mermaids!

Just saw POTC 4. Came away with one definite conclusion: my 5 year old self was entirely right...mermaids are the awesomest!

What isn't great about mermaids? They are beautiful, and magical and part fish, and they can breathe everywhere, and they are beautiful and magical.

Maggie Age 5 is invigorated and alive within Adult Maggie! Now, to make myself a tail.

I know that mermaids have long hair because
1. They don't have scissors under the ocean
2. They need something to cover their ta-tas when they are being filmed/painted/photographed/animated
...but I think I'd make a pretty awesome mermaid. And think of all the time I'd save, not having to sit on rocks and comb my hair. Much more room in my schedule to swim around and eat sailors.

Also, POTC writers, I won't get into other issues I had with the film but re: mermaid's name...SIRENA? REALLY? That's the MOST CREATIVE NAME you could come up with? C'mon dudes. I think the only less-inventive option would've been Ariel.


In other arts-consumption news: I saw Friendly Fires on Friday (whee!) at the Music Box, and they were brilliant, and Rusty & I danced our booties off. Highly recommend checking out Pala, their new record.

with love
Maggie Moon

don't cry; mary ann (this is a long one, ya'll)

Hello. I'm feeling mighty bloggy tonight.

Back in the day, I had a livejournal I would pour endless novels worth of ramblings about my own life, while remaining just as prolific with a paper journal, and almost just as personal. Now livejournals have been replaced with photos and 140-character snippets of social networking; I think I've even begun to think in status-update-length vignettes.

Most of the time, when I come to Retroscena, it's for patter about my professional life, or muse about how lucky I am, or how moody I feel. At the moment, I'm feeling moody AND lucky. And very "take the gloves off," regardless of whoever is or isn't reading.

I went to a preview of "The Temperamentals" at New World Stages last night. A friend invited me, it was very enjoyable, the suits were impeccable. Afterwards, we gorged ourselves as a pair of happy carnivores should in the middle of a blizzard in the theater district: at 5 Napkin Burger. We caught up on life in general, old gossip, and the dark cloud of a Man that still hangs over my existence from time to time. It was around Man's grand exit period that I stopped the personal aspect of Retroscena, and while I keep it honest, I try to keep it business.

Man works a lot in the NY Theatre scene. Oddly, the NY Theatre scene is a place I sort of dance around the outskirts of - I think of myself as something of a theatrical bandit. I think I'm about to launch a project WAY beyond my 25 years. I'm sending proposals out left and right and doing all manner of weird performance things as usual. But when I come face to face with real NY Theatre community folk, I recognize that I am definitely an outsider. So, I don't run into Man at all. And we don't speak. So I hear these grapeviney things, and they are like twisty twisty knives in my gut. Because I know he's out there, probably hurting someone else really badly.

Minnie and I had ourselves a decent, if tumultuous time, on semi-intertwining paths in Los Angeles last week. We are planning a potential coast-hop for a long stretch - maybe 3 months, 6 months, or a year. Depending on work of course. One of the not-so-fine features of this journey was Miss Bensky getting EXPERTLY effed-over by a thoughtless young rocker. I feel somewhat personally responsible - I introduced the two of them back in November, having no idea how truly shallow this dude was. Is.

These points connect, I promise. Right here.

I don't think that it's worthwhile to go around spewing your opinion all over the internet. I also don't think that I am going to solve the age-old question of: Why do men cheat? John Patrick Shanley did a whole (awesome) MOVIE on the subject, didn't get to an answer. I think there are a thousand reasons.

I also know that now I am a deeply, almost religious believer in Strict Monogamy. I am not gonna force my belief on anybody else, nor do I think that there aren't people out there in the world making Open Relationships and Sleeping Around and Polygamy work. I'm sure it all works for someone, and makes somebody happy. But I will definitely express my extreme sadness and anger that our world practically promotes infidelity, and that it is absolutely acceptable shrug-off-able behaviour, especially in young men, especially young men in 'glamorous' professions.

