A Very Civil Weekend

This is my second time to come and spend 6 to 7 weeks in Virginia. As I was driving through the beautiful countryside yesterday on highway 17 out of DC to Virginia Beach, the privilege and blessing to be able to see so much of America because of freelancing really hit me. Freelancing is fun and difficult. This is the truth about everything in the end.

My friend Pat and his delightful wife Alana once again played hosts. They live in Silver Spring, Maryland so I drove up the I-95, picked up Pat and we headed to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. You do know there is a WEST Virginia, right? Well, it's stunning. I felt like I was on the shoot of LAST OF THE MOHICANS and any moment Daniel Day Lewis was going to come out of the woods across the Potomac and yell to me "Wherever you go...I will find you!" and then disappear again, running like a gazelle.

At the National Park there (in which my annual pass is still good to the end of September...BUY A PASS YA'LL! Support America's National Parks!) we got to see the actual village of Harper's Ferry and share it with Living Historians as well as Civil War reenactors. Our first stop was the provost's office which was basically the military police. The Union really had to be tough there because of the US Armory (which John Brown had tried to take over and steal guns for a slave uprising in 1859).

The park ranger there (who was dressed as a Union soldier) told us that when you came to town, the first thing you had to do was come by the provost office to get registered. To get a pass to be in town you had to swear allegiance to the United States of America (as opposed to the rebellion in the South) and then you received a pass you carried with you at all times that matched a log in the book of who was in town. On the back of the pass were descriptions of your hair color, eyes, height, skin color etc. When they asked me where I was from, I told them that my people were from Mississippi and that they all fought for the confederacy, however, I was at heart a Unionist and abolitionist so I got a pass. Whew. Close one. On the wall they had a chart from an actual day during the war of people who were brought in and why and what the punishment was. Some were as simple as "looked suspicious" and "drunk" or "spoke a word against the Union."

A group of reenactors were there from Pennsylvania (Union) and they did a gun demonstration. They were camping in period as well so we went over and had some good chats with the soldiers. If you've read the fine CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC by Tony Horwitz you would know immediately that they were all FARBS. None of them were hardcore, but they were good guys and they were having fun. God bless em.

We walked on the Appalachian Trail which was great fun. Check out Bill Bryson's A WALK IN THE WOODS about his escapades on the trail. Hilarious. Plus a friend of mine wrote a musical recently that going to be in NYC called TRAILS that is quite fun. A rom-com mystery set to music on the Appalachian Trail. Some of the numbers are gut busters.

On Sunday, Pat took me to Arlington National Cemetery. Overwhelming and mindbending number of graves there. The house (which was Robert E. Lee's home before the war broke out) was taken over by the Union in 1861 and used as army headquarters, a refugee camp for former slaves and eventually our nations main graveyard for servicemen of all wars since the Civil one. The contradictory feelings that this place brings out is rich. If you know anything about Lee and the war you can't help but realize the irony that his front, back and side yards are now a graveyard. When you see the view from Lee's front yard, the US capital, you see why the Union had to take it and make an example of it. Knowing that to the Union, Lee was a flat out traitor it blows your mind that Arlington house is now a monument to Robert E. Lee. The mingling of justice and audacity is a very unusual drink and yet is just right. It's perfect.

I told Pat that I think the reason Appomattox and Harper's Ferry National Parks are practically exactly the way they were during the war is because both towns failed. The people of Appomattox moved a couple of miles to the railroad after the war and for whatever reason Harper's Ferry just never quite took on. And now they are preserved.

Thank you to all the people who have cared enough to fight for the creation and care of our National Parks and to all the historians who feel that preservation is important to fight for.
We all have a part in bringing beauty, mystery and honor to others.

Next time I'm in DC, I want to see the FDR monument, go to the American History Smithsonian museum and take a tour of Ford's Theatre.

Until next weekend!

Over There

Well my car, previously known as a 4 cylinder Saturn SL1, made it the 1200 miles to Seattle. (It is currently known as a 3 cylinder Saturn SL1) Whew. It was packed to the gills. Have I "moved" to Seattle? I guess. I call it relocating. The plan is to stay with the Lund family for a year as I continue to freelance and try to figure out some career and life stuff. All in all, I was ready for a change and think I am ready for even more changes. I want to work on all areas of my body, life and spirit and for some reason think this is the place to do that. I've found myself quite depressed though (this manifests itself by watching alot of meaningless television and going into my cave...yes, women have caves too...). As soon as I realize that uncertainty IS life, I'll be ok.

Right now I'm in Virginia for 7 weeks to direct OUR TOWN for Regent University. I really like the folks that run that MFA Acting program (and the BA program). Good people, kindred spirits. It's nice being back. They've put me up with a very nice couple (he's a playwright/teacher and she's a folk artist) and they live in an awesome neighborhood in a house that is an exact replica of 2 houses in Williamsburg. I'm living in the apartment above her store. While here, I'll get to see my friend Pat, go to a civil war re-enactment, see Harper's Ferry and DC, including tooling around Norfolk, Richmond and Virginia Beach.

