StandUpera-
The Top Seven Things I Learned Doing A One Woman Show
(The Top Seven are after the thank yous, at the end!)
The retrospective…
Well, it has been only a few days since the final
performance of StandUpera! There are so many things I learned throughout the
experience and if I hadn’t been so busy, I would have preferred to have blogged
throughout! But since I was writing, producing, promoting, AND performing….
Well, no excuses! I’m here now and that’s what counts.
So, the first thing I want to do is say thank you to all the
people who came and saw the show. Thank you to all the people who tweeted, facebooked,
emailed, and shared the show with people! Thank you to all the journalists and
reviewers who talked about StandUpera.
Thanks to Nell Teare for being a thoughtful director who
would accept ONLY my total honesty.
Thanks to Kimberly Tompkins for being our patient tech gal!
Thanks to everyone who gave their time and energy to the
creative b-roll: Rick Canter, Boyan Deam, Steve Feit, Daniel Vogel.
Thanks to everyone who helped in many other ways: Sandra
Kuker and Anita Lee… Laura Seldon, Kevin Seldon. David Sparks at Hawthorne
Media. ANZU LAWSON and GRACIE RAE! Raul Guzman. Kari Hall.
Thanks to Cathy Carlson for pushing me. Thanks to Jenna
Edwards, Hanie Lynch, Rick Sans and Cassie Ramoska for notes and direction and
ideas. Thanks to Lou Santini for coaching and jokes!
And THANK YOU to Carlo Carere, the love of my life, for
supporting me emotionally, romantically, musically, and as an ear to the music
and an eye to the script.
Oh! Finally, THANKS TO HENRY MONSTER THE MUPPET! The true
star of the show, teehee!
Oh wait, there’s more.
Thanks to all the other Fringers I met and shared my
triumphs and struggles with over cocktails or tea- there are too many to list
here but I would especially like to include Jeremy and Chrisi Saje, Emily and
Elizabeth Hinkler, Andrea Amani, Ed Goodman, The Brazen Booties and Rara
Carlson, Megan Dolan, Emily Donn, Kelly from Count of Monte Cristo, and all the
ladies of the LAFPI.
Okay. Now. Let’s recap.
What have I learned?
1. My life is interesting. Especially the parts that are the
most human and that I was most nervous about sharing.
2. I am stronger than I thought, and if I am stronger than I thought? Than so are you all!
3. Vulnerability IS strength.
4. Honesty is gorgeous.
5. Farting is hilarious.
6. People laugh at the things you might not think they will
laugh at… and they will listen when you least expect it!
7. Every story is a love story. (Thanks David Foster
Wallace, and Tom, and Carlo, for that.)
I WILL be creating a little multimedia piece from the show
to put up online. I really don’t know what’s next, if anything, for StandUpera!
Lots of people suggested I pursue Ted Talks, or performing it in colleges and
universities. I am taking a little break to focus on a few other singing and
writing projects and then I will know more. I do believe I will share pieces of
the script here on the blog and on the website… as well as songs from the show
and some fun little zingers.
Until we meet again, in various forms, musical or written or
visual or in dreams….
I remain a humble servant to love and music and dreams and
poems
Always,
Erin