Heck, I personally know (and work with!) an actor & a director who are collaborating on a whole film dedicated to an astrological excuse for treating women as disposable. Yeah. Dude can't help himself, cuz of his star sign.

Sleeping with as many people as you can doesn't make you a rock star.

It just makes you prone to VD, and responsible for a lot of hurt feelings.

I am really amazed and inspired by a lot of the love I see spring up around me. So encountering crap like this - that brings the whole realm of my friends that work in music & theatre down to some common Lifetime drama - is super disappointing. And I can't not take it personally. I went to the Neighborhood Playhouse, where we are taught to take everything personally.

This is a cause, my blog-readers, whoever you might be. A big addition to my grand but short list of

Things that Really REALLY Bug Me.
#1: Wasted Talent
#2: Wasted Talent
#3: Hurtful Infidelity
#4: Obstinate Ignorance



Rant concluded.

so lucky

I am so lucky. I am so lucky. Will you look at this picture? The gifts of 2009 are so glorious. There was struggle, but oh, the gifts. I have been tasteful, and I have not done a silly internet blabber about how awesome Rusty is, but he is so awesome, I could write volumes. About how he is a perfectly complementary being to my being. About how when we get on video chat and he just make faces at me for ten minutes, I am in paradise.

On a contrasting note, there is a lot of pain happening for a lot of my dear friends right now, and I am not sure what's up with that. I was feeling hella out of whack right along with them, until I painted half a wall and decided firmly that I must return to the basics of my artmaking. Craft projects and loud music and journal musing. It's been good. But I want the pain to ease for my pals, and for the holidays not to hurt.

Brother (another gift in my life) invited me to come to a taping of Artists Den (a PBS series) that his Dad's company was doing the video for. It was a very very intimate Tori Amos show at the Park Avenue Armory - which is, by the way, the effing COOLEST place, all huge and old and beautiful and carved out of everything. And Tori! Who knew! I have a couple of her albums, and have been known to fall into a Tori period from time to time. When I am feeling like I need to wrench something very primal and feminine out of my guts. I've never seen any live footage of her, so her performance came as a total shock to me. In my head, she's a voice, and some red hair. In person? Holy moly. She didn't talk - said maybe two words the whole set. No matter. She sucked us all in. She held us, toyed with us, flirted and wailed, and whispered and beckoned and by the end of it, I had goosebumps and hovering tears. Arresting - disarming - wholly engrossing, is Ms. Amos. It was very inspiring. Many thanks to Brother.

There were stars in our murky city sky tonight. Real stars.

ramble on

Today's post sponsored by the Zep. Cuz they inspire me to greatness and madness.

AMERICA Update:

Casting went so well, and I am pleased to announce that on May 12th, at the HERE Arts Center, you can come see the following performers explore the most challenging piece of theatre-art I've ever worked on.

BLACK: Rafael Jordan
NEW ASIA: Hwalan
LATINA: Mariana Soares
DYKE-MAN: Dylan Bandy & Logan Hall
WHITE: Angela Canalese
NATIVE AMERICAN: Kai Chapman

Even the character titles make one go "EEEK!" This is good. Challenging is good. Scary is good. Fear = Impending Growth.

I'm very very excited about this cast. They have great energy. Plus Aussie and I finally get to properly collaborate, which is so grand.

I am such a hippie sometimes, but as K said "We're going off of vibes here. This is a very vibes show."

Seein Shows Update:

I urge you to check out ROOMS at New World Stages. Produced by my newfound friend Van, and lead role understudied by Ms. Foxfire, it is a very worthy evening of musical fun. Scottish accents, rock music, and a very simple, lovely love story make for a groovy 90 minutes. As you can see, Daisy & I had ourselves a ball when we attended the second preview:


Random Update:

Dad's off with PG in South America in the coming weeks. Last night, he told me all about the schedule day off to visit...the RAINFOREST. The actual rainforest. With monkeys and trees and all sorts of wildlife I can't even imagine. Apparently the part they're visiting is where mosquitoes COME FROM (ooh, fun!), and they have to get more vaccinations than Dad has ever heard of before. Even worse than the ones you need to go to Africa.

