Pursuit of Happiness - Blog 1 - Ron May

i suppose leading by example is never a bad thing. and if i really want the cast and design team to blog...guess i better start. and seeing as i don't have rehearsal this afternoon, i really don't have any excuse.

for those of you unfamiliar with our blog, my name is ron may - i'm the director of The Pursuit of Happiness - the 2nd play in Richard Dresser's comedic trilogy riffing on "Happiness in America".

rehearsals thus far have been nothing short of a blast. i can honestly say i don't think i have laughed this hard in rehearsals in like...ever. seriously feels like putting the 'play' back into the idea of doing a 'play'. i'm sure a lot of that has to do with how close to home a lot of this play hits. lord knows going into 'theatre' my family tried to be supportive - but always wanted to know why i wasn't going to law school. (insert retching noises here...not that there's anything wrong with going to law school, but...for me, the idea resonated as soundly as tin foil on a filling.)

i remember everybody seemed to know better than i did what i should be doing. and i can't say i didn't often wonder if they were right. i certainly don't NOW, but theatre is as big a gamble to try and get into as anything...so i guess i can see where they were coming from.

ah, hindsight.

there's been a lot of very cerebral ruminating in the process about 'what does happiness mean?'...'what IS happiness'...

it's sad that my responses tend to come off a bit more flip than most.

while there's truth that my friendships, my relationship and my cat make me happy...few things rival the unbridled schoolgirl GLEE i get from stupid things...

- like the fact that project runway is coming back to tv in a month.

- amercia's funniest home videos. which is beyond weird. i used to hate this show more than i hated paying bills. now...i can't get enough it. show me a grandmother losing her dentures in a bagel or someone (especially a kid) walking headfirst into a glass door? i'm putty.

- the giddy anticipation i have for the film version of sweeney todd. christmas can't come soon enough.

- saturdays. because saturday nights are the nights i don't 'watch what i eat.' and i should own stock in del taco as a result.

- cake!!! we fat kids love our cake. don't judge.

- people farting in public at wildly inappropriate moments. (not that there are sanctioned 'appropriate' moments to rip one, but...)

- overheard in new york. one of the hands down funniest websites ever ever.

- the comic i put in this blog.

...to name a few. (and keeping the NC-17 answers out of the work blog.)

the question also comes up of "if you're UNhappy...what would make you happy?"

honestly?

come see the show.

you'll see me smile so hard you'll think i had work done.

and by the time the show's over...you'll be smiling so hard everyone will think YOU've had work done.

or took a lot of prozac. give or take.

hope to see you at the theatre!

You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.
– Bette Davis