SIGNS OF LIFE: A Tale of Terezin, Part One: The Balancing Act

Auditions for my new musical (lyrics by Len Schiff, music by Joel Derfner, directed by Jeremy Dobrish) SIGNS OF LIFE: A Tale of Terezin begin this week. I may not be able to attend auditions, due to my parenting duties. Fortunately, I have reliable collaborators whom I trust (see above). This is essential. I live sixty miles north of New York City, and it's very hard to drop the kids off at school, schlep into the city, and make it back in time to pick them up by 3:10pm. And playwriting is not one of those professions that produces a lot of extra cash lying around for nannies. My Mom has been good enough to come down from time to time to help out, and my wife, Michele, works from home when she can if I've got something I need to be in the city for.

A couple of years ago, I had a production of my musical FLIGHT OF THE LAWNCHAIR MAN at Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut. It took me about two hours to drive there. For the duration of rehearsals, I took care of the kids during the week, and Michele took care of them on the weekend. I drove to Goodspeed early every Saturday, arriving by 10am for rehearsals. I stayed in CT overnight, attended rehearsals on Sunday, drove back to the Hudson Valley every Sunday night, and taking care of the kids again starting Monday. I dealt with re-writes and other productions issues via e-mail during the week. Once the show opened, my family joined me in CT on the weekends. It worked out pretty well.

The thing is, even if I could afford a nanny, I wouldn't want one. The time I've spent with my kids has been the best time of my life. Still, I wouldn't mind having a nanny on call, whom I could engage for specific dates. Like the auditions this week.

The next few months will be a tricky balancing act. My Mom is generously coming down from MA to help out for important rehearsals and previews. But there's still a few dates I haven't got covered yet.

But the thing of it is, as frustrating as the balancing act and the diminutive financial reward can be, I've got nothing to complain about. I get to do two of my favorite things in the world: write plays and be a dad. Which is a very excellent thing.

Because, really, I'm not that good at doing much else.

Click here for more info the upcoming production of SIGNS OF LIFE.

Click here for more info on the history and development of SIGNS OF LIFE.

Click here for more info on my musical FLIGHT OF THE LAWNCHAIR MAN.

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