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Gemma’s Gem of the Week: Welcoming Change and Contentment

Published

2 years ago

July 16, 2021

Isn’t it strange how you can be living somewhere for an extended amount of time, yet not feel sentimental until the final few weeks? Suddenly, I’m finding myself reminiscing about this sunny, stone balcony adjacent to green grand trees, melodic chattering birds, a small field of grass, and a large parking lot. This balcony is probably one of my favorite spaces in the entire apartment; no matter what, I can come out here and feel at peace, overlooking this corner of the world in silence. Moments ago, I was shivering in my apartment due to the blasting air conditioning unit with low temperatures we have no control over. The natural air outside feels like sinking into a warm, relieving bath, while catching an occasional strange, cool breeze from the lingering air conditioning unit escaping through the screen door. The sun is setting, as another chapter comes a day closer to a close.

My balcony kept my roommate and I safe throughout this pandemic. She’s allowed us to breathe in the cool wind and rain of stormy weather, letting us exist harmoniously with nature, while keeping us dry all the same. She’s given me a space that allows me to step outside of my head and into my writing through an inspiring ambiance. Truthfully, I’m going to miss her.

I’m reminded of purple lavender gardens buzzing with bees outside my tiny home in England. During my last week before moving to the US, I paid extra close attention to my surroundings, wondering why I hadn’t been looking at them through this lens before. I’d miss the neighbor’s black and white cats I’d play with on the sidewalks and chase into the grass. I’d miss the first friend I ever made, Parminder, and our adventures walking home from school, chewing vanilla and strawberry bubblegum, then playing Crash and Sonic on her gameboy. I wouldn’t be zooming down the same streets on my bright pink Barbie scooter anymore. Everything was going to be different.

And oddly enough, a part of me was okay with it.

I wasn’t as sad as I expected to be. There were new possibilities I was excited to explore. Despite some wonderful days of fun and excitement, a part of me was ready to move on. Though change can present uncertainty, grief, and anxiety towards the future, there is a little feeling in the corner of my mind that is okay with it – sometimes excited, even. The more I listen to that little feeling, the more reassurance I feel.

Before the pandemic, I worked far too many jobs at once. I said yes more times than was healthy for me, and burned myself out beyond belief as a distraction and coping mechanism for what was really going on inside my brain at the time. The world around me and my newly influenced beliefs scared me into believing that success could not be obtained unless I was absolutely, completely exhausted from too many hours clocking in and out 8 days a week.

After being forced to stop, sit with myself, and reassess my values and decisions (despite the hardships that also resulted in this isolation period), I learned that you are not less dedicated as an artist when you decide to take breaks. You are not betraying your passions if you have multiple passions, or find another path that better suits your needs. You are quite incredibly human, which leaves space to explore as many or as little possibilities as you wish. Considering we’ve survived a global pandemic, I think it’s safe to say that we all deserve to cut ourselves a little slack – not just now, but for the foreseeable future moving forward.

Our societal values and beliefs make it very easy to feel like there’s a “right” way to go about life. There’s only one “right” place to move. There’s a “right” career decision to make. There’s one “right” step forward – blah, blah, blah. Here, I challenge you this: what about rephrasing this saying with the approach of, “What feels right to me? What is going to work for my values, my mental health, and the quality of my life?” Although my chapter in Pennsylvania is coming to a close, I’m stepping out with a newfound vision of self, security, and contentment, prioritizing the quality of living in my next move above anything else.

My roommate Emily recently said, “I feel content right now. Which also feels uncomfortable and strange. Because we’re not taught to be content.” And I completely empathize with her. Despite the stress of moving, the uncertainty of the future, and the anxiety around moving forward in a new direction, I feel more content than I have in a long time. I’ve said yes to opportunities that align with my values. And for the first time, I’m learning to say no to the things that no longer align with me or my path moving forward. Discernment and rest are beautiful tools in which I feel incredibly blessed to be wielding moving forward.

If you have any questions you would like me to answer, feel free to email me at t2cweeklygems@gmail.com, and they may be featured in next week’s article!

Related Topics:content healing moving New Self Confidence Self-Acceptance Self-Care When Change Comes

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Gemma Farquhar

Gemma Farquhar is the writer of "Gemma's Gem of the Week" and author of "The Shape of Something New." She is passionate about the future of storytelling and welcomes all ages to her column.

