I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
Whether we fall or fly, the first step is the same: we must leap. I’d much prefer to try and fall than wonder if I could have ever flown. Congrats to the Sing After Storms team on a wonderful opening. You said yes, took the leap, and you didn’t just fly—you soared.
This picture will be my expression from now until the end of our Sunday night performance. Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Thank you times a million to everyone who played a part in getting us to tonight’s opening of Sing After Storms, particularly the stellar cast and production team who gave everything they have and then some to make this happen. In the immortal words of Hall & Oates, “you make my dreams come true…” Let’s go, on with the show!
Tomorrow marks two important milestones: the opening night of Sing After Storms and my two-year anniversary of starting my company, Chasing Down the Muse. If someone had told me two years ago that June 18th my first original play would open in New York City with the talented team that’s on board, I would have laughed myself silly. When we take a chance, a really big chance, amazing things can happen. It’s all possible: yes, we can sing after storms, and yes, we can chase down the muse. First, we must have the courage to begin. Then, it’s a matter of daily dedication and effort.
Opening night of Sing After Storms is Wednesday! We’re so excited to welcome all of you to the theater this week. Our $10 advance ticket deal ends tomorrow, Tuesday, June 17th at 8:45pm. After that, tickets will be $20 cash at the door for all performances. Grab your tickets in advance for all performances at this link: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sing-after-storms-friends-family-and-fans-discount-tickets-11129220799
See you at the theater!
We had our tech rehearsal for Sing After Storms last week and for the first time got to see our amazing cast with lights, sound, and in costume on the set. Here are a selection photos a la the amazing Marita La Monica!
Feeling overwhelmed? Here’s an idea that might help: whenever life is grinding me down, I remind myself that a diamond is made brilliant in the same way. Your moment to shine is on the way.
The opportunities we have are not the works of others. They are born from our hearts. We create the opportunity we need and then build an answer to it. It’s the only way I know to make a dream come true.
Perfection isn’t the goal. The goal is to be the very best version of who you are.
Tonight we’re taking another giant leap forward with Sing After Storms, perhaps the biggest one yet. We go into tech and move into the theater that will house our production. We’re setting and locking sound and light cues, prepping costumes, and for the first time, actors will run the show in real-time with all of the tech elements. This is where the rubber meets the road and it’s so flippin’ exciting. We open exactly one week from today. May the theater tech gods be smiling down on us for a smooth process—goodness knows this team has earned it!
There is a lot of prep work that goes into any creative endeavor. In theater, there are the acts of writing, casting, and rehearsal. In the kitchen, there are the steps of deciding what to prepare, gathering all of the ingredients, and measuring each component. Then the magic happens—we put it all together and see what we’ve got. That’s where we are with Sing After Storms as we began our final week of rehearsals yesterday. We’re all working our tails off, holding hands, and taking the leap. Together.
While the stakes of every project are different, the emotional process is the same. We lavish so much love and attention on each small piece and then we have to jump off the cliff and see what we’ve got. It can be equal parts nerve-wracking and exhilarating. For me, every creative act is always both. It keeps me on my toes while my heart flutters. I just keep breathing, and working, and somehow that’s always enough. We have to trust, ourselves, our collaborators, and the spirit that moves us to ever create anything. In the end, that trust, our hands, eyes, ears, and heart, are all all we’ve got. And they’re more than enough. Always.
Christa Avampato 