There’s been a lot of change going on in the last few months.
Hairspray closed. I ended my time with Muir Musical, officially passed the torch to its new Artistic Director, and closed a major chapter in my life. I’m not sure if I’ve fully processed yet what it means to step away from an organization that taught me so much about myself. I truly had the best collaborators through the years and the work that we did, year after year, have become my most cherished memories from my time at UCSD.
Dry Land, my honors thesis, opened and closed. It was an intimate, challenging, rewarding experience. It took place in a rehearsal room but with Visqueen, some perfectly tacky flooring, and the incredible work of my actors, we transformed the space into a convincing locker room to sold out showings. I subsequently wrote 60 (!!!) pages about the process and all that my team and I learned along the way.
I took a lot of headshots and worked with artists—behind the camera—in a way that felt new and familiar and fun. Clearly, I am a person who works best when I have a couple of projects to juggle, and this gave me a new outlet to put my energy into as my major theatre projects came to a close. I’m grateful for all of my amazing friends who let me take their photos and capture their radiance.
I graduated from undergrad then immediately traveled the East Coast through airplane, subway, train, car, bus, and a lot of walking. It was my first time traveling as a real “adult” without a daily agenda. I loved every minute of it, in Boston and Brooklyn and New Haven and everywhere in between. Also, saw The Ferryman and Come from Away and was 30 seconds away from snagging a DEAL for Hadestown — next time.
I’ve never been on a vacation that ended with no concrete plans when I got back home. Usually it would be time to start an internship or classes, but now it’s post-grad world and I’m definitely still trying to find my footing. The plus side is I suddenly have a lot more time for interesting podcasts and the lists of books I’ve been wanting to read and (shocker) making some art.
I’m entering a time in my life where there is much less structure than I am used to, unless I create it for myself. I have so deeply enjoyed finding comfort in the security of working within a campus theatre department, seeing the same faces in the halls for 4 years, having my closest collaborators in all of my classes and rehearsal rooms. It’s scary to move beyond academia, most of what I have known for the past 16 years. I know I am approaching a lot of unknowns, but the journey feels like it could lead anywhere and for that, I am both terrified and very excited!