Category Archives: PUSH

Home again, home again…

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mississippi.gifI’ll be back in Mississippi for a week from May 12th through the 19th. I’m looking forward to this and hope to fill up the days as much as possible while I’m there. I’ll be speaking at my home church on the 18th about my ministry up here with PUSH – I don’t know yet if this will simply be a brief speech that morning or an additional evening event as well. I’ll post the details when I know them.

I’m actually in the middle of watching the movie Adaptation as I write this. It’s pretty cool, all about a guy who’s writing a script that happens to be the one you’re watching. Trippy.

It’s bringing up interesting thoughts about life – which seems to be a common thread in all the media I’ve consumed recently. I’m still reading Ravi Zacharius’ book The Grand Weaver (which I highly recommend), which has been a nice closer to the book I read before it: unChristian.

unChristian coverunChristian was a spooky read. It presents research into Christianity in America that lends credence to just about every hunch I’ve had about how our society and culture view Christians. It also presented research on current culture that was equally helpful.

It’s kinda weird to struggle through myriads of conversations, assumptions, and general skepticism about your understanding of the world – and then have scientific research swoop in to take your side. unCrhistian will probably be a game changer for me – even though I’m not changing anything (weird, huh?).

Speaking of change, I’m moving into more work with PUSH for the next month or so. Tom Ohl is in the final stages of phasing out of PUSH to pursue his career in teaching and deaf education more fully. This leaves the current PUSH roster with three guys: Darren, Topher, and me. Seeing as Tom was performing alongside on or the other of these guys, that leaves many of his roles to me.

galileotomhaly.jpgThis is pretty cool, but at the same time scary and a major challenge. This is due in large part to the fact that I am performing right on the edge of my abilities to learn Tom’s parts. This move in particular is difficult for me. –>

The result of this new performance repertoire is a set of extremely sore legs and arms. One might be able to imagine why from this photograph. I thought I had discovered all the odd little muscles in my body that no one else uses… I was wrong.

Since I met him, Tom has been an inspiration. His presence on stage is so vital and nuanced; not even bringing up his technical skill which could stand on its own merit. And this is outside of his real life off the stage – which is even more amazing.

Que serra…

Finally, I thought I’d add in a short set of references to what I’m currently (or future-ly) digesting in book form.

Jiggity jog!

What I’m Reading Now:
• unChristian by David Kinnaman
• The Grand Weaver by Ravi Zacharaius

On the Shelf:
• The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
• The Necessity of Theater by Paul Woodruf

Playing Chess on Sesame Street

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Whew!

Strong LogoJust finished a week of shows at the Strong National Museum of Play here in Rochester. Although the week started out rough with me getting over a strong showing from my allergies, the onset of warm, sunny days and greatly reduced stress levels (e.g. quitting my day job) helped swing the week into the positive.

Of course that doesn’t mean easy. Two shows a day and three on Friday, eleven total in five days. Admittedly, they were shorter than our normal set but getting warmed up and ready for each show took up the slack there. PUSH must be on the up and up because the job’s getting harder every month.

A highlight of the week was the fact that we got free passes to the museum during the run. The place is just amazing. Besides the National Toy Hall of Fame there are some awesome exhibits. There’s ‘Reading Adventureland’ that has interconnected ‘houses’ devoted to almost every genre of children’s literature you can imagine. Tucked inside each house you can find almost every book you read as a child – which is only the start of the coolness. Then there’s the ‘Field of Play’ section that has everything from air cannons to DDR to a sideways room tucked inside.

Grossology logoThe current traveling exhibit tucked in is called “Grossology” which takes every impolite or disgusting body function and just goes there (except THAT one – it’s still a kids’ museum!). It features such wonders as ‘Urine – The Game’ and a life-size version of ‘Operation’. There’s also a Nose Guygiant faucet, ‘Nigel Nose It All’, that drips snot and ‘Burp Man’ with a visible digestive track belching. Oh, and I won’t tell you about ‘Toot, Toot’, ‘Vomit Center’ or ‘Y U Stink’.

Big BirdThe crowning joy, however was the last afternoon when I got to sit down on Sesame Street and play a game of chess with DJ Stevenson. Just too cool. Surrounded by the old rough brick architecture, chalk drawings and good old-fashioned PBS education just made the week for me. “Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away…”

…defend us

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So two weeks of wonderfully insanity have just passed.

