Nearer to thee…

Spring is in full bloom as daffodils (my favorite flower) open all over campus. They happen to be the only perennial flowers on campus because Hampshire deems it more important to plant annuals every year — dedicating more money in the budget to this endeavor than to one of the academic departments. Oh, Hampshire! You walk in the footsteps of Antioch (both the ancient city and the now-defunct college…you choose).

On another Spring note, here’s my favorite video and song right now. Heteronormative, yes, but you can’t escape its message:

Oh, and check out the blogroll additions (especially The Unnamed Path)!

In more personal / less regional news, my baby goes up tonight! After almost three months of working with a cast of 21 actor/dancer/singers (a number that has fluctuated a bit), a production team of about 9 members, and a 6-person rock band, tonight is the opening night of HAiR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical at Hampshire College.

I won’t even go into the crap we’re being given by the administration concerning the use of amplified sound in a mostly unused field. Let’s just say that the show is going up for three phenomenal performances and that Anubis, Opener of the Ways, was working the communication side and La Virgin de Guadalupe was keeping me sane through the mess that was the past two days. When you’re panicking about having to track down three random people to sign a form that’s due in two hours and they all happen to be standing around in a room you walk into, you know the gods heed the prayers of those who honor them.

So what could be considered the worst dress rehearsal for an outdoor show in human history (mics shutting off, the fuse being blown, etc.) turned out to be the most magickal and emotionally intense culmination of my six-year process of mentally directing HAiR. For those of you who don’t know, my father introduced me to the musical shortly before I left home about 7 years ago and I used to walk around my small town late at night when I needed to escape the tyranny, listening to “Easy to Be Hard” and “Where Do I Go?” as if they were my own.

After moving in with a friend for my junior (and last) year of high school, I found myself sitting in a Chinese restaurant near school one afternoon with three schoolmates I knew somewhat vaguely. We got to talking about theatre, I got to talking about HAiR, and we all decided we should put it on as a student production. We met with much resistance and the show never went up, but we became family and still consider ourselves so — more on the Society of Luvinzzz at a later date. So here I am, 6 years later, with one of the Society members having musically directed the show and another one driving up from NY to see it.

When the power blew around 10pm last night I told the cast to keep going. There was, of course, much befuddlement and a couple of onlookers (whom I quickly rebuked) had the nerve to say “give it up guys”. Mass singing and choreography in a field with no lights or sound did seem ludicrous at first. But the members of the production team ran up to the front to support the cast. We clapped, sang accompaniment, and beatboxed while the cast finished the second-half of Act Two completely a cappella. I was nearly in tears at the end. We all held hands, Aum-ed, looked at the moon, and set intentions for this weekend’s performance. Then we packed up and got some sleep.

I’m pumped for tonight and last night’s shenanigans and resilience were just what we all needed. We all proved something to ourselves and each other and the mere thought of the energy and power behind what transpired gets me choked up. I know They are with us.

Oh, and our last performance is on Sunday’s full moon (4/20). It don’t get more cosmic than that.