The Texas Church performs Hamilton saga

I posted this to my Facebook account with fear and trepidation for negative feedback I might receive.  I tried to be as non-controversial as possible:

I've been watching the "Texas church illegally performs Hamilton with an anti-LGBTQ message" thing unfold over the last few days, biting my nails the whole time. I have a few things to say and I'll probably wish I hadn't.

 
1. If your church is going to perform a musical, make it The Music Man, Oklahoma, My Fair Lady...or some other vanilla, non-confrontational thing that everyone loves and all the little old ladies would love to come to. This is actually a cool thing for churches to do.

2. If your church is going to branch out and try to get attention with a piece of hot theatre, take the time to use Google and see if it is available from any of the publishing houses that own the rights.

3. If said piece is not available, maybe stick with one that is. It will save you tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees in the long run.

4. If you still want to do the show illegally, do NOT livestream it to Youtube.

5. Remember why you chose the show. If you need to change dialog to make it fit the message you want to send, then it isn't the right show. Maybe you could write your own show or parody, which is totally legal. Having a character "get saved" as part of the show is really cringey, in my opinion.

 
6. If you are going to touch on hot button topics...don't do a show illegally and stream it to Youtube to do so.

 
And if you STILL insist on doing all this illegal stuff but don't want court and legal fees, and a fine, and the wrath of the ENTIRE theatre community on you:

 
7. Don't pick Hamilton.

Buckling Down

When I got up today, the sun was streaming at a certain angle through the beaded glass front door.  This caught my eye.  This made my heart happy.  For some reason, even though it showed how dusty my entry table is, it reminded me of hope.  It reminded me of home.  It reminded me of charging on, bolstered by past victories.

The battle for accomplishment is fought in my own head and heart. I have every tool I need to proceed.  I have won a role.  I have won a body capable of performing the steps it needs.  I have worked on a voice that can sing these things.  I know how to memorize.  I know how to act.  I know rehearsal and show etiquette.  I have all the superstitions and rituals down.  Then why it is so hard to buckle down and rehearse on my own?  It's like jumping mental hurdles.

I have three things worrying me at this point in the show:

1. Spanish Rose.
I learned a different version (!?) last time I did this show.  Why do different versions of shows exist?  Quite annoying.

2. One Boy Reprise dance.  I just need to practice dancing it with the briefcase in my hand.

3. Shriners Ballet.
Oh, my.  I haven't learned the last part of it, and it's a dance with me and 6 non-dancer men.  I just need a lot of rehearsal for this, and I'm not going to get it.  My fault.  Mea culpa.

I'm the one who said it would be fine to go out of town a week before tech week.  No big deal, right?

Yep!


Hope, heart, and hard work.  Here we go!
I'm muscling through these lines and these songs and dances.  Someone's gotta do it and that someone is me.

Jammin'

I've had a spectacular week so far.

Standing up for myself has proved to be really confidence-building.  I must remember this for next time.

On Monday I was taking a nap and my phone rang and woke me up.  It was the associate producer at one of the theatres where I auditioned this week asking me to come for a callback.  Total surprise, and I'm walking on air thinking about it!  I expect nothing, but it's a really fun script and I had a total blast preparing for the first audition.  So I'm looking forward to that...yay!

I am getting close to doing my instructor training for U-Jam Fitness.  This is a big step for me, as I've been dancing this format for 3 years and totally love it.  I see how happy it makes me, puts a smile on my face, burns a ton of calories, and makes me feel great the rest of the day.  I want to share that with people.  Fitness instructors change lives and that is something I definitely want to do.

(If you didn't know, which you probably don't, I weigh about 40 pounds less than I did in college.  I did it slow and steady, over a long period of caring about myself and my weight, getting help with my depression, growing up a lot, and learning how to eat and exercise.  You can do it too!)

I should be doing the training in the next month or so, and it will be the start of the steps to get certified to teach.  Yes!

I'm singing a lot over the next week for Holy Week at church.
Anglicans do the whole thing, and do it up right, bells and whistles and all!  I should probably blog about each day as it comes.  I never knew the depth and richness of this liturgical tradition until I started singing at this church.  I grew up Baptist and we sort of gave Anglicans the side-eyed sneer and ignored them.  I'm so glad this church gig fell into my lap at a time when I so needed God to plant me somewhere.  That's another blog post for another day.

I hope you are having a good week.  It's the middle of Lent...but Easter is just around the corner.  Don't forget that :)