I saw a retrospective of the decade on someone else’s blog, and I thought it would be cool to take a look at my journey over the past ten years – especially now that I have been reunited with all my old photos and scrapbooks to help jog my memory. It has been quite a ride.
2000:
-Living in San Francisco, in a super cute apartment in the Richmond district
- Celebrated the millennium new year’s at Paula Donnelly’s house in Ashland, OR.
- Made my second trip to New York City, to visit Michele, who was there working on show with Dame Edna on Broadway.
- Shows worked on in 2000: “Two Pianos, Four Hands” – ACT, “Having Our Say” – San Jose Rep (my first job as a PSM – and most hateful!), “Cymbeline” – Shakespeare Santa Cruz (one of my favorite experiences), “Over the Tavern” – San Jose Rep, “A Christmas Carol” – ACT.
- My dear friends Tanya and Michael got married in Las Vegas, and a group of us from San Jose Rep had a blast celebrating with them.
With Tanya at her wedding in Las Vegas, 2000.
2001:
- Michele moved into my building in San Francisco – lots of fun ensued, including a Thanksgiving gathering and a Mexican-themed Christmas party.
- Lots of close friends getting married including Tiffany and Aaron, Neil and Laura.
- Shows worked on in 2001: “Goodnight Children Everywhere”, “Master Harold and the Boys”, “Texts for Nothing”, “Fool Moon” “Celebration/The Room” and “A Christmas Carol” – all at ACT.
- 9-11 happened and then just a couple of weeks later a co-worker was killed by a drunk driver. Both events helped solidify in my mind that I needed to start living my dreams and so I decided to move to New York City the following year.
With Michele on Thanksgiving, 2001.
2002:
- Got on a train with Michele and moved to New York City, arriving on April 28th, 2002 at Penn Station after four days of train travel. Moved in with my dear friend from college, Chris.
- Started working on Broadway four days after arriving in NYC, on “The Full Monty” as a sub stage manager.
- Had an amazing summer working in Central Park on the New York Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night”.
- Started a theater company – Firsthand Theater Project” – with four other friends. We presented our first production, an evening of one-acts called “Genesis” at 78th Street Theater Lab that fall.
- Went back to San Francisco in the winter to stage manage “A Christmas Carol”.
Shows worked on in 2002: “Blithe Spirit” – ACT, “The Full Monty” – Broadway, “Twelfth Night” – NYSF, “Genesis – 7 Breakthrough Plays” – Firsthand Theater Project, “A Christmas Carol” – ACT.
Traveling on the train to NYC, 2002.
2003:
- Continued working off-Broadway in NYC, as well as doing more work with Firsthand. We presented an evening featuring works of new musical theater composers at Rose’s Turn in the Village.
- Spent another magical summer in Central Park, working this time as ASM on “Henry V”.
- Shows worked on in 2003: “Hold Please” – Working Theater, “Cavedweller” – NY Theater Workshop, “Journeys” – Firsthand, “Believe” (workshop), “Henry V” – NYSF, “Two Noble Kinsmen” – Public Theater.
- Also stage managed two big benefit concerts near the holidays (which I will never do again!): “Children of Eden” for World AIDS Day and “Great Joy!” for the Actors’ Fund of America.
Working on Henry V with Liev Schreiber, 2003.
2004:
- Moved to Inwood, sharing an apartment with my friend Andrea, who I had met working at the Public Theater. In the spring we found a bigger apartment in Washington Heights and moved there.
- I worked on one of my favorite productions to date, a new musical called “Bare” – it became sort of a cult hit in NYC and was supposed to move to a bigger off-Broadway theater, when suddenly it was canceled at the last minute because of funding. It was a huge disappointment for all of us involved because the initial production had been so special.
- I started working at a law firm in the very early mornings to supplement my income – as a desk manager in the word processing department. I was working 6-11am, which meant getting up at 4am. As I was still doing theater at night, I was lucky to get four hours of sleep a night. I did this for a whole year. Not. Fun.
- Was PSM for a production of “Agamemnon” starring Olympia Dukakis.
- Went home to California to celebrate my 30th birthday – had a great couple of weeks visiting with friends and family.
- Shows worked on in 2004: “Agamemnon” – Aquila Theater Company, “Bare” – Dodgers, “The Man Who Would be King” – Aquila, “Fat Pig” – MCC.
Bare, at the American Theater of Actors, 2004.
2005:
- Worked as a production assistant on “Dessa Rose” at Lincoln Center, where I met Patty, who has become one of my closest friends. We had a blast working on this new musical with such a fun cast.
- My brother Simon came to NYC for a visit.
- Spent another summer in the park, this time on “As You Like It’.
- Quit my job at the law firm – woohoo!
- Was hired to work as ASM for my friend Richard on another new musical called “The Great American Trailer Park Musical”, which was a lot of fun and ran for about five months off-Broadway.
- Got on a plane for the first time since 9-11 to go to Montreal for Michele’s wedding to Jean.
- Was hired to work as a sub at “Wicked” that winter.