Cabaret

My View: Barrington Stage Co. on 42nd Street Oct. 30 For Its Gala at Green Room 42

Published

7 hours ago

September 28, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

The evening of cocktails, dinner, and cabaret show headlined by Billy Stritch celebrates the inaugural season of newly appointed Artistic Director Alan Paul and Managing Director Lynsey Shade.

Proceeds from the Gala will benefit the Julianne Boyd New Works Fund.

Mary Ann and Bruno Quinson are presenting the event which is sponsored in part by Rhoda Levitt. Eda Sorokoff is Chair with Violet Eagan & Rosita Sarnoff Co-Chairs

Since its inception in 1995, Barrington Stage (BSC) has produced 41 new works, 21 of which have moved on to New York and major regional theatres around the country.

BSC believes that new work is the heart and soul of theatre. If theatre is to thrive and create meaningful and new experiences for audiences, then it is vital to support playwrights and their visions of the world we live in.

BSC’s New Works Fund takes a two-pronged approach – PlayWorks supports the creation of new plays while our acclaimed Musical Theatre Lab develops new musicals. In both of these programs, BSC seeks artists whose unique voices speak to our audiences with relevant new plays and musicals. BSC hopes our new work will ask questions of the world we live in – questions that may not have answers but will begin a dialogue between the artists and our audiences.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

JULIANNE BOYD & BILLY STRITCH

ALAN PAUL & RHODA LEVITT

MARY ANN QUINSON

ALAN PAUL & WILLIAM FINN

MARY ANN QUINSON & JULIANNE BOYD

BILLY STRITCH

EDA SORKOFF & BILLY STRITCH

BILLY STRTICH & STEPHEN SOROKOFF

MARY ANN QUINSON, JULIANNE BOYD, MARITA GLODT, EDA SOROKOFF

Cabaret

My View: A Cult Following At Birdland For The Hilarity of CASHINO

Published

1 month ago

August 29, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

I had no idea what I was walking into, but boy, oh, boy….am I glad we went. Birdland was packed last night for a return engagement of CASHINO which stars Susie Mosher and John Boswell. These two have, literally, built a cult following as Pepper Cole and Johnny Niagara with this unexpected piece of hilarity and music. It is so fresh, so funny, so crazy and so original that all I can say is, “You had to be there.” Thank you for such a memorable evening and Congratulations! I hope these photos give you some idea of what fun this evening was.

SUSIE MOSHER & JOHN BOSWELL

SUSIE MOSHER

JOHN BOSWELL & SUSIE MOSHER

SUSIE MOSHER & JOHN BOSWELL

SUSIE MOSHER

JOHN BOSWELL

SCOTT COULTER

EDA SOROKOFF & TOM D’ANGORA

Cabaret

My View: Mr. Finn’s Cabaret Audience Enthralled by Hugh Panaro Debut at Barrington Stage Co.

Published

1 month ago

August 22, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

It was an absolute thrill to see Hugh Panaro make his Barrington Stage Company Cabaret Series debut at Mr. Finn’s. The accomplished actor has one of the finest voices in the current landscape of performers you will find on Broadway or anywhere else in the world. Hugh has a unique and interesting career of achievements and experiences, and the young man originally from Philadelphia, is a gifted storyteller with a voice that just never ceases to amaze in color, range, power, simplicity and feelings that explode in warmth, rage, romance, humor and plenty of musical performance thrills. No adornments. Just pure and communicative. To be a part of this special evening, in such an intimate setting, with Musical Director/Arranger Joseph Thalken on the piano and Brian Holtz on Bass, it felt like they were all breathing together and us, too, along with them. The musical program was a feast and although Mr. Panaro has been in countless Broadway shows, as well as in Canada and London’s West End, and done symphony concerts all over the world, this show which he conceived with his director Richard Jay-Alexander is brand new and only the third time he’s performed it. It is very, very special.

Talking about very special……..In 2012 Board member Eda and I were with Bill Finn and Julie Boyd (founder,artistic director BSC) for the Grand Opening of Mr. Finn’s Cabaret. Tonight at this truly spectacular performance by Hugh Panaro, (and also Sunday’s opening night of William Finn’s NEW BRAIN) we were honored to be with Barrington’s new Artistic Director Alan Paul and again with Julie Boyd and Bill Finn.

