Breathless in Boston

This weekend turned out to be all about the theatre for me. We saw the opening of a college production of Madwoman of Chaillot on Thursday, nearly had to drive to Maine for an audition for my sweetie on Saturday, and I went to the Boston Opera House to see Legally Blonde on Sunday. The theatre has been a part of my life since I was a very little girl. It’s part of the way I view the world.

Madwoman is about how the street people save Paris from corporate greed. It’s a wonderful metaphor for our current time. The way the show was performed, however, was an uncomfortable metaphor for our time. It ran long, too long for the young actors to sustain the arc of the story. In the end, the powers that were (in that situation) told these youthful performers to a/ hurry and b/ shout. Hence the uncomfortable metaphor for our time.

We are often in a hurry and, as a result, we often shout at ourselves and at others. We got home very late that night and went to bed. In the morning, I wakened anxious and edgy. It took me two hours to figure out that I couldn’t get a deep breath because my body had picked up the anxiety of the cast! I had to slow down just to make enough space for me to breathe.

The audition was postponed so we got to stay warm and cozy at home rather than drive to Maine, but we did get a chance to reconnect with our friends the director and producer of The Public Theatre in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine. A truly magical company, it’s an Equity theatre in a most unlikely place that sells its seasons out consistently by insisting upon experienced actors who show up and create wonderful theatre.

Things are slower in Maine than in our bigger metropoli. There is both the time and the space in which to breathe. Breathing’s good, dear one—at least four or five times daily! If you can’t “catch your breath,” here’s the fastest way to get it back. Exhale! Breathe out. Hard. Even if you have to force the air from your lungs. What you’ll find is that you’ll catch right up to your breath because the exhale is what causes the inhale—not the other way around.

The Boston Opera House is a stunning theatre. Originally created as a vaudeville house, it became a legit theatre when Sara Caldwell, the opera director, took it over for her opera seasons, and my, is it grand! Legally Blonde is in the queue of musicals I’m planning for The Healing Mysteries of Mex Stone.

I just got back from the performance and wow! It was so fun. Interestingly, several of the scenes were slower than the ones in the MTV version. Not only were the actors able to breathe but so was I despite the high energy of the show.

This brings me to my point about breathlessness. The U. S. election is tomorrow, and a lot of us are holding our breath and crossing our fingers for our favorite candidate to win. Here’s my advice: let go, breathe out, and let the inhale sustain your faith. By November 5th, we will have a new President-elect.