Reflections of 2007

While the year is winding down and we are all faced with the question of New Years Resolutions, I have spent a little time reflecting on 2007. For me personally it has been a wild year. It started it with me being mostly identified as an adjunct Marketing Professor at VCU, still a little irritated at having been relocated to my less than loved hometown after an 18 year vacation, and dealing with a major education issue for my 16year old son who was then trying home schooling. My family was falling apart and I was feeling unappreciated and very unloved. Little did I know that twelve months later I would find myself in a totally different place, if not geographically at least in my career and mentality. I have jumped back into theater life, found the career of my dreams, discovered some chutzpah, met some fantastic people, found the right school for my son, been invited to teach at a prestigious business school, am making peace with my past life in Richmond and have started performing again. My self esteem has come 180 degrees from where it was in January of 2007. Despite the challenges of the year (which were rather huge) I feel great!

There are some people who need to be recognized for the major contributions they have made to my new life. The first is Carol Piersol of the Firehouse Theatre Project. Carol was kind enough to ask me to produce "Austin's Bridge" which got me back into the game that gets my blood flowing- theater. Although I had little (if nothing) to do with the artistic side of the show, being involved in AB connected me with the art form and the people who led me to the next step. It was the promotion of that show that introduced me to Brandon Reynolds at STYLE who graciously gave me a chance to write theater reviews. Through the support of Jason Roop, Laurie Rogers, Scott Bass and very much Brandon Reynolds I have begun carving out a career as a freelance writer with a focus on the arts. Affiliation with STYLE instigated a friendship with Dave T. who honored me with an invitation to write on this wonderful blog where I have met and learned from so many fantastic theater people. I have literally become an Art Cheerleader and thanks to the local media am receiving recognition of the mission to encourage folks to support the arts. Special thanks to Justin Lowenhagen for putting me on the literary map and sending a letter to the editor at STYLE about my review of "The 8". I respect your opinion and enjoyed learning your perspective of the performance. I am still amazed that people actually read what I write let alone have a strong enough reaction to want to respond in writing. I am deeply grateful to you all.

So far it has been a great ride. I have grown so much. The blog is helping me to understand how to experience other viewpoints and hopefully to better express myself.

Thank you all for reading and especially for commenting. There have been some lively discussions in 2007. I believe this blog and the action on it is truly helping to increase the awareness of the theater scene in Richmond. Now all we need is a theater "Mash up" of our own. Dave?

Keep up the good work.

Peace.