One Revolution

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We like to parcel our lives into smaller units. We’ve been doing this for thousands of years, and have increased the amount of various units as time has passed.

But one unit that is consistent throughout most cultures - ancient and modern alike - is the year:

One revolution around the Sun.

Whether or not we were aware of the Earth’s relationship to the Sun at that point, humans have always seemed to be keenly aware of this pattern of light, life, and season. And it has become engrained in us and our cultures in a multitude of ways: Birthdays, Anniversaries, education, celebrations, remembrances, etc.

The year has become the easiest and most visible yard stick that we utilize to measure progress - both our own and that of the world around us. And at this time of year you will hear an increased emphasis on the year as a measuring tool, as well as a strong counter-movement against its importance.

But as we find ourselves back in the same place we were one year ago - not just personally, but as an entire planet - it seems to make sense to look around and evaluate what has changed and, perhaps, what has not.

What is different one revolution later?

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Previous Revolution

I don’t like to write posts about my past year with evaluation of the good and bad, coated with layers of immense gratitude and/or promises about the future. It’s not my style.

These posts are common at this time of year and many people find them helpful, which is awesome! If that works for you, that’s wonderful and I hope it continues to work for you for as long as you desire.

For me, I like to evaluate as I go along: Finding the gratitude in the moment, looking for the untapped potential as it passes by, and resolving to do better as immediately as I’m able. But that’s just my preference - a constant observership, instead of a yearly one.

However, I do think it’s important to reflect on events as a way of seeing where you are versus where you would like to be, and new years do seem to be an excellent time to do that.

So, what was my previous revolution like? Here’s 2019, in list-form and in calendar order:

Shows I Musically Directed:

  • January - Bring It On at From Stage To Screen (8 performances, 2 age groups)

  • March - Legally Blonde at New Hyde Park Memorial High School (3 performances)

  • April - Rent at From Stage To Screen (4 performances)

  • June - So Happy Together at Bristol Valley Theater (10 performances)

  • August - Cortland Repertory Theatre’s kids camp shows (2 performances, 2 age groups)

  • November/December - Began the process for Grease at From Stage To Screen

Shows I Saw (B-way, unless otherwise stated):

  • True West

  • To Kill A Mockingbird

  • The Lifespan Of A Fact

  • Mean Girls

  • Hello Kitty Must Die (reading)

  • SUNY Geneseo’s first Musical Theatre Showcase

  • We Are The Tigers (Off-Broadway, written by Preston Allen)

  • Be More Chill

  • King Lear

  • The Prom

  • Hadestown

  • Kiss Me Kate

  • A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder (John Engeman Theater, starring Sean Lessard)

  • New Hyde Park Memorial High School Open Mic Night

  • Arts For Autism Broadway Benefit Concert (Artistically Directed by Jacque Carnahan)

  • Becoming Dr. Ruth (Bristol Valley Theater, starring Karin Bowersock)

  • Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (Bristol Valley Theater, starring many friends)

  • The Roommate (Bristol Valley Theater, starring Shannon Haddock)

  • The Rose Tattoo

  • Scotland, PA (Off-Broadway)

  • The Inheritance Part 1

  • Tootsie

  • The Inheritance Part 2

  • Hadestown

  • Evita (City Center)

Theatre:

  • On-Going - Teaching 35 private voice students and 4 classes at From Stage To Screen during the school year

  • On-and-Off - Continued work on the first draft of the baton-twirling musical

  • February - Held a final closed reading of the newest version of The King’s Legacy at my apartment, finally hearing aloud the mounds of new material

  • March - Led a workshop on performing new work with students from SUNY Geneseo

  • January-April - Cleaned the entire script and score for The King’s Legacy

  • March - Sat in on auditions and callbacks for Bristol Valley Theater in preparation for The King’s Legacy in August

  • June - Devised a musical revue show at a professional theater with some of my greatest friends

  • June - Taught a camp staff training session on using theatre in daily interactions with kids in Syracuse, NY

  • July - Led a workshop session with a group of young writers early in their process of devising a theatrical piece at Wood Library in Canandaigua, NY

  • July - Interviewed with Heather Teysko for an episode of The Renaissance English History Podcast

  • July-August - Spoke at 3 libraries local to BVT in interview and Q&A format about my writing and The King’s Legacy

  • July - Performed as Marcus Moscowitz in Murder For Two at Bristol Valley Theater

  • August - Performed in a cabaret night

  • August - The King’s Legacy opened and closed its premier production at Bristol Valley Theater amidst the love and support of friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers (10 performances as both a writer and performer)

  • October-November - Put together the details for an unexpected upcoming Industry Reading of The King’s Legacy through the Dramatists Guild, including making edits, doing rewrites, and writing new material

  • October - Traveled to the first ever TudorCon in Lancaster, PA and performed a concert of music from The King’s Legacy with a lovely group of performer friends

  • November - Dramatists Guild Friday Night Footlights Industry Reading of The King’s Legacy (Starring Teal Wicks, Wes Hart, Jacque Carnahan, John Michael Dias, Jillian Jameson, Jillian Louis, Mark Poppleton, Lauren Weinberg, Bunny Baldwin; Directed by Jen Wineman; Musically Directed by Paul Staroba)

  • November-December - Set up meetings and reached out to industry professionals about my work

Personal Life:

  • My nephew Tyler was born in May, and I travelled to Charlotte NC twice to see him and his family

  • Reconnected with people from all walks of life through the production of my show this summer

  • Traveled to see my friends and peers more

  • Started a new workout routine, which includes running

  • Made a large amount of new friends, and many of the deep-friend variety

And that was my 2019 in the barest, most basic form I could muster, while mentioning the things of note.

Now, there are things on these lists that I loved and things I did not. There are bullet points I am proud to have written here, and others that I wish I could write on here but I was unable to do so this year. There are energizing things, mundane things, happy things, less happy things, and a million implications and ripples from these bullet points that I cannot expand upon here.

But looking up at these lists with reflection, one thing is clear:

It was quite the revolution.

 

Next Revolution

As you may have guessed from my previous comments up above - New Years Resolutions are not really my thing.

I often find that there is something in my life that I would like to change or improve upon, and I generally don’t wait to make those decisions.

For instance, early in 2019 I made the decision that I wanted to make Kindness a more prevalent theme in my life - and so I did. Or at least have tried to, and continue to do so.

This year, however, I did decide to make a change at the turn of the year/decade. Beginning this year - and hopefully continuing on indefinitely - I am making People a priority: Spending more time with friends, Being more available to those in my circles, Expanding my circles, Letting more people in, and Increasing the size of my professional network.

For me this isn’t a “new year, new me” but instead simply a new year with continued hope for continued progress.

However you celebrate, grieve, reflect, or evaluate upon your revolutions, I hope you find peace, love, and progress - whatever that may mean to you.

Welcome, 2020.