Over n out,
Maggie

between love and hate

I had a weekend.

Such a weekend.

I've been ruminating and renovating my life, as well as repainting everything the color of a purple My Little Pony. Mom and I shuffled all the stuff around and now this place looks...well...very different. All that's left to do is walk around with a smudge stick, and I may have the aura of Man fully removed from my living space.

Love is such a strange experience. I am grateful to the universe for teaching me what it has, so far, about the L-Word, and I am grateful to whatever gene I got that allows me to fall so hard. I like feeling like I've dropped from a deathly height into a puddle. I'm still a little shocked that Man and I are DONE DONE and DONE. One expects that after a hard fall and a six year journey together, that it will not end in such an ugly, common fashion. But hey, it's all been real interesting. And I wish him major well-ness.


Back to the regularly scheduled Fledgling Director news. Which does relate to above item, regarding Love.

First off, Allies is coming along very well. First official table read is coming up December 2nd, and I will meet these lovely actors Foxfire speaks so highly of. Prior to that, I've invited Sessoms, Jive and Nelly over on Wednesday for an unofficial table read so I won't be unpleasantly shocked by anything read aloud in December. I had enough nasty moments during the table readings of US - realizing some deep, heartfelt monologue in your head sounds like absolute crap in the mouth of a great actor...well...sucks.

Saw a reading at the Lark last night with Stormy. It is definitely reading season - last week, Marty from At Hand hosted a reading of his show (which I can't help but call "School Shooting - The Musical!" in my head, but in truth, is title-less at the moment), then upcoming there's the Allies reading, Sessoms' play reading, the America reading (more on that later)....it's a readathon, folks. This reading was part of a Mexican playwright exchange thing, and the play itself was kinda like The Wire on the water (as Stormy's fella put it) or a Tarantino movie in boats. Afterwards, there was catch-up, good food and margaritas with Stormy & the entire production. Good times.

I carried on from there to meet up with Boss, and carried on...and carried on...until some ungodly hour.


I must speak of 'America' - this choreopoem I was given by a playwright named Kim Yaged. This woman is absolutely awesome, and I love this piece like I haven't loved a new work maybe...ever. It might be a years-and-years undertaking, but awesome. Bring it.


And since I haven't yet posted, please check out The Good Idea Gang in Paper Planes!

it's just a jump to the left (and then five steps to the right)

I am tres tres fatigue.

Yesterday's 8 hour Rocky rehearsal didn't feel so hard at the time, but boy. After a 5 AM bus ride back to Manhattan, a script drop-off, a creative meeting with the guys at At Hand Theatre Co., and finally getting to my bread job at 1 PM...sitting here, I can feel rehearsal. Especially in my neck. Or maybe that's the weird position I slept in for part of the bus ride. Whatever it is. Time Warping and Hot Patootie-ing all day in spike heels will mess with you. But I'm pretty psyched about it nonetheless.

Tonight is the first informal readthrough of La Machine Infernale. The RTC staff plus a number of actors we don't typically work with (ok, Judy and Metro are 'old hat' I guess, but I love them so...), and Monsieur Jean Cocteau.

EQUUS was phenomenal. I was so excited about it, I bought a mug. Which they claimed was $15 dollars. The charge that showed up on my statement was $20. What the hell? Either way, it's a lot of money for a mug. But that beautiful EQUUS publicity photo is on it, so, oh well.

BOYS' LIFE was fun. Man & I sat right by Michael Grief, the designer, and their assistants, so we got to hear the little whispers of final dress notes throughout the show. It made me feel excellent that there are things that even Michael Grief has to whisper about on final dress.


This week, because I am blessed with awesome people being awesome and generous in my life, I will be seeing ROCK OF AGES (starring Constantine...!) on Thursday. Words cannot describe the joy...!