I am about to embark on the two most maddening, artistically fruitful months of my life. Perhaps I should explain.
I am an actor-writer. In reality, I do a lot of artistic things, just not all at the same time. I often tell people that artistically, "I go where the check clears."
I have been performing my self-penned solo show Manchild Machismo on and off for the last three years. It was workshopped at two theaters in the Bronx (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, aka BAAD! and Pregones Theater). It had its world premiere at the Bank of the Arts in New Bern, North Carolina (rather odd location, I know; I call it my "really out of town tryout"). It then had its NYC premiere at BAAD!, with subsequent productions at the Roy Arias Theater (with the Emerging Artists Theatre, aka EAT) and the Cherry Lane Studio Theater.
Manchild Machismo was selected to be produced at the 2008 BORIMIX Puerto Rico Fest. (Oh yeah, I'm Puerto Rican.) It is scheduled for two performances (Sundays, November 16 and 23, 2008 at 5pm) at Los Kabayitos Theater in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (107 Suffolk Street, Second Floor, NYC).
In addition, a theater friend is doing an 8pm show at Players Theater in the West Village (115 MacDougal Street, NYC) and invited me to do my solo show there at select dates in December 2008 and January 2009 at a 10:30pm time slot. The dates are slated for Friday, December 5; Saturday, December 6; and Friday, December 12.
That's only one show. I have two other plays that I wrote that I have to worry about. (I'm not bragging; I'm sharing.)
A second play was accepted into the Así Somos Bilingual Playwriting Festival at Teatro LA TEA, located at 107 Suffolk Street, Second Floor, NYC. (That's not a misprint. There are four theaters in this building and this theater is across the hall from the theater where I am doing my solo show. This building is also, incidentally where I work for a living. I feel like I am doing theater in my living room in my pajamas.)
This festival, in its first year, wants to highlight theater in two languages. So I had to translate my play Geneva (Ginebra en español) and submit both versions. The workshop productions are to take place on two days between Thursday, December 4 and Sunday, December 14, 2008. That is very little time. The festival producer is okay with a workshop version of one and a staged reading of the other. The festival producer also is willing to schedule my shows around my Manchild Machismo performances.
But wait, there's more.
My friend, an actress who I love dearly and who has moved away from NYC, called me a few months ago, She wanted to produce a play of mine (Branches) from three years ago in her hometown... San Juan, Puerto Rico. I thought this was going to happen in the spring of 2009. However, due to funding deadlines, she had to move up the date... to December!! The dates would be December 17-21, 2008 at the Teatro Coribantes in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico (part of the San Juan metropolitan area).
She told me she is working to fly me down there. I told her she better fly me down to Puerto Rico.
Three shows. Same month. No conflicts (so far).
I am freaking.
I am going to try to document the craziest two months of my life. If I am committed after these two months, you will know why.