There's a Trader Joe's here so I should be ok.I'm looking forward to seeing as much theatre as I can here in Seattle. Got to see Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize winning play RUINED at the Intiman and was so glad that I did. It was the original cast/set design etc. Saw MAN OF LA MANCHA as well at Taproot starring my brilliant friend Jeff Berryman. Saw YANKEE TAVERN at ACT in Seattle, a 9/11 conspiracy theory play. There were a couple of lovely performances. Play didn't do it for me. Also saw Harlequin's JEKYLL & HYDE which was well done and beautifully performed. Wish the script was shorter and tighter...Make it all count.

Right now I'm deep into OUR TOWN. Feel very strong about this play and it's message. There's something deep and eternal to grab onto and the cast of 26 students and 5 kids are rocking it. So fun to have such a great group of people to play with.

Hope the beginning of your fall is magical.

New design new blog

Inspired by Staci and her amazing blogging skills, a sincere change is coming. More blogging. I know this has been part of your nightly prayers..."Please more blogging from Marianne..." Well those prayers have paid off. As I step on a new path toward untold adventures, those stories and wanderings shall be told.

Yesterday I realized that in less than a month, I'll be at my relocation site. My sister (not by blood but by friendship) in Seattle offered me to come and live with her and her family for a year as I continue to freelance. This is going to save me alot of money, giving me a chance to get financially in order and take some interesting jobs as well as some risks. Can you say BLESSING? All my stuff is in storage in Burbank. So no, I'm not moving...I'm relocating for a year.

I already have some gigs lined up...Sept & Oct in Virginia directing OUR TOWN at Regent University. Nov & Dec in Seattle teaching an acting class. Jan & Feb in LA directing KING LEAR at Actors Co-op and possibly teaching a class at Azusa Pacific University.

Today rehearsals start for SHADOWLANDS that I'm directing at American Coast Theatre Company in Costa Mesa, CA. What a beautiful show. It cracks my heart. We open August 6th so come out if you can. I think you'll be glad you did.


Today is also the final week of rehearsals with my high school ensemble at South Coast Rep. We're doing a play about the oil spill. These kids are great and give me great hope for the future.

More blogging to come...

DIRECTING WIT

Nan McNamara as Vivian Bearing in Actors Co-op's production of WIT

Margaret Edson's pulitzer prize winning play WIT has been a joy to rehearse. On first read the writing knocked me on my you know whatty and thrilled my soul however I was uncertain I could live with the hell of cancer during the process. In viewing an interview with Margaret Edson and Charlie Rose (with the talented Kathleen Chalfant) my courage was renewed and Margaret guided me all the way. The set design by Gary Lee Reed really lifts our production and never ceases to delight me in the way it serves the story and it's visual pleasures. Joseph King Barkley who wrote original music for THE CRUCIBLE created the sound for this show as well. Using Bach throughout he added a modern twist to a classic piece that really suits the emotional life of the play and the character of Vivian. It never ceases to amaze me how a play comes to life. You read a script that some writer spent perhaps years working on then a group of people come together and in a matter of weeks (after a few months of prep) the story is alive, in 3-D and an audience is invited into the experience. If a play plays and there's no audience to see it, is it still a play? No. Just need to remind myself of that.

MOVIES

So I got a bunch of screeners as a SAG member and just saw INGLORIOUS BASTERDS. Dang. Too bad the marketing of this film was so lame. This is a grownup movie. As good as Tarantino is I had no inkling that this film was so exquisite in the storytelling, acting, writing, directing, production design. Wow. Good job Quentin. Then there is THE HURT LOCKER (directed by a LADY ya'll) which I fear will be over looked this year. As a slightly obsessed lover of the war picture I am a big fan of this movie even though there are two plot points I find utterly unbelievable. Sorry that Jeremy Renner will not get an award this season, but I believe he'll get work and lets just say that people are crazy about him in said film. PRECIOUS. So difficult to watch and so important to. This film made me want to do something, make a difference. I Always think it's special when a story instills action in the viewer. MoNique did some devastating work. UP IN THE AIR. I liked it when I saw it in the theatre, but not so much as a screener. Hmmmm. Vera Farmiga did a number on my heart and that was cool. Clooney is just great as usual. Definitely worth seeing and definitely modern. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER. I really identified with this film and the work of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. That kid is special. And he looks frighteningly like Heath Ledger. He is going to be a major A-lister no doubt. Meryl Streep in JULIE AND JULIA is a revelation for sure. She is so comfortable in her skin and delightful. Shimmery. One word about an actor who needs an Oscar only because he deserves it more than almost anyone: Stanley Tucci. Nuf said.

JENNY CHOW

Ok, so I stink. Not smellaphorically but as a blogger. Here I am though. Back in Los Angeles after a fast and furious three week directing gig at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento, CA. First let me set the record straight. Sacramento is adorable. Sure it's got it's flat, boring, dry American suburbia side to it, but I was put up in Midtown. Lovely. Gorgeous trees for days and days, with quaint houses mixed with Victorians and Craftsmans. Me likey. The actors that were cast by the theatre's Artistic Director were great. We had fun. The set was colorful, fun to play on and added to some of the goofiness of the play. THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN OF JENNY CHOW by Rolin Jones is a fantastic play. A Pulitzer finalist. See or read if you can. One one day off I drove up to Nevada City which is an old wild west town. Really cool. They have tons of places to fly fish, which I now do. I have my own rod and reel and the best teacher in the world. Dad. Off for a day of fun with my dear Karen Lund who heads back to Seattle tomorrow.