friday:: with the knee and ankle back to 90%, i walked around a nice portion of lower manhattan with a friend. started in union square, got down to astor place, stopped for some ice cream (stone cold creamery, babee!), shared some ice cream on a bench, walked through st marks, picked out a new hat, stopped to admire the juicy burgers (which i cant have right now) at paul’s, had some fresh apple and parsley juice (which was like drinking an orchard- they put in like 8 apples in dat suckah), realize that my cell is missing… walk back through 2nd ave, st marks and astor place… find phone by the bench where we had ice cream… truly i am a lucky mofo!… walked down broadway, across third, up sixth ave and then shared cafe au lait & a strawberry margarita (guess which one i had) at french roast all the while sining prince songs. ny can be really beautiful, y’all.
saturday:: after work, headed to 168th & broadway to see bonafide and “Platanos & Collard Greens” bon was great- the play was not. bottom line- too long, too many tangents and not enough believable relationships. this could be good but it still needs work. in movie jargon, i believe the term is- wait for the DVD.
saving the night however was a stroll through the heights (yes, i am walking now more than ever) and some awesome chino latino!
sunday:: now is where it gets interesting as i get asked at the last possible minute to do a collaborative showcase at the bowery and like the mad fool i am, i accept
11:30 am- meet ted, curt and john, three phenomenal dancers, at the bowery. discuss which poems we will be using (Mercy is disqualified as a) its too obvious and b) all these guys are 6 foot plus and they want something more physical to use
11:45 am- figure out the first two minutes of the performance and set up the lights and music with the tech guy
12:00 pm- have brunch on 2nd ave while discussing creative process
1:30 pm- walk over to Soho (again with the troopin’) to practice at the most incredible apartment/studio i have ever seen.
2:00 pm- the guys are still stretching
2:15 pm- we pick out three poems. i perform em. they have some ideas and we run through it once. change the order of the poems. run through again. lookin good!
3:00 pm- head back to the bowery
4:00 pm- show time!
4:10 pm- still waiting but now the bowery is packed.
4:15 pm- we are on! and the first act.
4:30 pm- take our bows and exhale
i have never been so calm on stage during a reading but the gallon of sweat on my back says that i was in a near panic somewhere in my head. the roughest thing was having all this motion going on around me and having no idea what the guys are doing.
final set list-
-ted, curt and john hit the stage and do a minute of improvisation
(total black)
-Getting Ronald Reagan to visit the South Bronx (in the dark!)
(lights up)
the fellas go into movement
-Ceviche
more movement and a solo in the middle aisle
-Capicu
we went with a “living in the city” theme as all these poems use nyc in the backdrop.
i have to check out the tape but the feedback was very positive and considering that i had JUST met the guys five hours ago it is a damn near miracle. i cant complain too much, i had a good time and learned a lot from the experience.
then i walked all around China Town.
monday:: almost didnt go to 13. saw 1/2 of kwame dawes set (half is better than nuthin- he is amazing!)
slammed at the request of eliel & RAC. almost made it to the last round but missed out by (booming radio voice)ONE TENTH OF A POINT (thank you, don pardo)
long time readers of the blog will noice that the point.one.oh curse is still in effect… i wasnt happy but it is what it is and i just have to work that much harder for next time
maybe i should have walked around the east side or sumhin, that seems to be the winning formula
love ya like track sneakers!