Going Showing

The way this week has gone I have to be honest with you, the performance high I got on Wednesday is plummeting. I had a decent, subdued but productive, morning baking and whatnot and I rewarded myself with a nap. It was a decent nap, no bad dreams, no abrupt awakening, very routine. I woke up so grumpy I was almost not fit for human consumption. It's to be expected at a time when there's such high tension everywhere and yet I still managed to be surprised. Application of gift giving, sugar, and a walk in the rain worked to get me back to neutral. This is all a very long winded way of saying that I better tell you about this show I did before I can't.

Clemo said to me the other day something along the lines of "A mediocre day on the stage is better than a day anywhere else." That's the damn truth! Not for everyone, I know. I've had a handful of people who've called me brave for doing this show, which is all I've really wanted to do in life for....a long, long time. It takes a certain girding of the loins but doesn't everything that makes us happy? The short answer to "How did it go?" is "It wasn't a mediocre day on stage. It was way fucking better than that."

I was in good voice. I knew my stuff. I wasn't absolutely perfect in word or deed and I'm choosing to believe that means that I was working in the moment and enjoying what I did. I really was enjoying it. Damn, I had fun! There were16 enthusiastic folks in a cozy, comfortable room on Restaurant Row and that made it perfect. Do you run? Do you lecture? Do you build ships in bottles? What's the thing that makes you a little lightheaded and giddy with the joy of it? Go to that place and you'll know how it was for me on Wednesday.

There's room for improvement. There always is. I was, apparently, a little speedy in my delivery. That's not unusual for me. What is unusual is that I didn't realize it until the show was over. I'll work on it a lot. I bobbled a few lines, some that I wrote and some the Carole King wrote. Really sorry about that Ms. King. I wasn't precisely comfortable in my focus points and acting decisions, very close but not quite perfect. These are all good problems to have. I'll take them! It's nice to have something to work for. I'm not done with this show. I might not be done after 2 more performances, either. We'll have to see.

A note about the audience; it was awesome. There were park people, knitting people, college people, work people, music people, neighbor people and they were all enthusiastic people. When I ask an audience to chair dance I expect at least a couple of them to take me up on it. When I ask them to sing along it's pretty nice to see every mouth opening and closing, even the ones that I know prefer not to sing in public. I could not have felt better supported and happier with the faces I greeted as I bared a little chunk of my soul. I told them that night that this show has been a long time coming and it was glorious to be able to share it with them. I hope they knew how true that was.

You know what the best part is? I get to do it again.

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Don't forget that the world premiere of my new cabaret show, Back Where I Belong, is coming up January 9, and January 17. Details are here. I hope you can make it and bring all your friends! Please spread the word and use the hashtag, #KizzCabaret.