Yesterday we went to Washington Heights to see Cabrini Repertory Theater, the space that will house the first production of Sing After Storms. It’s a bit surreal to think that a year ago, not a word of this script had been committed to paper and now we are talking about details like the prop table, lighting plot, and transition music. We open in 10 days, June 18th at 8:45pm and then have 2 more performances on Saturday, June 21st at 9:00pm, and Sunday, June 22nd at 9:30pm. Tickets are $10 in advance at this link, $20 cash at the door. It was a thrill just to be in the space. I can’t even imagine how it will feel to see the show fill the eyes, ears, and hopefully hearts, of the audience.
“What hope there is for us lies in our nascent arts, for if we are to be remembered as more than a mass of people who lived and fought wars and died, it is for our arts that we will be remembered. The captains and the kinds depart; the great fortunes wither, leaving no trace; inherited morals dissipate as rapidly as inherited wealth; the multitudes blow away like locusts; the record and barriers go down. The rulers, too, are forgotten unless they have had the forethought to surround themselves with singers and makers, poets and artificers in things of the mind.” ~ Maxwell Anderson, “Whatever Hope We Have” from Michael Eisner’s book Work in Progress
I finally saw the movie The Monuments Men, the story of 7 brave men who recovered 5 million works of priceless art that were stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The movie passionately and astutely raises the questions, “Does art matter, and if so, why? And is it worth dying for?” At one point an answer is clearly articulated: if we lose our art, then we lose our culture and history; and if we lose that then it’s as if we never existed. As someone who started a career in the arts, had a career in business, and now is determined to combine the two, I couldn’t agree more. Art matters because it holds our essence, the very seed of who are and what we care about. It is us. Creating art is the only thing we can do that lets us connect across the generations, long after we’re gone. It’s the only mark we can truly leave with the world.
We’re moving right along with ticket sales for the play Sing After Storms. Our Saturday night show on June 21st at 9:00pm is nearly sold out. We have a few more tickets left for Saturday night, as well as seats available for Wednesday night, June 18th at 8:45pm and Sunday night, June 22nd at 9:30pm. Grab tickets for $10 with our special friends, family, and fans discount: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sing-after-storms-friends-family-and-fans-discount-tickets-11129220799
So so proud of the Sing After Storms team! We did our first complete end-to-end run last night and I am continually amazed by their commitment, dedication, and passion for this work. Art saves us. Every time. In every way. We are lucky to have it, to feel its power in our bones.
I love The Huffington Post‘s Good News section. Yesterday I read this article about a teacher turned artist who gave up her successful and steady career in education to follow her paintbrush and her heart. It lifted me up and I bet it will lift you up, too. Enjoy! Meet Layla Fanucci.
Smithsonian Magazine is one of my favorite publications. Every page is filled with some new and exciting piece of research. I read it cover to cover every month and feel better for having done so. It transports me to far-off lands and lets me dive deep into areas I’ve never heard of. It gets my curiosity motor running and reminds me just how much there is to learn in the world. And that gives me hope.
We spend a lot of time raising kids to be proud of who they are only to spend time as adults trying to be someone we’re not. We broaden our kids’ horizons and then specialize ourselves right into a corner to get a certain job, to fit in with a specific group of people. Please don’t ever be less than who you are. We need you to shine as brightly as you possibly can because there are so many people counting on you to the light the way. Be there for them by just being you, all of you.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
I think about this line on my way to every rehearsal for Sing After Storms. A piece of my past is embedded in every character, every line. I wrote the play to make sense of things on the page that never made sense in my life. I suppose that’s why anyone ever writes anything—to be helpful, to be free, to be heard. We move forward though we can’t help but be informed by where we’ve been and what we’ve survived. It can dicey territory. We can be sucked into the past or use it to buoy us up and over it. I choose to let it help me rise, and intend to lift others in the process.
I hope when my time here is up that I’ve lived a life in which I laughed too loud, loved too much, and felt more than my fair share of every emotion, the good and the bad. I hope it’s been filled with confusion that turned into wonder. I hope I’ve been truly wowed by the great depth of the human spirit. I hope I leave with far more questions than answers. I hope I leave confident that I could live 1000 more lifetimes and never learn all that I want to learn. I hope I am just as curious about life as I am now even when I’m at the very end of mine. I hope I give everything away in time to see all the joy in the faces of those who receive whatever gifts I have to offer. It all goes by so fast. I hope I never forget that because I want to make sure each day bursts with realized possibility. I hope I look back on that long and winding road and say, “What an incredible ride! How lucky I was to have it and to know all of the gorgeous minds, spirits, and faces who made it possible.”
Christa Avampato 