This Week in Fabulosity

Tuesday - My fellow actors at the Ward Studio in both Philadelphia and New York agreed to extend our semester of Mesiner Technique II by a day in order to do a joint showcase of our work for one another, performing at the new studio space at 150 West 28th Street in New York. My classmate Brandon and I performed a scene from the Odd Couple and I was (perhaps obviously) cast as Felix Unger. I remember the first time we worked through the scene and classmates were really laughing and I couldn't believe it because while I knew the script read as comedy, all I could feel acting it was anger and frustration at bickering with my juvenile, slovenly room mate. In that scene I gained a better appreciation of humor and why it need not and should not be funny to the people performing. It was great to do it in NY with a (partially) fresh audience who didn't know the jokes and gags because once again I got to experience that weird parallel of being angry Felix, but also having some consciousness as myself hearing big laughs and knowing that I was entertaining my audience. A most excellent feeling. Stay posted for when I'm cast in an advanced study workshop and, later, for when I'm on Broadway and subsequently accepting my Tony. ;D

Thursday - Another trip to New York. (Are we seeing a trend here? Yes, the Liberty Bell is neat but no, it's decidedly *not* always sunny in Philadelphia). Before it closed, I wanted to see COLD WATER, an art show curated by the absolutely fabulous (and fellow Radical Faerie) Justin Bond. It was a show of visual art created by artists who typically channel their creativity into other media, ranging from performance art and song to acting to post-modern gender theory and more. *swoon*

Another highlight of the evening was a heading to Therapy (where, bless their hearts, pints of Stella Artois were only $3 - cheaper than Philly) and staying to see Levinia Draper perform along with Dorothy Bishop who was doing her best Sarah Palin, and damn it was good! Somewhere in the mix, my friend Nicholas and I decided that between the two of us, one was bound to win the $100 for the best audience go-go dancer and up we went. Long story short: I was ahead in the first round as Sarah Palin's pick because being from Alaska she “likes her men hairy and hung like a moose.” (Thank you Calvin Klein for bikini briefs that gather and lift!) However Nicholas pulled ahead and won in the dance portion. Feh! Regardless, it was an absolute hoot following Levinia's dance routine as she went along, singing “The Sun Will Come out Tomorrow” with her, and hearing Sarah Palin sing about converting gays to the tune of Wicked's “Popular.”

Friday – I volunteered for and attended Philly's premiere holiday party of the season, TOY by the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund. They collected a veritable mountain of toys for pediatric HIV/AIDS patients and presented aa big 'ol honkin' check to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Additionally, co-director Chris Bartlett (see how often we Faeries pop up where fabulosity is concerned?) delivered a beautiful speech, outlining goals for our community in Philadelphia for the next ten, twenty and thirty years. Bravo to our Lady Bartlett, we love you dearly!

Sunday – One more trip to the Big Apple. I don't even know how to describe how great it was. I saw a fellow classmate perform in an advanced workshop at the Ward Studio and was immensely proud of him. This was bookended by breakfast at Yaffa Cafe in the East Village with the delightful Kate Bornstein and dinner in a Midtown diner with one of my favorite new people of 2009, David Badash. “Auntie Kate” to teens, freaks, and other outlaws (that's me!), Kate asked great questions about spirituality, what challenged me most in life, and lots of other stuff that got my brain moving early on a Sunday. We discussed her latest blog about gay marriage and what it meant to move forward with a civil rights movement that built coalitions and addressed issues by urgency rather than popularity. More thoughts on that later in the week.

I met David later in the day with that same energy and had probably one of the best conversations I've ever had with someone I had only just recently met. This reaffirms that I will never again ask someone what they do as a first question, but rather, what they're strangest childhood dream or nightmare was or maybe what secret good deed they did that nobody ever found out about. Life is too short to not be asked and be asking the interesting questions. I'm here to keep it real, learn, grow, heal and make some fucking amazing art. And, of course, to be fabulous. In any event, David, who writes The New Civil Rights Movement, also really inspired me (OK, he told be what I should be doing, then apologized, but seriously I'm thankful because *somebody* needed to tell me what the hell I should be doing!) with regards to writing consistently. Hence, I outlined a week's worth of blogs on the bus ride home and am writing this now.

Know something fabulous, daring, brilliant or heart warming that I should be covering? Hit me up here in the blog comments section or on Twitter. Until next time, always be kind, never be cruel, and stay fabulous. xoxo