Abra Goes

We’re were you last night? At around midnight?

My sympathies if you weren’t at the IFC movie theatre in NYC for the Subway Cinema’s ONLY screening of X-Cross.

A slice of synopsis from the Subway Cinema site:…two women go to a secluded hot spings resort as one recovers from a breakup, only to find that the resort is nothing but a–

front for a cult of inbred, backwater leg fetish maniacs who live to amputate female legs. Split up from each other, they keep in touch via cell phone with the action constantly rewinding to show us what’s happening from multiple points of view.…X-treme female bonding as two young women wander into a village where young women are ritually mutilated. High gloss, high IQ survival horror at its twisty best.

Not really one for the gore films, I found this Japanese horror/thriller irresistably fun. The organizers of subway cinema say Director Kinji Fukasaku finally hits his stride with this one. I haven’t seen his flops, but have to concur on the greatness factor. X-Cross is slick and loaded with style, and the plot actually has PLOT to back up all of the twists. 

I enjoyed every minute of this film and hope… wish, er,  wish I could command everyone in the city to see as many films in Subway Cinema’s line up as possible. That the theatre was not sold out last night is a tragedy.

I know it’s gross and muggy outside. And why does it storm every Sunday the minute I start walking to the grocery store and reach the point of going too far to turn back? Nevertheless, Subway Cinema is going on until July 6th. The films screen at the Independent Film Center in the village and the Japan Center. If you’ve never been to the IFC, avoid the gray chairs with stars because they’re all broken. Otherwise it’s a clean, comfortable theatre. And it has a shimmery gun-metal curtain that pulls back just in time for the previews. Need I say more? 

GO!

After a long week and an embarrassing clash with Karaoke, I’m sitting on the subway tonight when it hits me that everything is actually coming together. Not in the way I planned six months ago. More in the way I planned years ago when I first came to New York City with the plan to not only write, but to work in theatre.

My freelance writing is going in the direction I want it to. That is to say publication.

And while I haven’t stopped writing plays, I stopped trying to find paying work in theatre long long ago because instead of pursuing my ‘dreams’ it felt more like grinding my face against a brick wall in order to see the other side.

Fast forward to tonight. Tonight I’m picking out my clothes for my first day tomorrow working with a new performance venue. I’ll have more time for writing queries and plays (minus) having to do any business writing. At some point I’m going to wrestle this ‘why’: Why is it so hard to find work that involves a paycheck at a theatre space. Why did it take me years?

Books, Inq. Started my day with this: Robert Rauschenberg died Monday night.

Now I’m staring at a pile of work, out the window, bright walls and fluorescent lights. Coffee is getting cold, but did you know Merce Cunningham once had all of the elements of a show designed independently- choreography, lights, & music. The first time his dancers moved to the lights and music was opening night. Dancers were leaping in the dark, off the wings, unable to see where they were landing!

If you’ve never seen this documentary of Cage and Cunningham’s collaborations and friendship, take tomorrow off and watch it on repeat.

I’m glad Rauschenberg lived and sad he’s gone. His work and approach to life will forever reference that of John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Jasper Johns- artists who came together through their work, unbound by medium and influencing generations to come me.

Who wants to take a field trip tomorrow? Let’s go to the MOMA and erase a sculpture or touch up one of his paintings, cover it with white paint.

More to say, but I’ll leave it to a white canvas to translate

I ran my first 5k through Riverside park this morning.

Though misty near the Hudson river, it didn’t rain on us, for which I’m thankful. But I was way under-dressed for the chilly morning. We arrived at registration right on time, an hour before the race. It took all of one minute to give our names and get our numbers, leaving an hour to jump up and down and try to stay warm.

Who knew you can check a bag and coat at registration? I arrived in thin pants and a thin hoodie over my running top, holding my metro card and questioning how anyone does these races without bringing any stuff. Now you and I know their dirty check-in secret. Next time I’m checking two bags. And a coat.

Unfortunately, no pictures because none of my bums friends came to run along side me, documenting each stride, frame by frame. My running partner, RC, ran, too. But apparently he’s too uncoordinated to run and photograph me. I’ll have him work on that.

