Pleonastic Ephemera

7.02.2004 posted by William 17:35 link

So my writing class ended yesterday night, about which more some other time. But earlier this week, Susan, one of my fellow students, offered the class comped tickets to see the play I Am My Own Wife; shockingly, only one other classmate took her up on the offer. So I took the afternoon off today and went to the matinee showing. The reason she was able to offer tickets is that she is married to the star of the play, Jefferson Mays. And a star he is: it's a one-man virtusoso performance in which he takes on more than a dozen different roles. He was phenomenal and certainly deserved the Tony award he won, and the script equally earned its Pulitzer. I highly recommend it; unfortunately tickets start at about $50 (which is why this is the first professional play I've seen in years). Afterward, Susan took us up onto the stage and showed us the portal up in the theatre ceiling that allowed the original producer to view the plays from his apartment above, and wave a white napkin at his wife when she was overacting. Then we met Jefferson, went deeper into the suprisingly cramped tunnels and stairs of the bowels of the theatre, and checked out his dressing room (I looked around but no Tony). It was a great thrill and I was kinda star struck despite my best efforts so I forgot to even get his autograph. This may be the single best thing I've ever gotten out of a class at Columbia.