You go to Wall Street for that. Believe me, I tried.
But no one goes into writing to become homeless either.
Ellen Lewis, my friend and fellow playwright, recently wrote about how impossible it is to create art that matters, live brave, and make ends meet. The more "awards" you win, the less people want to hire you.
Prospective Employers keep telling me, Lucy, you're way overqualified!
Yes, I have an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago. I've worked for NYC Mayor David Dinkins. Traded bonds on Wall Street. Met Nelson Mandela, Bill, Hillary, Gloria. Won awards for playwriting.
Prospective Employers fear I won't stay.
Of course I'll stay. Like everyone else, I need to pay bills. Make ends meet.
You should be writing.
Everyone keeps saying they admire me for pushing boundaries, being brave, making them laugh, opening their minds, going where they are afraid to go, giving voice to the less visible, taking risks, triumphing over adversity. It's a wonderful list. Really.
I sure wish Everyone would buy my plays, write me five star reviews and help fill the seats.
Ellen is moving back home to Oregon, to her family's 17 acre farm. That's not an option for me. I wish! I'm not afraid of hard work. Plus, the photos she posted look like paradise regained. Vineyards. Barn. Gardens. Fields of grain. I have no safety net, no inheritance, no parents who love me. My father beat us to a pulp, and my mother abandoned us long ago. Luckily, with some help from Mother Nature, I can grow some of my own vegetables.
As difficult as it is, some talented young actors reminded me yesterday why I keep on keeping on. I wish you could've been there, at Samuel French yesterday. They took our breaths away. They were brave, reading our monologues aloud and in public. Taking risks.
Here's Sharon cracking us up with my monologue PRETTY FOR AN ASIAN GIRL.
Mark telling us not to fence him in....in MY SUPERPOWER, an Asian American boy named Stan Lee.
Here's the rest of our talented cast.
Donnajeanne Goheen manages many talented Young Performers and some of them came to show their support.
Big shout out to today's youth, Samuel French, Steve Fife. I bet any of these young actors could do a fine job in my new play TEEN MOGUL written for any ethnicity, and published this month by YOUTHplays. Maybe someday one of them will hire me, for a paying job.
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