Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Water By The Spoonful - Quiara Alegria Hudes


Last night I went to see Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes (in previews at Second Stage) and what a play. It won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and I can see why. It’s both heartbreaking and funny. The parts that really made me laugh hard are those very Latin-ness sections. It could have been my family we were talking about and it felt so real and so present. I came away from this piece feeling inspired. I write these words with tears in my eyes because loving theater the way that I do, I always struggle with what my voice is for the stage. And last night, right there, up on that stage was a voice that felt real and contemporary and Latina. I have big happy tears and I’m so glad I went to see it. I won’t pick it apart the way I do other plays, there is always room to refine sections but this play is a rich cohesive piece. Actors Liza Colon-Zayas (Odessa) and Zabryna Guevara (Yaz) are shining stars in this piece. It’s so lovely to see a couple of juicy roles for these wonderful actresses to sink their teeth into. Ms. Hudes was in the audience last night and I went up to her during intermission to wish her my congratulations. If you are in the New York City area...get tickets before the play closes in late January.

Peace,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Another Balmy Monday - Really? In December?

It’s a deceptively warm December day and I am in a quiet pensive mood. My sister keeps asking me if anything’s wrong and I don’t really have an answer. My migraine finally let up at around 10 pm Sunday night. A full weekend of mind numbing pain and then it dissipated.

I went for a walk, just to get some air, in Bryant Park earlier. The ice rink is up and I’d like to go ice skating one of these nights after work. Tonight is yoga night tho’. Brought my mat and a change of clothes and heading for a Vinyasa studio after work. Just need to stretch and move my body a little bit. Just enough to remind me that I have some muscles that work. Oh, this is a hot studio, thought it might be a good change since my muscles are so tight from sitting at a desk all day long. We shall see how it goes.

No writing for the past three days. Writing group is next week and I need to do some editing work on the new pages before I send them around. That will be my task this week. I can move quickly through those pages since I know what changes I need to make for the future pages to make sense (I think). I’m not exactly sure if that last bit made much sense but I’ll assume that it’s coherent.

Then next week back to the last 100 pages. I actually don’t know if that’s how many pages are left to be written but for argument’s sake that’s an approximate number. My manuscript will probably test me on that point but I’m going with the flow (for a change).

And then I’m going to let it rest for 4 weeks while I work on my next writing project, a play. I’ve been missing my theater roots lately and I’m itching to write a full length piece. Now that I’m an actual member of the Dramatist Guild, I’d like to use some of their resources to put up a reading in the new year. There is much to do but I’m not flustered. I feel calm and centered. Wow, how is that possible?

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Tidbit

I've had a wicked migraine this weekend and it sux!!  My brain is on fire.  Too much time to dwell on the past and feeling all of my old mistakes. Why does that happen?  It's bad enough that I've been in pain for two days straight but I then add a layer of emotional crap onto it.  Bleck!!  Tonight, I'm just feeling miserable.  I couldn't see Pearl and the Beard live tonight...so I've been listening to them on YouTube.  Must buy their album. Anyway,  I love this song, The Lament of Coronado Brown.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2012 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.