HUGH PANARO

EDA SOROKOFF, ALAN PAUL, JULIANNE BOYD

JOSEPH THALKEN & HUGH PANARO

HUGH PANARO

STANDING OVATION

ALAN PAUL, EDA SOROKOFF, HUGH PANARO,JULIANNE BOYD

ALAN PAUL & HUGH PANARO

Columns

My View: William Finn Attends Opening Night of NEW BRAIN at Barrington Stage Company

Published

1 month ago

August 21, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

Last night Barrington Stage Company (BSC) in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF) presented William Finn’s 1998 musical A NEW BRAIN on Barrington’s Boyd-Quinson mainstage. Check out the opening night photos and after party below. A NEW BRAIN will play through September 10, 2023.

A New Brain features Adam Chanler-Berat (Broadway: Next to Normal, Peter and the Starcatcher; HBO Max: “Gossip Girl”; WTF: Animal Crackers) as Gordon, three-time Tony Award nominee Mary Testa (Broadway: Oklahoma!, 42nd Street; Off-Broadway: Bill Finn’s In Trousers; BSC: Sleepless Variations; WTF: Most Happy in Concert) as Mimi, Tally Sessions (Broadway: Company, Anastasia, Bill Finn’s Falsettos) as Dr. Jafar / Dad, Demond Green (Broadway: Sister Act; BSC: Funked Up Fairy Tales, Bill Finn’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as The Minister, Dorcas Leung (Broadway: Miss Saigon; National Tour: Hamilton; BSC: Into the Woods) as Rhoda, Andy Grotelueschen (Broadway: The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Tootsie) as Mr. Bungee, Salome B. Smith (Broadway: 1776) as Lisa, and Justine Horihata Rappaport (National Tour: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella) as Nancy, Darrell Purcell, Jr. (Signature Theatre: The Scottsboro Boys; Temple Theatre: Hairspray) as Roger, and Eliseo Roman (BSC: Fall Springs; Broadway: In The Heights, On Your Feet!) as Richard. Understudies are Ross Griffin, Courtney Balan and Jamen Nanthakumar.

In A New Brain, Gordon can’t get past his writer’s block when a medical emergency forces him to reassess if his songs (or lack thereof) are more important than his family, his friends, or his partner. He needs to navigate a mean nurse, shelves of books and a bossy frog to get to the heart of his music.

A New Brain features music and lyrics by BSC Associate Artist William Finn (BSC: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Royal Family of Broadway), book by Finn and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner James Lapine (Broadway: Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George), and direction by BSC Associate Artist Joe Calarco (BSC: Waiting for Godot, Into the Woods, Ragtime), with music direction by Vadim Feichtner (BSC: The Royal Family of Broadway; Broadway: Falsettos, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and choreography by Chloe O. Davis (Paradise Square).

A New Brain was originally presented in 1998 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, where it won the 1999 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. The largely autobiographical musical is about Finn’s life-threatening experience surviving a neurological brain condition.

For a 2015 production of A New Brain at New York City Center’s Encores! Off-Center, Jesse Green, writing for New York Magazine, said, “What makes A New Brain so satisfying is that its almost relentless humor and cynicism are used to promote a very serious and often sad inquiry into key human questions. What do we make of our time here? What do we make of our abilities? Finn’s answer is the obvious one, but no less generous for that. If your brain is wired for it, you make music.”

A New Brain features scenic design by Paige Hathaway, costume design by Debra Kim Sivigny, lighting design by Jason Lyons, and sound design by Ken Travis. Production Stage Manager is John Godbout. Assistant Stage Manager is Leslie Sears.

The Boyd-Quinson Stage season opened with the legendary Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret, directed by BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul. It also includes Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (now-August 5), directed by Candis C. Jones, and Steinberg Playwright Award winner Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play English (September 27-October 15).

The St. Germain Stage season at Barrington Stage Company opened with The Happiest Man on Earth by Mark St. Germain, based on Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku’s extraordinary 2020 memoir of the same name, published when Jaku was 100 years old, starring Kenneth Tigar and directed by Ron Lagomarsino. The St. Germain season continued with Mike Lew’s tiny father, a co-world premiere play produced by Chautauqua Theater Company and BSC, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel. The season concludes with a revival of Brian Friel’s Faith Healer (August 1-27), directed by Julianne Boyd and starring BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar, Mark H. Dold and Gretchen Egolf.

BSC casting is by McCorkle Casting (Pat McCorkle, CSA; Rebecca Weiss, CSA).

TICKET INFORMATION

For tickets to A New Brain or the BSC Season, please call the BSC Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.BarringtonStageCo.org/Tickets.

ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul and Managing Director Meredith Lynsey Schade, is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC’s mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company’s Artistic Director in 2022.

BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.

BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).

BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 45 new works, 22 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres.

ABOUT WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL

For seven decades, the Tony Award-recognized Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought emerging and professional theater artists together in the Berkshires to create a thrilling summer festival of diverse, world premiere plays and musicals, bold new revivals, and a rich array of accompanying cultural events.

Artists are drawn to Williamstown Theatre Festival to make great theater in an environment conducive to artistic risk-taking. Matthew Broderick, Audra McDonald, Dominique Morisseau, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Stroman, Uma Thurman, and Blair Underwood are just a few of the luminous theater artists who have worked at the Festival. Many others, including Sterling K. Brown, Ty Burrell, Charlie Day, Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Brie Larson, Chris Pine, and George C. Wolfe, began their careers at the Festival.

Productions and artists shaped at the Festival fill theaters in New York City and around the world. Recently, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside, Grand Horizons, The Rose Tattoo, The Visit, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Solider, and Lempicka, to name just a few. Cost of Living, which was developed and premiered at Williamstown Theatre Festival, was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and made its Broadway debut last fall.

WILLIAM FINN & ALAN PAUL, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR BSC

WILLIAM FINN & MARY TESTA

JULIANNE BOYD, FOUNDER/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CHRISTOPHER INNVAR

BRANDEN HULDEEN & JOE CALARCO

ROBERT CREIGHTON, EDA SOROFOFF, BOARD EMERITUS, CHRISTOPHER INNVAR

WILLIAM FINN & JOE CALARCO, DIRECTOR

VADIM FEICHTNER, MUSIC DIRECTOR & STEPHEN SOROKOFF

A NEW BRAIN…Tally Sessions, Justine Horihata Rappaport, Andy Grotelueschen, Darrell Purcell, Adam Chanler-Berat, Mary Testa, Dorcas Leung, Salome Smith, Eliseo Roman, Demond Green

ADAM CHANLER-BERAT

MARY TESTA

ANDY GROTELUESCHEN

DARRELL PURCELL

ELISEO ROMAN’

TALLY SESSIONS & JUSTIN HORIHATA RAPPAPORT

A NEW BRAIN

JENNY GERSTEN, WTF & ALAN PAUL, BSC

ALAN PAUL

SYDELLE BLATT, BOARD EMERITUS & WILLIAM FINN

JULIANNE BOYD & WILLIAM FINN

ARTHUR SALVADORE & WILLIAM FINN

Cabaret

My View: If You Remember Being in Studio 54 in the Seventies…You Really Weren’t There….Ann Hampton Callaway

Published

2 months ago

August 11, 2023

Stephen Sorokoff

To paraphrase that well used line….If you remember being in Studio 54 in the seventies… then you really weren’t there! However if you were in 54 Below last night for “Ann Hampton Callaway Sings the Seventies” you will definitely remember being there!

The exuberance of the audience reminded me of a High School reunion, the love and camaraderie that Ann created in the room with her extraordinary musicianship and wit started from the minute she took the stage and asked us all to join in ‘Sing, Sing A Song”.

It was a reunion of baby boomers who grew up with the music of the seventies and the gathering of an audience who cherish the opportunity to be at an Ann Hampton Callaway performance.

The Diva’s song list contained some of the greatest hits of the 1970’s, and the folks who filled the seats at 54 Below got a chance to relive the soundtrack of their lives sung by this Tony Award nominee, Broadway star and platinum selling singer/songwriter.

What a wonderful treat to have Billy Stritch as Ann’s music director for this show. BIlly, can authentically bring you musically into any era. His extraordinary ability to recreate the sounds of any style of music was especially evident with the songs of the seventies. Stritch grew up with that music, and it’s organic to him. Some of the duets and harmonies with Ann were especially genuine to the genre.

“Sing, Sing a Song” “Come in From The Rain, “I Will Survive” “New York State Of Mind……and so much more….got the picture?

The Disco Ball got plenty of activity last night but the music was LIVE with Billy, Tim Horner on drums and Martin Wind on bass helping Ann gloriously recreate it.

Ann Hampton Callaway has got the “Secret O’ Life”. Thanks Ann for reminding us of “The Way We Were” in such a masterful and intimate way.

BTW getting a shout out from Ann during “You’ve Got A Friend” was a personal thrill for this baby boomer!