What a wonderful weekend this will be...

So, today I am going to the Northern California Pirate Festival in Vallejo. It is similar to a Ren Faire, and a lot of the same folks I know from there will be at the Pirate Fest--including the group I perform with at Dickens Faire in December. (They are called the Green Man Inn at Ren Faire; The Green Man Publick House at Dickens.) Should be an absolute blast. I was up late last night with the boys putting together our last-minute costumes, and we will be going with Helene for a few hours today. It is so much fun having the Green Man folks there--gives one a home-base of sorts.

Then, tonight I am seeing Nine Parts of Desire at the Sixth Street Playhouse studio space. Helene is performing a one-woman show about nine Iraqi women and their stories during the Saddam/US era. It is intense and amazing--I saw it opening night, and am eager to see how it has grown over the course of the run.

Tomorrow is the closing of The Wizard of Oz at the Mountain Play. I am frequently asked as I get closer to the end of a run if it is a 'bittersweet' moment for me. This one is just plain surreal. It has been such a wonderful, unique, special experience, that it is hard to find any words to describe it. The commute is brutal, certes--I will not miss that. But even that has its moments--coming out of the clouds in the forest near Muir Woods on an overcast day and seeing the entire bay area spread out before you as if someone had pulled a comforter over it is an amazing thing.

It is a magical show, on par with A Christmas Carol for its universal appeal. It is at its heart a story about finding contentment--and finding it in what you already have, not somewhere greener. It is a story about using your heart, brains, and courage to overcome incredible odds. It is a story about finding friends in strange places, and acceptance. And the feeling you get when you have 3700 people booing the villain, cheering for the good guys, and chanting along with you ("lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!") is something else.

Is it bittersweet? It is surreal--I look at pictures of me, and at some memorabilia I got for the opening, and I think 'that's not me--that's a movie'. The people have been amazing. The work has been professional-grade. It has been wonderful and I will miss it. Come see it tomorrow if you can.