PUSH Geva Postcard

PUSH just finished a two-week run at Geva Theater in Rochester; a kind of debut performance for the Rochester community at large. We’ve performed all around the area for focused audiences, but never as such a large-scale event for the general public.

And it was fantastic. We sold out every one of our shows and made it to the number 3 ‘Thing to Do This Weekend’ in Rochester. The only similar event to beat us out was a short appearance by the David Parsons Dance Company – and they’ve got a good head start on the popularity meter.

The run was just about everything we could have wanted – except easy. Almost everyone in the company is battered from something. Between sickness, our metal props and general stage wear we’re all a bit tattered.

So after a few days of rest and re… more rest. I’m finally getting back into this whole ‘life’ thing.

The sad thing is, apart from the incredible beating my body took during the run (I came out with a strained groin muscle in my left leg and weird twinge in my left elbow – not to mention a crutch-sized notch in my knee and Heather’s blood on my hands) I would have been happy to continue that run for another month or so. Life around the stage is such a second nature to me after all these years, I fell into old rhythms very quickly. It reminded me of how much I’ve invested in that part of my life.

The run felt too short to me; but on reflection I realized it’s actually the longest run I’ve been a part of. The previous record was eight shows, not counting tour days and/or mission trips. A conservative count of the PUSH run would give you nine shows – a generous count would give you twelve.

So… life again. I’ve got a lot of things rushing back on me. There are a lot of decisions to be made about what I’ll be doing in the next few years coming up far too quickly. There are also decisions about what I’m going to be doing immediately… which should have been made already. The intensity of the Geva run kind of drove those off for a bit, but they’re back full force now and I need to give them my full attention.

Time to leave the ‘angels and ministers of grace’ behind to confront the world.

Old Friends, New Eyes

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New EyesThis past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to the Metro New York YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base on Long Island. I have several friends who currently work there and I had a great time catching up with them.

The funny thing about the whole situation was the perspective switch that we went through. It’s not as if we were completely different people who had to re-work our relationship, but I could tell there was a subtle dynamic shift.

For several months now I have been straining to make the transition from a “student of art” to “professional artist”. That may seem simple, but the switch is impossible for about 90% of my peers (how many BFA’s work at Starbucks?). After living through the last year, I can very easily see why. I found it’s not so much the hectic times that kill the dreams, it’s the dead zones in between that stymie us the most. It’s a hard road to travel but I think I’m beginning to turn the corner.

I’ve loved the few weeks I’ve been working with PUSH. If there’s one thing I have been challenged by more than anything else, it’s the lifestyle choices they make. I have learned so much by just watching these people work. I came out of school with a great many ideas about how the professional artist works – great ideas with no connection to daily activities. It was a painful and slow process learning about that gap.

Now I get to see the actions up close. For example: grant-writing was always a concept that made sense to me, but was out of reach in practical sense. I had no idea what process was used to get from zero to step one. Today, I not only got to sit in on a first contact meeting, but I am also getting advice and supervision as I write the grant in question.

There are so many things constantly ‘popping’. Mostly, they’re little things like a reaction or word choice, but they make all the difference. I can see so much of what I needed to learn occurring right in front of me every day. It’s these actions that separates the “student” from the “professional”. In short, a lifestyle of choices.

The challenge before me is to absorb this lifestyle. I believe this is already happening – in large part because I made a conscious choice to leave what I had and work with PUSH. I think this is what made my old friendships seem a little different. It’s still me that people see, but choices have been made, attitudes have changed, and the person has grown. New eyes taking a look at old friendships and vice versa.

Semi-official…

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Well, I have been (in)directly confirmed (several times!) as a PUSH Physical Theatre intern for this next year.

This is significant feat as the whole process has been shrouded in layers of secrecy, bureaucracy, and extended vacations. Also a double attempt to join the circus.

I now have incontrovertible proof that the director expects me up in Rochester, NY by Oct 2. So, I’ll be leaving Mississippi within a week or two to head north. I don’t know the exact time because I still have to figure out my housing situation. As soon as something works out, I’m gone.

If anyone believes they are somewhere between Jackson and Rochester, let me know and I’ll see if I can’t at least wave at you from the fast lane.