The Playgoer: Dog Days Dude

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Dog Days Dude

by Brook Stowe

Greetings, Playgoer Faithful.


Yes, the vacation help has arrived. Or, at least, one quarter of it. When Garrett asked me if I would like to help fill some space here for the month of August whilst he takes some well-deserved R&R, the offer fit oh so very well with my own sincere if oft-delayed desire to reconnect with the NYC theater experience. Not that I've become disconnected, really, just kind of ... predictable. Like a mad, bed-demolishing love affair that, over the years, has become propped against bedrests, watching Mad Men instead.

August marks my sixth year here in NYC, and those early years were just wall-to-wall with the constant wonder of discovery. Of the City. Of all the new theaters. And festivals. And writers. And actors. And the rush of the street when a show let out and suddenly you're in the middle of it


turn me out
and i'll wander baby
stumbling in the neon glow

the vibe -- the constant throb of just being here that made every subway ride an adventure of discovery of the various levels and interactions of this great tangled mass of humanity.

Somewhere along the line I lost the wonder. Not intentionally -- it just slipped away, like a small child you let go of for a moment on a crowded street. Somewhere along the line, subway trips became grim journeys of necessity, with force fields of obliviousness routinely activated before descending into the reeking caverns of aggravation and delay.

I don't know exactly when I lost it, but I do know I want to get it back. I want to try to get it back. And, thanks to Mr. Eisler's generosity, that's what I hope to do here in this space during these dog days of August.

All the little details ...

Yeah. Where the devil lives.

As to how all this might manifest itself and the degree of success I may have in recapturing something that perhaps is meant to occur but once ... I really have no idea. Above and beyond that, I have no idea what I will be writing about here twice a week, other than it will have something to do with theater here in NYC, or at least "the life of the drama," however I may interpret that at any given moment. Yes, Playgoer faithful! I stand before you naked and quivering with blogolicious anticipation, doubtlessly riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, yet sincere in my attempt to bring something worthy to these most worthy pages.

What that is, I dunno yet. But it's really about getting there. Together.

Right?

See you Friday.

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