It feels silly to talk about running a 5k, especially as I’m reading First Marathons, edited by Gail Kislevitz, and just finishing Ben Cheever’s Strides. After reading about grueling, exhilarating, lengthy 26.2 mile marathons, 5ks go by fast. I couldn’t believe how quickly the whole 5k shibang I’ve been obsessing about was over.

The fastest man was 18+ minutes and fastest woman was 19+ minutes.

I had energy to burn after so I know I could have gone way faster. When the race started, about a hundred people charged and I thought ‘They’re gonna pay for it in the last mile when I pass them!’, pacing myself more for 6 miles instead of 3. The chargers never slowed…and I never passed them.

However, I ran my fastest 3.1 miles yet so I can only get fierce from here. Right?

The most difficult and unexpected aspect of running a 5k was pacing myself and breathing. I run with myself all the time so I just assumed I’d naturally find my race pace – slightly faster than my usual. But everyone else seemed to be going so much faster! While I wanted to keep up with that first wave of starting run charger, and I don’t think I could have, I didn’t even try because I was pacing. Pacing.

It wasn’t as hard as I though it would be to let people pass me. They just did.

Next time, my pretties. Next time, I’ll do a few training runs at faster than usual/ not quite race pace in order to get my breathing up to speed.

Everyone there was in great shape, and it was nice to be around a large number of runners who all woke up around 5am.There were many smiles before the miles and plenty after as the organizers quickly announced winners and prizes while we all inched away to the warmth of bus exhaust on our faces.

I can’t wait to do another 5k now that I get:

• When they say ‘GO’ You really ‘GO’ – with kick.
• 3 miles is not much so if you run regularly, you really can push yourself.
• There’s always going to be handfuls and handfuls of runners who can just run faster than you. It’s fun to be in the same race with them, and maybe one day I’ll be in a handful of someone else’s un-catchables.
• Find out if you can check bags and if so bring a camera and something warm.
• bananas and cashewnut butter are our best friends

Here’s the course we ran, south of the George Washington bridge, through Riverside Park. I did my best to

map it, but it’s about .02k short. Jersey’s on the left.:

It’s a really hard choice.

Do I go to the village to see Theatre? Yes

Will I go to see NYU dorm and more law classrooms for NYU…NO

Will the village continue to be a place of culture amidst NYU’s increasing shadow?

More often than not I’m embarrassed to say I’m an alum of NYU. Because by attending university I contributed to the monster. Not to be too dramatic, but that’s how it feels. Particularly now, as their expansion plans for the next 20+ years are announced and the village looks like it will completely disappear beneath dorms and classrooms.

On the list of buildings to be gobbled up in the name of NYUs manifest destiny: The Provincetown Playhouse. I had my first reading here. Perhaps more of note, Eugene O’Neil staged his first plays here.

This blog by Leonard Jacobs articulates the situation better than I.

UPDATE:

Here’s part of what I wrote to President of NYU John Sexton, with this letter:

I graduated Tisch Dramatic Writing in 2003. I dug myself into a deep hole of debt to study playwrighting and theatre at NYU, and thanks in part to you, the spaces that existed just a few years ago for me to stage my work are Gone. History implies that the University will do as it pleases, continuing its expansion … I am disappointed in and ashamed of my alma mater. … the theatre community gives more to the city than NYU’s dorms and extra classrooms. It gives more to the city than it will ever get in return. Theatre is not about ROI. This community shines in your shadow, and you will not be able to replace what you will lose by tearing down the Provincetown Playhouse.

The Tour de Queens is a 20 mile leisurely ride through Queens on June 8^th. Registration is FREE and it’s organized by Transportation Alternatives.

The ride is limited to 500 cyclists so register now if you want to partake.

I signed up and can’t wait. The hardest part will be staying on the bike and refraining from stopping off at every single food stand. Queens is well endowed with tasty, authentic ethnic food from Indian and Thai to Greek, Italian… Many don’t realize that empanadas are premium cycling fuel.

Think you got what it takes to take a leisurely roll? 20 miles is more than I’ve ever gone on a bike, and at just 6.2 miles short of marathon distance, I’m curious to see how it feels. Let me know if you plan to ride.

