What an excellent day! I had two important appointments uptown and Audrey told me she got a new job! She was so excited that she had to see me, so I decided to get “gussied” as much as possible and prepared for my meetings early, so that we could live “creative life” even if it was only for two hours.
This is a side note, but I really hate my new hairdo, it does make me look like Sarah Palin’s sister.
I look like a schoolmarm, librarian, preschool teacher or like I hunt for rabbits (no offense to schoolmarms, librarians, preschool teachers, rabbit hunters…well sure, offense to rabbit hunters).
Audrey and I meet up at Grounded and saddle up to a little table that we share. Laptops are back-to-back. I look down at my computer and realize that I haven’t prepared much for either of my meetings (been too busy writing my blog perhaps?).
One of my meetings is with a theater company. They have asked me to be prepared to discuss a marketing plan for “Of Mice and Men, the Musical.” It was kind of a “what if?” type of question. I’m pondering this. Audrey finds me a website with themes of Steinbeck novels. So I am trying to imagine Curley’s wife singing a beautiful song about being lonely. Hmmm.
I nearly tripped on the computer cord of the guy sitting next to me.
“Don’t be trippin,” He says with a laugh. I can tell he thinks this he’s made a funny pun.
I smile and look back down at the “themes” page.
Audrey, my partner in crime, nudges me: “Interview him,” she says with a raised brow.
“Ah,” good idea.
So I look on his lap top and try to see what he’s working on, see if it intrigues me. It looks like it’s some kind of script for a commercial.
I have a feeling that Audrey and I are starting to get “known” in this café.
“Can I interview you? It will only take a minute,” I say.
“Sure, if it only takes a minute.”
Who: Jason
Where: Grounded, NYC
Occupation: Movie trailer writer, advertising.
I actually felt like Jason was interviewing me, more than I was interviewing him.
“So what’s your blog about?” he says.
I can tell the whole coffee house is listening.
“Oh I interview one person a day, but I’m a playwright, so it’s not like an official thing. I feel you and I have to sit across from you in order to interview you.”
“So what is it you do? What are you working on? It looks like a commercial, is it?” I say.
“I write teasers for movies and television shows.”
“Wow, that’s different.”
“I know so cool, right?” he says.
I can tell he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is a good thing.
“How did you get this job?”
I’m not sure if this is exactly what we said, but I think he said something like
“I know how to work it.”
Hmm. Something any New Yorker knows is the name of the game – working it, that is.
“I feel lucky,” he says.
The three of us laugh about it.
“Look at us, we are in a cafe,” he said.
I think I can most appreciate the luxury of getting to hang out in a café. After all, I only just left the corporate “florescent lights” a month ago.
Whew. I pinch myself. I am enjoying every moment of this borrowed time.
From behind me a guy who is listening to our conversation says, “are you a playwright? I am too.”
“I’ve got a show coming up.” He hands me his card and we talk for awhile about playwriting and the Samuel French Festival. He won in 2007. His play “To Barcelona” sounds fascinating. He added me as a friend on Facebook while we were sitting there talking, and as you can imagine, my interview with Jason went south. Oh yeah, my interview!
Thankfully Audrey took over with the interview while I became distracted with Michael the playwright and figuring out how many friends we had in common.
Jason and Audrey both went to UC Berkeley, so they had a lot to chat about. We told him that we really only recently graduated and were like 27. I think he believed us.
We laugh.
I think the whole café is in on this.
“Okay café,” I ask to the crowd at large, “what Broadway stars would be good in Of Mice and Men, the Musical?”
“ I was thinking of Allan Cummings as Curley,” I say.
“He’s too old,” says Jason.
Suddenly I’m hearing answers from all over the coffee house.
Back to the interview, sort of.
“So is your blog political?” says Jason. “You say you are interviewing one person a day until November 3rd?”
“Well, that’s when I figure I’ll be exhausted. But sure, getting people’s political views is part of it,” I say with a sigh.
“I just assume unless you tell me that you are from Alaska that most New Yorkers I’m meeting are liberal.”
“Well,” says Jason with a snort: “I fucking love Barak Obama and I will flee the country if he doesn’t win. I don’t care how many vaginas (Sarah Palin) has, why would any woman vote for her?”
His outburst cracks all of us up because it came out of nowhere.
My day could have ended there and I would have been happy, but I did have two meetings uptown, so since I am still in my “looking up” mode, I snapped a photo of building that would make a great painting – love the pipe snaking up the side.
Since my lipstick had worn off, I stopped into Bloomingdales and got lost trying to find the makeup counter. I stopped to look at a chic jacket and of course it was my favorite designer: Nanette Lepore.
I don’t own anything by Nanette Lepore, but the next time I have money for a shopping spree, I must get something from her collection. It’s true love!
At 7PM, I meet up with another playwright-friend Sonya at the Women’s Project for the opening of a new play. Sonya is the greatest. Great writer, mom of a three-year-old, very smart, funny and supportive of other writers. Here’s a fun secret bonus about working in the theater in NYC: I get to know a cast of very interesting characters– and I get to see lots of quality theater for free!
The play was good; the set and lighting design inventive and the acting superb. The characters were Russian and both actors really knocked out a solid Russian accent. Natilia Payne is one of my favorite actors, so how could I not find the play charming? Yes, charming indeed.
The after party was fun too, though we didn’t stay long. On the way home we came out right as the Broadway stars from the musical “Spring Awakening “ were outside singing autographs, so I snapped some more photos.
Hmmm. Maybe someday this will be me? Nah, no one takes photos of the playwrights. It’s a good thing. I don’t like my hair.
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