The Joys of the Fringe

Opening week has come and gone. The cast was spectacular, the crowds were good except for Sunday, and the theatre was hot. Really. Hot. The AC broke and we all had to sweat. This didn't dampen any enthusiasm and our audiences still laughed. One of our actresses nearly passed out after a particularly frenetic scene, but after a little heaving and some water, she was right back at it. Did I mention that I love everyone in the cast and crew? This past week only increased those feelings. Everyone threw themselves into their work with dedicated abandon, and I'd like to think that the results were really good. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the run. The AC will be fixed this week, friends and others are coming to see the show, and this has been as good a return to the active theatre as I could hope for. Find info on the show at this previous post, or go to the Factory Theater website directly by clicking on this bit of bold text. I'll have to update another previous post to document what's true about me online. Busy times, but I'm having a good time with these outside interests of mine. Now if only I could have some steady paycheck from a career I love (be it from teaching, writing, acting, or some combo of the three), a lack of anxiety every Monday morning, a successful & consistent composing ability, and the ability to have everything nice and orderly in a disorderly world. Yes, that unrealistic greed gets the best of me sometimes, but right now, I'm getting some satisfactory life time. This comes from mainly from rejoining a previous lifetime on the fringe non-union Chicago theatre, but as I attempt to create a career or two outside of the practical money-making career I used to have, and stubbornly believe that I can have a well-paid day job doing something I love, I feel like I'm making the most of life's outside edges. I'm also very grateful for what the fringe gives back to me. This will serve as my reminder post for when I get cranky and dissatisfied with the inevitable future fringe frustration. Here's hoping I'm cheering myself up in the future.