on our way to becoming One…all our talk about merging the “rock show” and the “play” is really happening…not just conceptually but in actuality…not just in theory but in practice…we’re turning into a third thing…and if it sounds like i’m excited about it, i am…i’m not even bragging about it – as i have very little to do with it…it’s an utterly collective phenomenon which would be totally impossible to achieve without the right people involved…Annie Dorsen designed the path and the right people are walking down it…and every time we take that road we see new things along the way to play with…
lately i’ve been really into taking the audience out of the “play reality” more and more…not just reminding them of what day it is but making more references to band members as well as people in the audience and stage crew…basically, doing exactly what i’d do at one of my night club shows: reminding the audience that what they are watching is alive. I’m doing this because I feel the need more and more to conjure that night club comfort zone…I’m perhaps getting a bit homesick for it…
last time i looked at the clock it was two hours ago…i hate when that happens…and it only happens when i’m on a computer…of all the things i need to buy i can never get excited about buying a new computer…it’s such a time killer…
we’re in the middle of a five show weekend…so i guess i should sleep…until we meet again, visualize a one hour version of passing strange for high schoolers…of course the sex and the drugs may make it impossible for the play to get staged for kids…i mean god knows they never hear references to sex and drugs anywhere else in their lives…
/s
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