New beginnings

I've put "Monsters" on the back burner for now. Why, you may ask? Because I'm rediscovering and rebuilding an older play. "Blue Moon" takes place in three different time periods (or "zones", as I call them in the play). It starts in the seventies, then goes to a fifties scene, and then a nineties scene, and then repeats. The story centers on Naomi, a young woman coming to terms with her sexuality, and her aunt Lola, who made different choices and ended up talking her own life. Parts of the play are based on true events and people, but most of them are made up. The characters are the most true to real people. In the play, Lola is a lesbian and Naomi journeys from initially coming out as a lesbian and then realizes she feels more at home with the bisexual label. The woman upon whom Lola is based, my aunt Val, was not a lesbian.

I'm very excited about this new play. It's got really strong themes and characters. The idea that "Monsters" might be part of a syllabus one day made me happy, but I think "Blue Moon" (not gonna shorten that one to initials, am I?) could also be part of a curriculum. I also see scenes that people could do in an acting class. Many of the scenes are short, two-character pieces. The play itself is very streamlined--it's only about 70 pages. I'd like to get it up to that magic number 80 again like CO. I'm working on what may be the last scene of the play. When I do that, I'll have finished the second draft.

The scenes are chronological in their own timelines, but the play itself leaps from one decade to another. All the characters except Lola and her lover Cory appear in more than one time zone. The actress that plays Cory also plays a character similar to Cory in the nineties scenes. So the play has seven actors. This means I'll be able to submit it to more contests and theaters. Most don't take stuff with more than seven actors. Someday I'll write a four character play. But not this year.

Things other than writing, just to catch you up...I got into "Company". I'm Susan, the Southern belle. We have 2 1/2 more weeks to put this puppy together. We've gotten through all the music and most of the choreography. Tonight we start blocking. I have all my lines learned (at least for my two big scenes). I really like being Susan. I have a REALLY high solo in one of the songs; that's my bogey.

Weight is down to 147.8. Happy with that! I like the way I look and I'm fit for the dance (no breathing hard for me). My goal of 140 by April Fool's Day may be a silly one. If I get to 145 that should be good enough. I'm good where I am.

So happiness and work, the kind of work I like to do. Auditions for CO are fast approaching. I'll write more about that later. Right now I'm going to check my email to see if I have a message about a particular job I applied for...(no need to talk about that right now; I don't want to jinx it.)

Yours in words.