I have big, huge, gigantic news but I can't tell you what it is...

...So I am going to subtly tell you
in the form of a "fallen phrase" Cryptogram...
Yeah.
...cuz that's how I roll.

I can't wait to tell you for real. 

San Francisco Tweets

"When love comes so strong, there is no right or wrong, your love is your life." http://t.co/TRC5uhH1du #SFSWSS @Alsilbs @JessicaVosk
— SF Symphony (@SFSymphony) May 24, 2014

@alsilbs @JessicaVosk this is one of our favorite moments!
— SF Symphony (@SFSymphony) May 24, 2014

Clinging to her

Mikhail could not tell if she was truth or figment, but as he stirred, he found himself clinging to her.

He brought his hands to his face;
          thought he might smell her upon them—
          the hope of it alone made him quicken.


He was astonished by how inexperienced he felt in her presence, and laughed like a boy in ecstasy, that things could be as clear as this.

He loved her.

He loved her because nature willed it.
Because they were somehow already united, and of one body.
The bare flesh on every part of him already belonged to her,
          and the scent emitting from her skin was his.

There could never have been a creature like her before. 
He was certain of that. 

When Mikhail first laid eyes upon her, he was terrified.
An unsettling heat radiated from her eyes—an intelligence that seemed innate.
It transfixed him.

She had no knowledge of her beauty really, not the full extent of it,
           making her all the more inescapable.

The length and ravishing curve of her form,

          and intoxicating presence of her hair, its color all miraculous. 

The look that stopped his heart. 

And, of course, the sagacity of her mind. That mind which contained within it a knowledge of him so beguiling,
          he felt himself fill up,
          fill like a well surging, from the deepest and most secret crevices of a universal love.

He had been no stranger to lust.
He had surrendered to it countless times before,
          could write an atlas of the female form.

But in his search for triumph (or, perhaps, for comfort),
          all he had ever acquired was worthlessness.
Nothing more.
All he received was the compliance to an utterly indifferent gratification.
He was left only with his own debasement.
A bitter emptiness.

Oh Shura, he murmured as his mind rose from the reverie, all women before you have turned to ash…

In My Life: Amy Jo

Amy Jo Jackson
New York, New York
2013 PS)

@alsilbs OH MY GOD I AM SO HONORED I MADE IT TO THE BLOOOOOOG!!!!!!!

— Amy Jo Jackson (@AmyjoJackson) May 21, 2014

West Side Story is here

It is here.
And I could never articulate my feelings.
Except to say this: I FEEL PRETTY.
And proud. And excited. 
Enjoy.

In My Life: the original 'Trojan Women'

Morning Acting Class, Pace University Class of 2017
New York, NY
©2014

In My Life: RSO

Ryan Scott Oliver
New York, NY 
©2014

Greek Tragedy: The Pithy Gist

Ahhh Greek Tragedy.
Beautiful.
Essential.

Older than Jesus.
The birthplace of modern drama.

Trouble is?
Sometimes Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripedes sound more like venereal diseases than the world's greatest tragedians. ("Ooo. I got Euripedes in college. Itches like hell. But the cream helps...")
Sometimes you just don't have the TIME to peruse the great tomes of the past.
Sometimes you are emotionally FRAGILE.
Sometimes you just can't handle all THE FEELS.
Sometimes you need a BREAK.
You need some HELP.

And that? [*super intense whisper*] ...THAT IS WHERE I COME IN...

I am here to give you the gist.
That's right.

To "get the gist" means to understand something, but not to be expert in it.

Bob: Did you read Moby Dick last night?
Steve: Nah, I read spark notes, got the gist.

So should you read The Orestia and marvel at the the poetry of Aeschylus, the inevitability of fate, and see the end of the curse of the House of Atreus?
Um, YES. Yes you should.
It is a classic of the modern age.
It is WORTH IT.
These plays are IMPORTANT.

But... in the meantime... I got your back...

*

Trojan Women: WAHHHH my city is gone!

[CURTAIN.]

Electra: F**k you Mom.
[CURTAIN.]

 
Medea: F**k you Jason. 

[CURTAIN.]

Antigone: Wahhhh my whole family! 
Oh also F**K YOU CREON!

...[CURTAIN.]

The Aenid: Hey look! ROME!

[CURTAIN.]

The Bacchae: WORSHIP ME!!

[CURTAIN.]

The Orestia: 
Orestes: I'm SOOOORRRY! 
The Gods: Ugh. It's okay.
[CURTAIN.]


 



The Persians: OHHH PERSIA.
[CURTAIN.]

Iphigenia at Aulis: Daddy! (Sigh.) FINE. 

[CURTAIN.]

Seven Against Thebes: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7... 
That's Thebes. You hate them. 

[CURTAIN.]





To conclude, the piece-de-resistance:

Oedipus Rex: MOM?!!!

[CURTAIN.]

Aaaaaaaaaaand SCENE.

