If you’re worried, and you can’t sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep, and you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.
Well folks, it’s certainly been a while since I last posted! Last week we opened our production of White Christmas down here in Hilton Head Island, SC which will be running for the rest of 2016. I have to say, it’s been a very educational process living and working down here in the South. The weather! The quality of living! The beaches! I’ve been spoiled for sure.
What really has made this experience has been the colorful host of characters I get to meet and work with. Between the frazzled New Yorkers who have become my family of cast mates, to the Southern hospitality shown by the locals, I’ve learned a lot about how to take advantage of opportunities, to build relationships both professional and personal, and how bringing a little more kindness into an environment can change somebody’s whole day.
Example: during a very fast, hectic and grueling tech process, I was feeling pretty dead to the world. I felt grumpy, exhausted, unproductive and didn’t really feel like spending time with people outside of rehearsal. Wednesday, however, was my birthday, and also our first preview. The moment it turned midnight, I was greeted with singing and the lighting of a candle from my castmates. Throughout the day I was shown so much love and support from the entire cast and crew, which ended with everybody gathering at our house for birthday cake, wine and Hello Dolly (God bless Barbra Streisand). Our performance that night felt more energized and connected than it had ever been, and perhaps it was simply because I had opened up my eyes to just how big the hearts are of people in this industry, even in this little Southern resort town in the middle of nowhere.
Life gets hard, but everybody has to struggle through it, and it’s a hell of a lot easier when you all do it together. Its 79 degrees in December, I miss New York and my friends and colleagues there, but I can’t help but count my blessings this winter. Happy Holidays, everyone!