Summer w/ whores, homeless and chain gangs

The Pineda Conservatory’s summer musical theatre program is finally in full swing! Yeah! After a somewhat controversial (understatement) split from the auspices of NJ Workshop from the Arts’ summer program, the Pineda’s decided to say “screw you” and start our own program. Well, we didn’t actually say “screw you,” but at times I honestly wanted to. Not that I’m not grateful for the opportunity and name recognition that NJWA afforded us, but after quadrupling their program attendance to over 60 students between two programs (an elementary and high school program) in just 3 years, they had the gall to tell us that we were getting paid too much. Too much? What ev’s. Now they’re back down to their original enrollment and we’ve got over 60 kids - and a waiting list - clamoring to get into our new program. I don’t mean to gloat, but all I have to say is don’t bite the hand that feeds because that hand may one day stop slipping you bon-bons. In their defense, I do have to give a shout out to NJWA Executive Director, Ted Schlosberg, who did take the time to try and resolve the many conflicting issues swirling about and also wished us the best on our new program. Props to Ted.

Anyway, we’ve been cranking away at Les Mis with our high school program and it’s going to be fierce. Those whores can sing! And I mean that literally - the gals who play whores in the show are all great singers. My one complaint is that we’re having difficulty getting the kids to relate to the harshness and hopelessness surrounding these characters. I mean, let’s get real, these kids haven’t exactly led the most difficult lives. They live in posh, suburban New Jersey, not the slums of Bombay. But we’re getting there. Maybe I’ll have them imagine life without their handheld devices or parents’ wallets. That would be a grim life indeed.

My only disappointment with the program this year is that I’m not able to be there everyday with the kids. Instead, I have to split my time between NJ and my new day job in the lovely, but currently faltering, financial services industry, sigh. I guess I can’t complain because I do get paid quite a hefty sum to pamper spoiled bankers and write on my blog. But I do miss the daily interaction with the kids and being able to watch the development and growth of the show through to the final performance. Oh well, sacrifices must be made in order to pay off those pesky student loans. I can’t friggin’ believe that I’m in my late 30’s and still paying those damn things off. Moral of story: theatre doesn’t pay, but banking sure does! I don’t want to be all negative and sh*t, but if you’re going into theatre, be ready to eat a lot of spam and ramen noodles.