All Roads Lead to Where You Are

"No matter where you go, there you are."

So, the other day I got a note from my old friend, Gordon, whom I haven't seen in years, but we continue to keep in touch via email and Facebook. He sent me a link to a review of a play starring our mutual friend Tedd Zzenia (formerly known as Ted Samuels). Ted and I dated during my junior year of high school. He also played Petruchio to my Katherine in a scene from The Taming of the Shrew, which included the best stage slap of my entire theater career.

My relationship with Tedd ended, as did my junior year at Ulysses S. Grant. I then migrated from the San Fernando Valley to the San Bernardino Mountains to live with my father. It was an amazing summer filled with new discoveries about myself and the world. It was also an amazing year for music. The Beatles released Let It Be, broke up, then each of the Fab Four released solo albums. There was After the Gold Rush by Neil Young, Deja Vu by CSN&Y, Ladies of the Canyon by Joni Mitchell, Pearl by the magnificent Janis Joplin, Sweet Baby James by James Taylor, Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens, Tumbleweed Connection by Elton John, to name just a very few.

As the summer rolled on, I knew I had to start thinking about my senior year of high school. So, my father and I drove to Lake Arrowhead to register me at Rim of the World. Yes, that was the name of my high school. As it turned out, I already had enough credits to graduate. But the powers that be required me to take one more semester of PE (who knows why), Civics and Advanced Comp. I needed two more classes to make it an official half day, so I added Cultural Anthropology and, of course, Drama.

Our senior production was the stage adaptation of Roshomon by Fay and Michael Kanin, based on the 1950 film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It sounds ambitious, but it was a surprisingly good production for a high school ensemble. I played the Wigmaker, who steals hair from the dead in order to survive, a role normally played by a man. It suited my counter culture, feminist mindset. And it was my first venture into the theatrical world of aging through body language, vocalization, hair and makeup. After we closed, I was hooked, a bona fide theater hound.

Fast forward almost 40 years... I auditioned for The Brody Theater last Saturday with my dear friend and fellow Hamazon, Sierra. It was an interesting experience, improvising with men after so many years working exclusively with women. A very different kind of energy. We both came to the conclusion that it was not a good fit for us. So, I am looking forward to playing with my gal pals later this month at IFCC.

Back to Tedd. After a little more web research, I discovered that Tedd had done a few productions at The Thorny Theater in Palm Springs, one of my old playgrounds. So, I sent them an email asking them to pass on my contact info to my old boyfriend.

Stay tuned.