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[itsonlyagay]

New York Theatre Intensives- Late Night Thoughts

For some reason, I felt inspired tonight to write some of my thoughts about the theatre intensive I did in New York City this summer. I find that in real life, hardly anyone asks me about my time and my adventures, or the program itself. So here I go, writing to the void. If someone is meant to find this, they will. 

The New York Theatre Intensives is a six week summer program in New York City. It is run by Artistic Director Susan Merson, and is done in collaboration with an off-broadway house called the Ensemble Studio Theatre. The Intensive provides Acting, Playwriting, Human Connection, and Production Development classes in various rehearsal spaces in central Manhattan, taught by members of the Ensemble Studio Theatre. 

Above is what you could easily find on the website. What they don't tell you is what I'll write here.

I'm a better human for doing this intensive last summer. Never before had I ever considered myself a writer (like at all) let alone any sort of playwright. This summer, under  the tutelage of Susan Merson (who specifically teaches Playwriting) I learned that each individual has a unique voice, and only you can tell stories in your own way. The stories I tell can only be told my way by me. What I say matters. I matter. I'm enough. Some of these lessons I also learned in other classes. Ultimately, I found my voice and got to watch short plays I had written go up in front of my eyes. As a dramaturg in training at university, this was the greatest appeal to the program for me: getting to watch new play development every day. 

Some days were so damn tedious and long. Classes went from 10-1, and 2:30-5:30 every week day throughout the six weeks. There was an option for student housing off of 8th avenue and 29th street (Manhattan) that I took. I made friends this summer that I still talk to (and one even VISITED ME for Thanksgiving! All the way from Chicago where she goes to university!!) Though I still don't call myself a playwright, I know I'm a better dramaturg for having done this because I've seen what it takes to develop multiple small plays. I've learned what questions are appropriate and hard-hitting when asked of a playwright. I learned what types of people I like to work with (because oh MY GOD I did not like everyone I came in contact with in that program) and I learned how to effectively collaborate. 

Fun things for this program: getting to live in New York. I'd only ever visited NYC once before this summer. As a theatre major, I've had, for the last two years, this background thought of, "well, maybe I'll just move there one day and do theatre. Other people do it, I'm sure I'll like it, right?" Being there for most of my summer, I got to find out for sure if I could survive there. And I can! But then I got to ask myself if I want to. Currently, my answer is No. I love New York City and think of it still as this magic man-made jungle of skyscrapers and dreams, but it is way more exhausting than I thought possible. It ran be down in a summer. With not much nature to supplement me (other than the absolutely fantastic parks like Central and Bryant) I don't think I could be in the city long-term. Which is fine! Because of the program, now I know. 

I got a play published. Albeit, it's a ten-minute play, but it's mine and it's published! I called it "The Tides Rolled Asunder." I wrote it for my roommate who was also in the program, and it is this ridiculous romp where this girl pops out of the ocean and tries to have sex with the man walking along the beach, but doesn't because she realizes she can be more than her past, so she decides to take life one day at a time (or something crazy, lol. It was in iambic pentameter with pretty Shakespearean words, so no one really noticed how bad the plot was!) The program used some of the tuition money (yes, the program costs a pretty penny) to help publish these anthologies of one of the plays and one of the monologues we wrote for the summer. 

Every two weeks, we had a "public" performance of the plays we were working on. We cast each other in roles and even wrote pieces for each other. We did one night in the Theatre Lab, off of 36th and 9th, and the other two we did at the Drama Bookshop somewhere by Times Square. 

Because I went, I got to see six Broadway shows, and about six or seven non-broadway shows. I saw Phantom twice, and consequently got to meet Sierra Boggess (right before she read my tweet aloud on "Da'ae Days," might I add. I cried a lot that night.) I also got to tell Sutton Foster she was really cool after seeing her in "Violet." She said, "That's what I like to hear!" Queen. Also, Idina Menzel signed the center of my If/Then poster. My mom didn't even mind waiting an hour and twenty minutes for her to come out the stage door with her If/Then sangria (my mom, not Idina). 

I got to eat the most expensive meal of my life at "Smith and Wollensky's Steakhouse." For two people, with two entrees, sides, and two drinks, $178 with tip. It was the best meal/ best steak of my life. No regrets. 

I subway hopped all around Manhattan. I very nearly got lost after coming back from Brooklyn with my friend Nathaniel. We were there because we watched fireworks above the Brooklyn bridge on the fourth of July. 

I got sort of drunk for the first time in my life! I had two tequila shots (which was gross) and Merlot red wine for the first time. Fortunately my apartment building was literally 100 feet away, so not too much stumbling. 

David Auburn, the writer of "Proof," came to teach a playwriting seminar on the first day of classes. He taught us about story structure through a Three Line Play exercise. 

I got to sing in New York City! We had a masterclass with a broadway vet named Carolyn Mignini, who was in the original cast of Tintypes. I got to sing and have her work with me a little. Real nifty. I don't think I'd ever been more proud of myself.

One of the classes was taught by a former NYU professor (whose class was the most controversial) over the Art of Connection. The lesson I walked away with most intently was that of the importance of listening. I'm no actor, but I can now spot someone being fake/ not listening to their other. Listening intently saves relationships, onstage and off. Listening and respect lead to mutual understanding of one another. 

I got to be a tourist and a visitor in a city of millions. So many people go there to seek out their dreams. Many fulfill them, and many more do not. I got to be in the middle of it as a temporary denizen; this right here is why it frustrates me that no one asks about it. I say no one, but sure, people do. But never the people I think would. Never the people that have never been, or want to go, even. 

I fulfilled a dream of mine, and plan to go back if I can! Because of these experiences, I recommend doing this program if you think new play development/playwriting is something you want to go into. I learned so much and have many more positives outweighing any negative aspects deriving from people in the program of lengthy classes that occasionally seemed to suck the life out of me. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll tell you anything you want to know! 

These are my thoughts on the greatest summer of my life. It changed me and taught me. Some of the lessons didn't kick in until I was already back in Oklahoma and making stupid decisions with boys or school/ whatnot. But I finally get the value of myself. I understand that I am not something to be taken lightly, as none of us are. We are enough, and we have voices. Sometimes we just need to learn how to use them. 

[fairy-mag-blog]

im off to bed

peace out

xxx