New place, old friend, new adventure, old stuff

Hiya. Llysa here. Here we are in Stone Mountain, Georgia, just outside the perimeter of Atlanta... we are halfway through the last leg of our 2007 Monster Tour, (over 90 days on the road since January) and boy are we ready to come home!
One of the bonuses, though, was getting to see an prior touring pal of mine. Long ago and far away, I traveled for a year with Up With People, cast C, 1983-84. The tallest guitarist in the organization was in my cast - and is currently living here in the Atlanta area- Blaise Fitzpatrick. Who, much to my chagrin, looks great and pretty much the same as when we travelled in one of several buses through any of -what... 7 countries? He and his wife and daughters live nearby, and Blaise came out to see 52 PICK UP at Art Station.

It is an interesting perspective, to consider that I have been taking acts on the road(as it were) since 1977. As Blaise pointed out, my cast should be having its 25th anniversary, and since I actually toured in high school, with my jazz choir... oof.
Let's just leave it at "There are many miles behind me." And I'll add - I expect there will be many miles before I stop.

What is it that keeps me on the road, yet still anchored to a few certain places? (Seattle, the West Coast of the US, Charleston, Adelaide, Australia) We even own an Airstream, to facilitate that wanderlust, should we be so inclined. Is it the desire to see new places, new faces, meet those strangers who are merely friends yet unmet? Or for that feeling, when one gets home and sees familiar faces, that there is 'no place like home'? Or the inevitable comparison, of one place to another... one community to another? Or is it the friends in many places that happen to be geographically removed, although emotionally close?

And, as a parallel, perhaps that is one of the reasons we've done 52 PICK UP so long... the scenes themselves are familiar, but it's always the transitions that are different, and fascinating, or ironic, or painful, honest and funny. And always surprising. It's the juxtaposition of the familiar with the current moment/situation.

Another not-so-old friend has popped up again, as well. Our second podcast of PARK BENCH in Adelaide has been posted to GCast! Monique rocked it out, as well as editing and uploading a video version onto YouTube! (And don't go too far - a third podcast is coming soon.)
The links are:
podcast: http://www.gcast.com/u/theater_simple/main
(you can subscribe thru iTunes, too)
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=thsimple

So, home soon........ and still transition. We move at the end of the month from Ballard to Magnolia here in Seattle. We'll be home, but between homes, exchanging one house for another, transitioning how we live, tour, and seeing if I can't shed stuff that isn't serving me, us, the company, etc... (hello, packrat Holland).

Wish me luck, and stop by... we'll be home, soon.

Here we go AGAIN! ORLANDO FRINGE 2007

Well, well, well... here it is , monday morning, and I am sitting here with my coffee, in my robe, contemplating with some amazement that this time tomorrow, I will be shuffling around an airport, nay- perhaps even boarding a plane AGAIN! This time, the simpletons are heading East, into the sunrise, to the world within a world that is the Orlando Fringe!! (orlandofringe.org)

We can hardly believe... so many things! Last time we performed in Orlando, we took JUSTICE - a brutal comedy by Kate Schlemmer, a Canadian writer. (Who - coincidentally, I saw in Seattle at the Seattle International Film Fest two years ago)This year, 52 PICK UP, by TJ Dawe and Rita Bozi, Canadian playwrights. TJ will also be in Orlando, and I just had a great chat with a friend of Rita's - small world! (Rita is happily ensconced in Calgary)

Life is definitely full of whirled peas right now for all the simpletons - we are two weeks in Orlando, home for 6 jam-packed days, then off to Atlanta for 6, where we will be performing 52 PICK UP for ART Station in Stone Mountain. (www.artstation.org)

We have joined current, nearly even old-fashioned technology, and now have a mySpace page (thanks, Andrew!) Please ogle it at myspace.com/theatersimple, and hey - BE OUR FRIEND!

There will be dispatches from the road again - we are thinking about lots of things in terms of plays, ideas, collaborators, vision, and we'll probably work 'em out online. Let us know what's up withchoo.

sailing into the sunrise soon -

Llys

home and away

Hey there - it's May 1!!! How did that happen??!

OK - Llysa here - in Phoenix. Lots of transition going on in my family - with my mom, with my theater, with ME in my living circumstances - and here I am - away from theater and home, but with family. Soon to be with more family (in California) but still not home, or theater. Then - off to Orlando - because we are returning to the Orlando Fringe after 10 years with 52 PICK UP! (See new pic! Nancy Santos in Charleston is responsible - she is an amazing photog - has given us some of the best show shots we have.)
Didn't we just return from Australia and New Zealand? Also - to Walla Walla, back to Seattle, to Phoenix, back on Thursday - to the Bay Area - back three days later, then a week later - to Florida. And did I mention we're also working the parallel life? Have I been home 72 hours in a row? (No, actually.)

Here's the glamour tip from the road - take your pillow. And know there are times you get to coast... and other trips that are uphill in every direction.

If you are on the East Coast - we hope we'll see you. (If not - you get a second chance when we are in Atlanta in early June.) Oh yeah - we're going to be performing in Stone Mountain in June. (YAAAAAY!)
Then - King County all the way for the summer.

more later - off to watch a lightning storm. And wonder at my current life. Whew. Is the moon full?

(PS - we're taking a collection of boxes for moving. No joke. If you have some in the Seattle-area to share - let us know. thsimple@gmail.com.)

countdown to Lift Off

...or might that be lift OOF....

Llysa here. Monique is already in Australia, making Andrew and I crazy jealous that we are not.
We (A & I) instead are lingering in Seattle (admittedly enjoying BEAUTIFUL weather today) before we begin our travels on Friday.

Our schedule: drive ourselves to the airport Friday around noon - take small tiny plane to Kelowna, Canada. We have a performance of 52 PICK UP on Saturday at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre, so we will fly in Friday, settle, then tech, perform and strike the next day.
THEN - taking into consideration the Daylight Savings Time is starting months early (!), we need to be at the airport at dark-thirty, as our flight is at half-past dawn! (6am!) So - if all goes well - and it HAS to - we'll fly home Sunday, drive ourselves back to the house, do a little laundry, repack a bag or two, maybe NAP (since we won't have had time for a snooze!) before we go BACK to the airport for our flight taking us to Australia via LAX. A theater simple first: three different international flights (not in transit) in a little over 48 hours. I wonder what our security numbers will jump to? [WHY, you may be asking, are we scheduled like this? Michael Cade in BC booked us first, waaay before the Fringe made the leap to annual. So - hither we'll go, before heading off yonder, leapfrogging borders for HONOR. And a good story.]

In Australia, we will be admiring all the handiwork of Monique and her minions, Graham and Andy in anticipation of CARAVAN CHRONICLES - our Trailer Tales show translated to Adelaide. Which I am totally excited about. Whee!
There will be many more comments soon about the Fringe, and our wee public project (not so small, actually - we perform LOTS) so keep checking back, and see who is writing what.
And write back - this is sort of a form of postcard, after all...
The pic, by the way, is Andy and Sandy. (Andy is the one with the Coopers beer in hand)