You are welcome.

[*compulsively drinks Gatorade in corner rink*]

Friends I Admire (and Why) - Part 5

Emma Williams

• She reads. In fact, she eats books. Like me.
• We met on a 'friend-date.' Which is amazing. What the hell is a 'friend-date' exactly? Well, to quote the Urban Dictionary: 

"a situation in which two friends partake in activities (such as movies, coffee, walk on the beach) that have the appearance of a regular date, but have no romantic intentions." 

In our case? A mutual friend "set us up," we exchanged contact info, texted, made a date and met for coffee... then stayed for lunch... then dinner... then yeah, seven hours later were best friends. How about that...

• She’s wildly smart (I remember once we bonded over the MENSA test questions...#dorks)—and therefore incredibly challenging. In fact, I can safely say she is the only other "scary smart" person I've ever met other than my father. 
• She is that best friend that you would literally do anything, say anything, go anywhere, for. "Hi, so my creepy ex is following me home on the 67 bus and can you meet me at Seven Sisters in 20 minutes?" --YEP.  "Yeah see I'm trapped in Croatia and need to you come get me..." --SURE CAN.
• Her Yorkshire accent is a lot of things, but mostly it is super cute.
• So okay. This might sound creepy but she has this SKIN. It's like the kind of skin you sort of can't believe is REAL exactly... alabaster, wrinkle-free, and seemingly poreless. And sometimes (when I used to see her in person more than I currently do on FaceTime) I would stare at her and wonder: has she ever seen the sunshine? Or, how do her pores manage to breathe...?
• Emma is a bonafide "cat lady" too... (I call upon her when Tatiana is being superCRAY...)
• This Yorkshire lassie has some absolutely world-class legs people. (Let. Me. Tell. You.)
• Geographic distance has made us more emotionally close than any other person I have ever loved and been apart from.  

• She originated the role of Jenny Cavilleri in Love Story, and when I got the American premiere, she was almost more excited to hand over her creation to her best friend.  And we lived through the entire experience together... [see right]

• She is understanding.
• ...funny
• ...ADORABLE
• ...and she possesses the perfect balance of self-awareness, honesty, humility and pride in herself to be one of the most self-possessed and loving people I know. 

• When the going gets tough, Emma gets on the phone.

• Earlier this year, when Emma was going through a lot of personal trials and big big changes, we developed a way to communicate every day without being bogged down by the heaviness of her circumstances. How, you ask? Well. I requested (okay, demanded) she write me one haiku about her life every.single.day until the aching stopped. ...And she did it. And that's how we handled that. It was fun, funny, touching, tragic, poignant, and painfully moving; and made me feel closer to her than ever. I am proud of her true strength, her ferocious courage and above all, her willingness grow, accept the ebbs and flows, and to face life head on. 

Jeremiah James

• Jeremiah will (literally) drive through the night to make sure anyone he loves is still breathing and okay.
• He will do his cruise ship choreography of "Living La Vida Loca" for you during intermission the day after you split up with your boyfriend merely to make you smile for 10 freaking seconds
• ...or, he will spontaneously take you camping in the Poconos simply because you are having a crappy week. Then he will skinny-dip at 1 am in the Delaware with you. Which is not remotely romantic. Because it is pitch black and too cold. It is just funny and epic and COMPLETELY AWESOME.

• Jeremiah played Billy Bigelow to my Julie Jordan in the West End revival of Carousel. Picture it:  [endless opening Carnival scene tech for the 'Carousel']

AL: Heeeeey... so the giant kiss in the 'Bench Scene' is terrible.
JJ: ...Okay...
AL: Sooo we have to fix it.
JJ: Great. [pause] Um, HOW?
AL: [Pause] Well... [pulls him into the swath of curtains] ...I mean, we have to, eh, practice.
JJ: WHOA. I'm sorry WHAT?
AL: Just... Jesus. Just f***ing SNOG ME.
JJ: HERE?!
AL: Yes! Here! WHAT? DO YOU WANT ME TO BUY YOU DINNER? GET IN THERE!!
[awkward snogging. // Enter VICTORIA]
V: Hey guys--!
AL & JJ: --WE ARE WORKING!

• Look: in my day-to-day life, I am not a laugh-out-louder. I am that horrible person who will listen to an amusing comment and quietly go "Oh hey, that's funny..." He is the only human I know who can make me laugh out loud pretty much CONSTANTLY. 
• I mean... he is a super fox. Dzuh. Major hair. Giant arms and pecs both with their own postal code. Epic skin. Teeth you can see from SPACE... Look: it's dumb. But charmingly, he has absolutely no idea... 
• ...and he is mostly just a super dork.

• He is the loyalest human I have ever met. 
• He is ferociously principled. 
• And talented. 
• And deep. 
• And reassuringly tall.
• And basically? This man loves his dogs. His country. His scotch. And Superman.

the perfect picture.

More friends I admire:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4