MegaBlog: The Great Megabus Detour

This was my initial route:

I'm not about to edit this video. But I had to take a detour.

Instead of four days in Philly as I had planned, I rerouted myself here—

NYC (compliments of google images)

More specifically, here—

To a casting table for 10 hours of auditions (over the course of two days) for my one-act play “Spinal Alignment,” which is being produced in October at Manhattan Theater Source as part of Estrogenius, an annual celebration of female voices.

I learned about this well after launching this blog and creating the above video. I’m not going to factor in the additional cost of travel (under $20 total) that this added to my trip. Consider it a cruise ship excursion.

I missed two days of Philly, but because I was in NYC, I got to catch an event I’d long been eyeing from Iowa—

Telephone:

A multi-disciplinary exhibition created by Overturn Theater Ensemble and Culture Fix (a bar, gallery, event space) on the Lower East Side.

I highly recommend Culturefix. They’re firm believers in innovative ideas. Their resident business (above them) is a picnic basket delivery service (http://www.perfectpicnicnyc.com/).

The idea:

Culturefix co-owner and chef, Ari Stern, created an original appetizer (the probably-way-too-small-image at the top of the above photo).

Composer Michael Vincent Waller created a song based on his experience eating Ari’s appetizer.

16 artists created original works of art based on their experience listening to Michael Vincent Waller’s song.

16 playwrights were each assigned one of the works of art created and wrote one-act plays inspired by it.

These plays were read at Culturefix July 17^th through July 24^th.

Because of my Megabus detour, I got to attend the readings on July 22nd. The night I attended, it turned out I knew both the playwrights.

Altogether, this is the megabus trip that keeps giving. If I hadn't booked this trip, I would have been sitting at home in Iowa instead of casting my show. And I wouldn't have been in Manhattan on Sunday evening to help celebrate a wedding.

I might've also missed the record breaking 104 degree heat of NYC (and no A/C at my friend's).