I haven’t posted because a plague is upon me. It’s called ‘I am a very bad person’ plague, and it haunts you if you commit to seeing a show and don’t.

After all my jabber (see post below), I didn’t make a show on Friday. I stared at Cai Guo-Qiang’s gunpowder paintings (are they considered paintings?) and sculptures too long. We didn’t leave the Guggenheim until near closing Friday.

I’m going to go see When is a Clock this week. Not because playwright Matthew Freeman posted a comment on my blog – though for that he is awesome. I am going to see the show because after reading about the production and story a few weeks ago, I haven’t forgotten. I’m intrigued and the possibility of seeing a good show, when I haven’t seen one in so long, is irresistible.

Why do we choose the shows we do? It’s easier to pin point the negative. Deal breakers – reasons why I will not go to a show – include:

• Gimmicks – After I was kidnapped and forced to watch Heddatron at HERE, I will never be suckered into a theatre gimmick again, no matter how many robots are rolling across the stage. Can you tell I’m still bitter about the time wasted that fateful evening?
• Personal Connotations – a graduate of Tisch Dramatic writing and part of the NYC theatre community since 99, I pre-judge quite a bit based on who’s involved (but don’t we all regardless of industry?) But this is just as often the only reason I go to shows so that can’t be a negative.

So what makes a show irresistible? What would make you leave an exhibit early or even better – buy tickets in advance? Do good reviews seal the deal for you?

What if you had a show in two hours and your potential audience is uptown blankly staring a big paintings and suspended cars?

After catching Cai Guo-Qiang’s ‘I Want to Believe’ exhibit at the Guggenheim tonight, I am finally going to satisfy my itch to see a show- which I haven’t done in a very long time.

The three shows I am interested in seeing are $15-$18. And I’m taking a friend so that’s $30-36 just for the tickets. Were we to grab dinner and get a drink or two, as we often do, the total cost would likely be the same.

The cost of theatre is a problem deserving of its own post.

Here’s what I’m choosing between:

Wanderlust – a one man show at the Barrow Theatre. Great reviews, but one-person shows rarely hold my attention

When is a Clock – at the Access Theare. The last show I saw there was awful, but I’ve heard good things about this one and the story is interesting. But $18 is a lot for those oh-so-uncomfortable seats…then again playwright Matthew Freeman keeps an excellent blog on theatre and politics

Babylon, Babylon – at the Brick in Williamsburg (BK). I have a soft spot for ambitious shows, and with a cast of 30 I am tempted. This space, however excellent, is quite small for a full out production. Though I love catching shows in Brooklyn, I’ll probably pass on this one.

I have to stop before I talk myself out of seeing anything. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I choose shows based on the theatre’s proximity to good cheap food. So if whatever show I see is no good, at least I’ll have a tasty tip to share.

Just a note to wish congratulations: Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson married earlier this month.

Both Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson are heroes of mine. Artists of all mediums: musicians, multi-media creators & producers, writers…Laurie received the first fellowship from NASA. She builds her own violins.

If I could squish any two people in the world together and BE them, it would be Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. I would also settle for a long conversation. I have settled, however, for a friendly encounter a few years ago:

Any theatre person in NYC will tell you that just because your pockets are empty doesn’t mean you can’t see good theatre. One way to do so is by volunteer ushering. You show up an hour early, take people’s tickets and get to see the show for free. You usually meet like minded people and have an interesting time because everyone talks to ushers. They’re approachable.

So there I am at St. Anne’s Warehouse on a Sunday afternoon taking tickets for Cynthia Hopkin’s new show Accidental Nostalgia. Smiling, taking tickets, pointing to seats. Turn around and Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson are standing there, both in sweatshirts holding a diet coke and rice wrapped in seaweed, hair ruffled.

I had to sit in front of them during the show so I wouldn’t stare at their hair the whole time, styled in what hipsters refer to as ‘pieces’. I didn’t subject them to my gushing. I didn’t even tell them where their seats were. I guess I froze, but I prefer to think I respected their, uh, privacy.

