The Long and Winding Road. . .Continues on.

Since July 15th, (my last post) my life has been, how shall I put it, unbelievable.  The book finally hit the shelves and Nooks on August 1st, 2012. (I added the year in case I forget when I am old and stodgy.) Since hitting the shelves it has been one great moment after another. I sent out close to 60 books to many of my closest friends who've supported me through this entire process. I've also learned a great deal about people.  Some individuals who wanted a book from me surprised me in the fact that I had no idea they knew or cared about what I did. Those have been the best! I've also had some unfortunate surprises that, quite honestly, are not worth the blog space to talk about. I'm sure, if given the effort and thought those who've surprised me in an unfortunate manner could figure it out. Sadly, they most likely will not give it that much thought, and so, on to the next fortunate surprise!!

The picture above is from our Faculty Retreat meeting we have prior to each Fall semester. My colleague and friend Morgan purchased a book and the, to my surprise, asked me for a photo with the book! This is one of those fortunate surprises I was talking about. I was so honored that she A, wanted a signed copy, and B, wanted a picture and was kind enough to post it on her Facebook wall!  Thank you Morgan for being such a wonderful, warm, friend.

In the past 3 weeks the book has been previewed on a few websites, and has been reviewed by a Chicago website.  I've posted the link to the review below because if I tried to explain how amazing it was, you may not believe me. Reading it was like having an out of body experience - I just couldn't believe he was talking about me and the book.

Review of Starting Your Career as a Theatrical Designer!!

In other great news, the Drama Book Shop Drama Book Shop has agreed to host a book event at their store on 40th St. in the heart of NEW YORK CITY!!!  I will be doing a Q & A with Scott Pask, Christine Jones, and Kevin Adams along with a signing of the book.  The event will be Friday, November 2nd from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. and if seeing Scott, Christine and Kevin aren't enough, I also will be providing wine and cheese so there's that!  I really hope all of my NYC friend and colleagues will be able to drop in for a visit and a glass of wine. I will not be having any of the wine as I am running the NYC Marathon on Sunday following the signing! Yeah, busy, fun, bucket list weekend to say the least! In addition to all of this good fortune, I will also be doing a reading, workshop, and signing at a former graduate student's new place of employment in early October.  Life is really, really beautiful right now. 

All in all, on this, the first day of my 46th year on the planet, I couldn't really ask for much. If I did, I would certainly look a little bit greedy! Great life, great wife, great family, great friends, great job, great everything.  I'm truly blessed. . .

Dreams do become realities

It's been quite a while since my last post and needless to say, I've been a bit tied up with a few events that have taken my full attention.  I think my last post came from New York while I was wrapping up work on the Broadway musical, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Since then, quite a bit has changed. For starters, my book, Starting Your Career as a Theatrical Designer: Insights and Advice from Leading Broadway Designers is about to hit the shelves! It's already available in E book form and is sitting in the warehouse in New York as we speak ready to ship to your local book store. If you don't see it on the shelves, ask them to get it for you!!!  In addition to that, I will be in New York the first week of August to hopefully do a signing at the Drama Book Shop on 40th with at least one of the designers featured in the book. Could life be any better?  

My writing continues to expand as I was recently asked to contribute to a new book on teaching theatre design. As of this week I sent off the first draft of an essay on my pedagogical approach to teaching set design. It is slated to be published by USITT and release, hopefully, in time for a February 2013 release. I couldn't be more proud because in addition to my chapter, one of my current graduate students is also going to be included in the book to provide a "student's" perspective on set design training.  It's been an amazing 2 years and things look even brighter as I move forward.

I want to switch gears a bit. A long time ago I told myself that New York wasn't really an important goal of mine. I didn't have to work in New York to validate my worth as a designer. I was happy working in academia with the occasional professional gig out of town. Becoming a member of the Union was enough for me. I was content and more than fulfilled as an artist. That, for the most part is still true today. What has changed is my perspective on what it means to have worked in the greatest theatre city in the United States.  Sure, there are others; Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles (I guess. . .) to name a few, but our roots are in New York - it's sort of undeniable.

Upon returning home in November from working 4 weeks on Clear Day, I had a lot of time to reflect on what it actually meant to me. Not only did I get to work with some amazing individuals, I was able to be surrounded by an atmosphere of creativity and energy unlike anything I had ever experienced before.  It may be strange to say, but pounding the pavement that had also been pounded by some of the greatest designers, directors, actors, choreographers, conductors, musicians, dancers and singers did something to me. I don't know exactly what, but I now somehow feel part of my own industry in a way I hadn't before. It's strange, but it is similar to when, for so long, I had studied paintings by Picasso, and Reubens, and so many others with a great deal of appreciation. It wasn't until I saw them in person, inches from my face that I then began to really understand the importance of what they had done. I didn't fully get it when the information came from a slide, lecture, or text book. After seeing them for myself, I get it.  It's the same with theatre. Having sat in the St. James Theatre adjusting drafting, taking endless notes, discussing prop concerns with actors, and just enjoying a room filled with passion, heart, and love for this amazing art form has changed me forever. I get it.

I've found that, although I have always loved what I do at the University level, I've often wondered what else there was out there - at another level.  Unbelievably, I was able to find out. I am so happy to learn that what is being done on Broadway, at least with the team of artists I had the pleasure to work with, is exactly what we do at the university level - it's just that we don't do it with a 15 million dollar budget or the pressure of the public scrutiny that they do!  What we worry about on our University Theatre stage, is exactly what they worry about on the stage at the St. James. Will the audience take this ride with us?  Will they let go of their day with all of their concerns and problems to join us on this evening of theatre? Is our story being told in a way that will allow the audience the opportunity to escape, for just a couple of hours, into our world? Those were the questions being asked, day after day and night after night as we teched Clear Day.  If those questions can be answered with a "yes", then we've done our job.

I may or may not ever get another chance to work in New York again; I would love to, but if I don't, that's just fine with me. Today I look forward to my teaching and design opportunities with a new found passion and energy and hope that it is as infectious to my students and collegues as what I experienced this past year in New York.  Thank you Michael, Christine, Kevin, Joann and all.  It was a ride I will never, ever forget. . .