R.R.R.EALLY?!!!

So we have some news! Lots of you may know that I wrote a play a little while back with my friends, Adam and Katie. We did it for 6 weeks in NYC and 2 weeks in LA and it was wildly fun and amazing to see something you wrote be up and running. (incidentally, I am also in the play, I was telling them at work that I wrote a play and then later I told them I was in it and they were all surprised and I thought, "Why would I write a play and not make myself the lead?" Normals?! What can you do with 'em?)

Well, Adam had always felt that it needed a longer run in LA, as it was huge there. And so he started to put the thing together for a 6 week run. Well, I had grown up by then (January.) and told him that I had to stay put because I have an amazing job and I was moving up and we are planning to start a family next year (more about that in a later post.) and I couldn't drop everything and chase dreams.

Adam and Katie did their best to persuade, but in the end Katie left for LA and I stayed here. I thought it was fine but my way of dealing with this play and me not getting to do it was to COMPLETELY CUT THEM OFF. They would call about writing things and I would delete the message, we played long games of phone tag and finally they stopped calling, after all they had a play to do.

So there I was working and being grown up, which Lindsay allows me to not ever have to be really grown up (Peter Pan and Wendy anyone?) but there was this part that was heart broken. I was very proud of this play. We had written and preformed it and people (those few who saw it in NYC and the sold out crowds in LA) really liked it. I kept drifting off and thinking about the 'what if' and the fact that starting a family next year means that there is a little time now and much less time later. But I still loved my job and was happy.

Then one night, after the LA calls stopped coming, I had a thought, 'Perhaps responsible isn't always right.' Maybe I just thought, 'you don't run off and do fun things cause...you're not suppose to.' Then it occurred to me, that had never been our motto. We are all about running off and doing fun things and it's gotten us this far, granted most of our 'running off' is in support of Lindsay and her school so it's mingled in responsibility but I will tell you a secret: We were terrified to move to New York, not just a little but real real scared and we were right to be! There were homeless nights on strangers couches that we thought we would never make it but now those strangers are dear friends and we love where we live and often talk about those first months (yes months) when we thought we had made the worst move ever. But, now! Well, you know better than anyone how much we gush about New York, I think mostly because we made it.

Hold on....where was I? Oh Right...So I had my thought and I went to Lindsay with it. Lindsay had always said she would support what ever I wanted to do and she meant it, but there was part of her that was glad that I had not quit my job and flew off to Cali. AS IT SHOULD HAVE. But that night when I came to her the talk was different that it had been before and we talked the whole thing out, 'What would happen if you did this or that where would that put this thing or that part.' It all sounded feasible and Lindsay was the one who said, 'We are the kind of people who go for it. We've never played it safe why were we so instantly safe this time.' There was a lot more said that night, amazing things wifes say to husbands when they are terrified at the support lent to their husbands but more terrified not to give it. And I will always remember the feeling we had that night of a true partnership, in the practical life and in the unpractical one. I love you, sweetie.

So we started in small steps and called Adam to see if they would still have me, cause it was a real possibility that I would call and there would be nothing but ashes at the bottom of a deep deep gorge. But the thing about Adam and Katie is their bridges have been fully burned, they are black and soot filled but they are still strong and for some reason they still support my weight as I continually cross back and forth. I guess old bridges are the strongest. So they took me back, and it turns out that a theater company had just signed the play and we're very interested in 'co-producing' and 'commercially investing' and all these other fancy phrases that meant they wanted to see our play succeed and go on and they were behind us!

Then I went to work, and this is the part I left out of the talk Lindsay and I had that night, I talked to my Regional Manager and told her much of what is written here and that I would like to transfer to the LA store for the 4 week run of the show...Her reaction? She was elated for me and e-mailed LA and with in 24 hours I had a position at a store 5,000 miles away with a team that I had never met doing something that will allow me to keep my benefits, further my own development, and let me be in this play I wrote then come back and slip back in to the same position that I love here in New York! I can't begin to tell you how blessed we've felt to work with a company who values the lives of it's associates to this degree. I was blown away!

SOOO, (Man, I thought this would be quick) I am heading to LA for the month of September and I want you to join me! The Play is called R.R.R.E.D and it's based on a statistic that states: Due to the globalization and continued intermixing of the worlds population the recessive Gene that causes Red Hair will be bread out and become extinct by the year 2100! Katie and I play hosts to a secret meeting held for all redheads (who are you, the audience, but we ask that you keep your non-red wigs on as not to draw too much attention) in a secret plight to perpetuate the Redheaded Species. It's brilliant!

Here's the commercial for the First Run:




So it runs August 28th~ September 28th Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night at 8:00. You can get more information at rrredthemusical.com and adampictures.com and katiethompson.com

You can also watch clips on youtube just type in RRRED and watch what pops up, although, as the gist of the show is focused on Procreation it does get a bit graphic, so you've been warned.

One more thing: There are small rotating parts of "Redheaded Testimonials" that can be one show or a week of shows that should be played by the myriad of talented friends we have, so if you want to give a short monologue and sing one of Katie's incredible songs let us know...yes really I am talking to you, Joanie, Stacy, Sharon, Melinda, Jenny, Rachel, Michelle, Lisa, Hailey, Brett, Amelia, Matt, Jake, Curt, Chris and all others who sneak on here to see what I'm schlepping next, come be in the next big thing! Just let us know and Katie will whip out the most amazing song you've ever sung, put it in your key and watch you go...After all, you've never been the kind of person who plays it safe.