- Shows worked on in 2005: “Fat Pig” – MCC, “Dessa Rose” – Lincoln Center, “As You Like It” – NYSF, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical” – New World Stages, “Wicked” – Broadway.
Michele at her wedding in Montreal, 2005.
2006:
- Worked as a production assistant on rehearsals for the national tour of “Spamalot”, which at the time I thought was a huge waste of my time, until they hired me in December to go on the road as an ASM 
- In the spring I worked on another Broadway show for Manhattan Theater Club, a play called “Shining City”.
- My parents came to visit NYC for the first time and we spent a lovely week exploring the city.
- My little sis got married that summer in California! I spent three weeks there hanging with family and friends. It was a blast.
- Before leaving to go on the road with “Spamalot” I stage managed a production of “A Christmas Carol” at Hartford Stage, which was incredibly fun. A really nice theater company to work with.
- In December I joined the “Spamalot” tour in Detroit.
At my sister's wedding, July 2006.
2007:
- On Tour!
- Cities visited: Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Naples, Memphis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Hartford, Rochester, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Louisville, Houston, Dallas, Tulsa, Des Moines, St. Paul, Kansas City, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Boise, Omaha, Columbus, Toledo, East Lansing, Washington, D.C.
- Seen/Visited/Experienced: Everglades, alligators, beaches, Disneyworld, Elvis’s grave, Graceland, Sun Studios, Beale Street, aquariums in Atlanta and Baltimore, Margaret Mitchell’s house, the hotel where Martin Luther King was shot, the Tattoo Museum, Edgar Allan Poe’s grave, Bertha’s Mussels, the Liberty Bell, the LOVE statue, the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Monk’s, Niagara Falls, Indy Speedway, Churchill Downs, Space Center in Houston, Dallas fairgrounds, 6th Floor Museum, Galveston, Betsy-Tacy’s hometown of Mankato, bbq in Texas and Kansas City, luggage lost only once!, Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helen’s, Mount Rainier, Pike Street Market, Experience Music Project, Old Boise Jail, Omaha steaks, Jeni’s ice cream, Meijer, white trash party, Michigan State, the nation’s Capitol building, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE!
- Also my parents came to visit the tour in Portland!
- Bought my Nikon d80 camera!
- Paid off all my debt that I had had since college
- Started dating Ryan
At Elaine's house in Winter Park, CO. with Jeff Dumas and Ryan (I think Fran Curry took this pic), 2007.
2008:
- Still on tour!
- Cities visited: Schenectady, Boston, Providence, Hershey, Nashville, Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Clearwater, Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando, Birmingham, Greenville, Raleigh, Dayton, Milwaukee, Appleton, Madison, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Hartford, Toronto, Syracuse, West Point, Ottawa, Norfolk, Boston, Pittsburgh, Sioux City, Fayetteville, Des Moines, Cincinnati.
- Seen/Visited/Experienced: Snow (lots of it), Hershey Chocolate Factory, Honky-tonks, Grand ol’ Opry, some more beaches, some more malls, O’Boobigans, the high life in Miami Beach, civil war-era mansions, the sites of a whole lotta civic rights riots, woods, hikes, mountains, breweries, the Safehouse, the capitol farmer’s market in Madison, bike rides, yarn stores, the Oklahoma City Memorial, Santa Fe, Frontier’s breakfast burritos, the Alamo, San Antonio Riverwalk, the Stockyards, Whistler, Victoria, suspension bridges, ski lifts, Lake Louise, Banff, CN Tower, hockey games, Toronto Islands, Canadian Parliament, Primanti Brothers, and more snow.
- I took my first real vacation to Playa del Carmen, Mexico with my friend Katherine.
- Ryan and I spent a fun week at a beautiful house in the Berkshires on one of our lay-offs.
- I spent another fun lay-off week in New Mexico with Tanya.
- Got back to the Bay Area for a couple of days with Ryan to celebrate Fin and Mike’s wedding. It was Ryan’s first time ever visiting San Francisco.
- Started my first year of the 365 Days project on Flickr.
Bike riding in Ottawa with Ryan, 2008.
2009:
- Still on tour!
- Cities visited (on tour) : South Bend, Peoria, Chicago, Detroit, Huntsville, Melbourne, Tampa, Austin, Atlanta, Wilmington, Cleveland, Anchorage, Eugene, Spokane, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Tucson, Costa Mesa.
- Seen/Visited/Experienced: A ton more snow, Flickr friends, more beaches, Torchy’s Tacos, the original Whole Foods, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Alyeska ski resort, moose!, snowmobiling, touched a glacier!, lots of hiking, family, museums, friends, UCSD, the Desert Museum.
- I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends this year, thanks to all the time the tour was in California.
- My sister gave my brother a kidney in July! The transplant was a huge success.
- Ryan and I spent one lay-off visiting the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Sedona.
- I road-tripped with Tallulah from Costa Mesa through Arizona, New Mexico to Texas. Then up through Kansas and Oklahoma to Minnesota, then over to Wisconsin to Ryan’s place. Then through Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania back to New York!
- The tour closed in October and I am now back in New York City, looking for the next adventure
In Anchorage, Alaska, 2009.
Its been quite a decade!
