Sometimes it's hard to remember that we are working toward a play, a theatrical experience, an artistic moment.  And that we are not just raising money.  The fundraising aspect of theater is daunting, and Evan and I have been working on that for a few months.  And it is a non-stop, keep you up at night, job, that I assume I will be doing until the day we close the show. 

But it is easy to lose sight of the exciting wonderful, amazing thing we are raising money for... And last week I remembered, in a big way, what that was.

Last week I solidified the cast of Drowning Girls.  Three amazingly talented actresses-- and even better, I saw 5 other wonderful actresses-- I started to have dreams of doing a spate of all female plays! 

The final casting session was  women in a studio for an hour, and each woman (amazingly game chicks that they were) hopped up and read for numerous roles.  Coming in and out of scenes- switching it up constantly.  They played with accents, physicalities.  It may well have been the only callback they have been on recently where they had to play 8 different roles.

And then a wondrous thing happened, I made my casting choices.  2 actresses I have worked with before and one I do not know very well- but not at all in the roles I thought I would have cast them in.  They surprised me, which is so exciting. 

Marissa Porto's Alice, her stubborn insistence that she didn't want to wear a dress; Brenda Wither's charming Bessie, whose delight in teasing Alice was palpable; and Nancy Rodriguez' ascerbic and vulnerable Margaret trying to figure it out and hold it together at all costs.  These women surprised and delighted me-- and now it is so clear-- this is an amazing artistic moment.  And this is what we have been working toward.  I will hold on to that as I continue my work as a producer. 

Everyone deserves to see what these women can do-- to be as surprised and delighted as I was last week.

I look forward to spending the next two months with them!

Last night was Strange Sun Theater's first night out!  What an amazing evening- hosted by the lovely Suzanne Fine.  We were treated to a brief snippet of "The Drowning Girls" our upcoming production.  Wine, food and great times were had by all-- and we raised a lot of money to boot!
Thank you to so many who helped us out by buying a share of a bathtub- or helping to turn the lights on in the theater in March. 
Nights like last night continue to give me faith that we will create a sustainable model of theater- that will allow us to make plays we want to make, and tell the stories we think deserve to be told-for years to come!

thanks all