A few months later, I found their contact info in a rolodex that wasn’t mine, & sent them both a letter offering them parts in a show- still waiting for that reply. Or maybe my letter was lost in the mail?

Anyway, I wish them the best.

Saturday morning called for another city run; this one we planned. RC registered for his first 5k, which is May 3rd so that leaves 2 weeks to train. (I am considering running this, too. I haven’t registered yet because this would be my first 5k, and for me this is super intimidating, and I can’t tell yet if that excites me or fills me with paralyzing anxiety.) 

-This tempting 5k is organized by Asha: a non-profit to provide basic education for impoverished children in India. The Asha 5k begins on 83rd in Riverside park and goes North to 112th Street and back – the entire course is through a park along the Hudson river complete with rolling green hills. We didn’t run this course on Saturday, and I realize I need to do some serious uphill training before attempting to do so!

Saturday morning we took the 1 train to 125th street. By the time we got to Harlem from Brooklyn, the air was cool, sky blue and I realized I’d worn too many clothes. Note to self: dress to be 20 degrees warmer. Don’t wear two hoodies and a long sleeve tee over your running tank… We both downed a GU-gel, berry flavored, before taking off (more on gels in another post, the immediate energy boost from these is helpful, but the taste and consistency are tough to swallow).

The first mile from 125th, both a cyclist and running path, has a clear and safe separation from the traffic of the west side highway. You’re running on a well cared for, paved path only feet away from the river. Best of all, there is no formal pedestrian divider between island and water. You see the George Washington Bridge fading behind you and NJ framing the horizon, but it doesn’t feel like you’re in NYC. Most places along the water front are developed and planned. This first mile is natural with trees, rocks and grass, AND no marble benches and architectural accents that sometimes compliment and sometimes smother the majority of Manhattan’s waterfront. 125th to around 95th along the Hudson is to date my favorite mile of NYC.

The street numbers become a blur when you’re not actually running from block to block, but around mile 2 Riverside Park bursts with blossoming trees, baseball fields, gardens, rusty remains of piers that have out lived their use, and foot paths that rival Central Park’s. The running path detours through the promenade due to construction, and then returns to the river as a wider passage way lined on one side with benches and the other with fishermen who planted several poles in each, drowsing against the rail fence.

A multitude of Trump buildings along the 70s explain the sculpted parks and many opportunities to stretch on perfect grass or flat sunning stones. Around the 70s, we stopped to congratulate ourselves.  Not knowing the exact distance we’d covered, but we knew we’d done about 50 blocks and felt pretty good. The warm sun combined with the wind from the highway and the breeze from the bridge kept my body temperature down.

Around the 40s, Hells Kitchen, the course is less a continous sight to savor and more a test of both endurance and peripheral vision to spot cyclists, taxis, and limos pulling into the parking lot of the montstrous cruise ship parked on the pier. We were thirsty, but refused to pay the tourist-inflated $3 for a bottle of water. So we kept on, enjoying the view of the empire state building down 34th, and the gust of moist air from the liberty helicopters landing.

We knew water awaited just past fourteenth street at the first playground pier. The final mile was tough; we walk/ran – thirsty, hot and weighed down by layers of clothes. At 12th street we collapsed on a bench, chugged a cold bottle of water each, stretched and I felt a little sunburn on my shoulders. Note to self: wear sunscreen.

Here’s our course. Again, the map doesn’t do it justice, but I haven’t figured out how to run with a camera yet. 6.05 Miles, give or take a step (thanks to US Track and Field site mapper)

I’ll definitely run this course again. Next time, I’ll stretch more early on to keep myself loose. The flatness of this path, not to be confused with the course through Riverside Park, is deceptive. I didn’t feel the impact of the run as much because the scenery is so distracting early on. But because I’m not going for speed now, as soon as the scenery ended I wished I’d stopped, stretched, and taken in more of the view. So be it – I’ll run it again in a few days and probably won’t stop then either.

My decision to register for Asha is to be determined. Right now I’m about 70 / 30 in favor of going for it. If you’ve ever run a 5k, where was your first and what did you learn? Tips would be much appreciated and used.

Miles Update:

April Goal: 30 / 42 miles

2008 Goal: 163 / 500 miles