Blog

by Tara Karsian

Early on, when blogging took off, I became all too aware that my patience level for people saying, “Oh, I’ve started a blog. I’d love to get your opinion on it” was at an all time low. Oh, hell, I’m not going to sugar coat it…it grossed me out. It made my skin crawl. It made me want to take a sharp object and shove it through their beady little pretentious eyes. Who, in God’s name, told you that you had anything of interest to impart to the masses (me in particular) and why, when you’re boring the crap outta me at a dinner party, would I feel the need to run home and log on to see what brilliant bon mots you’d come up with this week? But log on I did to check out a few (Catholic guilt and all) as I told totally-boring-person that I would. I found a few to be mildly amusing with some information that had never permeated my mind. I found one or two to be something that I enjoyed but wouldn’t necessarily want to became a “follower “of. Just the term ”follower” didn’t sit well with me. I’m a leader, damn it! But for the most part, it became an exercise in futility. I would respond to the person with a hearty “Good for you…your spelling and grammar are spectacular and I love your choice of fonts!” and then quietly fade away into the Internet darkness, never to grace their blog again.

Last year, I produced a play for the Echo of which I am an acting member and Associate Artistic Director. Towards the end of the run, we were asked to write a guest blog for LA Stage Times. This request became like a game of hot potato, being thrown around to see who would finally sit down and do it. We were nearing the deadline. Yeah. The potato was mine. I won the old blogging lottery! I churned it out at 2 am, and when I was finished, I was convinced that I appeared not only to be drunk while writing it but that I had never actually attended a single English class in my entire life. I was hoping that maybe the kind folks at LA Stage would take pity on the pathetic, obviously drunk actress and not run the piece. But run it they did. I knew at that moment that I would never darken the blogging world again. My one night stand with blogging was over and I would take the walk of shame back to my car in the morning and never look back. The experience was like Alaska. I went once and enjoyed it but I never have to go back again.

So, imagine my surprise at our last Board Meeting when it was suggested that we include a theater blog on our website that I found myself agreeing to write it. I’m still wondering what possessed me…and I do believe I was possessed at that moment. It was as if one of the Board Members had slipped a blogging Roofie in my water and when I awoke the next morning, I knew something bad had happened. Something really bad. But I was raised by people who said, “You’re only as good as your word” so, I have prepared myself to give over to this and try and enjoy it as much as possible. Kinda like the last date I had…but I digress.

This blog is not going to be about me…you’re welcome. It’s going to be about the thing I love most. Theater. More specifically 99 seat theater in L.A.. It always pisses me off when I hear people (yes, New Yorkers, I’m looking at you) talk about the dearth of good theater in L.A. They couldn’t be more wrong. This blog will celebrate not only the actors and directors of the Echo but our fellow comrades in this wacky Equity Waiver world of ours. I will be doing interviews with actors, writers, directors and I’ll even throw in the odd techie just so that they know how much we truly do love them! It will be about acknowledging why we strive to create good theater in a town that considers us the red haired step-child of the industry.We’re an extraordinarily brave and strong group and I marvel at how and why we do it again and again. It’ll be about us.

So, it seems my one night stand has turned into something more. I don’t know if I’d classify it as a relationship just yet, Let’s just take it slowly and see how things progress, okay? But just for the record, I think this could be the start of something.