The Sun....

...finally makes an appearance today!!  What a difference it makes!  We've been under clouds for what feels like weeks.  It starts to get into your bones, the gloom, the chill, the dark, the damp.  I love me a cloudy day, but man!  For weeks on end, it feels oppressive!  Yay for sun!!  I don't care that it was 21 degrees when I woke up!  SUN!!!

Thinking about all sorts of things this morning.  I was lucky to be a part of a really fun Zoom play reading this weekend.  When the pandemic hit and we were all in lockdown, I was invited to become part of an online theater company that reads plays virtually every Saturday at 2 p.m.  I've worked with a lot of folks I've never worked with before from all over the country (and world) and am having a blast!  The plays range from old standards to new works and we have one rehearsal where we may or may not read parts of the play and then pretty much fly by the seat of our pants.  I was hesitant at first to participate in this medium.  I mean, if it's on Zoom, is it theater?  I've had lots of discussions about this with friends and colleagues.  I think it's a different medium altogether and after my initial hesitation, I decided to embrace it and run with it.  It's very challenging to be able to paint a full character from the chest up on a little screen while reading from the script on my computer and it's a great creative workout for me. And there are other challenges too - outside noises, technical glitches, cats running through rooms, babies crying. Now, that's live theater! Or live Zooming!  I've seen Zoom readings where people just sit there and read, and honestly, it's snoozeville.  I think you really have to invest in the work and give it your all, make it alive and exciting, not just sit in the comfort of your home and read lines from a piece of paper or computer screen.  It's acting in a different format, part theater, part TV, and it's so fun to try and figure out how to make it all work.  We are called Ubiquitous Players (check us out at ubiquitousplayers.com) and I'm so proud of this company! To be able to bring art into people's homes during the darkest times in my lifetime in our country's history has been one of the greatest gifts in my career. I can't say it any better than this:  "Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."   Stella Adler

I hope you find yourself immersed in art today and that it lifts your spirits and awakens your creative self.