Man, what a wild month. This has been without a doubt one of the most formative, demanding, interesting, developmental, encouraging, discouraging, and enlightening month of my life. Where do I even begin?
There's no place like New York City when you want to do theatre. Here, you have your finger right on the pulse of the industry. I got the chance to see what will probably be the most innovate show of the decade in "The Book of Mormon", one of the best actors on the planet in Brian Bedford, and got a chance to see a couple of shows with parts I think I would be good for. But even more than that, I spent 4 weeks surrounded by passionately curious people learning under one of the greatest voice teachers on the planet. It was there, in that small studio in the middle of Chelsea, that 99% of my learning took place.
What is art? Is it something gay people do to get back at their fathers? Could be.
But seriously, what is art? That's a question that plenty of people ask, and one that I often wonder about myself. I think the simplest answer is this: humanity. The goal of all art should be to have an effect on people and get them to think. What about? Well, that's open for interpretation. Those interpretations are usually where people get frustrated.
I think in order to be a good artist, you need two things. You need to be in touch with your own humanity, and you need to be specific about what you want to tell people. If life has taught me anything, it's that there is no universal truth.
Killing is wrong. So what if by killing one person you save 10,000 people?
Stealing is wrong. But what about when you're starving?
What's worse? Really crushing someone with the truth, or lying to them?
I don't pretend to know the answers to those questions, nor do I think myself fit to advise people on what to do in those situations. All I could tell you is my honest opinion, but that's going to change every day. So it ends up being an endless loop of catch-22s. This is where being specific can be really helpful.
Being in touch with one's own humanity is a scary thing. Mostly because it leaves you vulnerable. And the problem with being vulnerable is that its the only time you get taken advantage of. We all want to be strong, composed, and wise. But no human being is ever that way all the time. Being able to admit and display weakness requires courage and strength.
I don't think I've totally learned how to do that yet. But I'm a lot closer than I've been in days past. And in the end, that's all I can hope for.
