Thanks for the kind words about the stolen laptop. Last night, when we got to the dressing room, it felt weird. And to answer a question that was raised, yes, the dressing room was locked. There is, however, a window that looks out onto a secure couryard. The police think the thief either got into the building through one of the front doors (which wasn't locked during the show), and made his way downstairs, then out into the courtyard, saw the laptop and went in through the window (though there were a lot of things on the ledge that were completely undisturbed including a lot of dust) or they jimmied the lock on the dressing room.
It was hard, though, to walk back into that room and look at the place where the laptop was and know that someone could be still around. What if they had gained access to the courtyard through some unknown access point? What if they were still watching us? It all felt so very creepy and weird. What if they're using the laptop's bookmarks to read this right now?
All I can say is that we're securing the room better, blacking out the windows and there will be no valuables left anywhere in the room at any time from now on.
We had another wonderful show last night, but I was stumbling over words. My concentration was a little off. I kept thinking of the room ("What if he's down there looking around again?") and I kept thinking of the lost video footage which, for me, was just as, if not more, valuable than the laptop itself. I just felt violated. Raped. And vulnerable. That little bubble of protection we imagine to be surrounding ourselves is a fragile thing and an illusion.
I remember once, long ago, when I was with my first boyfriend, Terry, back in Dallas. We came home to our apartment and it had been broken into. The door was wide open. Our things were ripped off. You just feel naked. You realize that we live in an environment where there are people looking for every opportunity to take what you have even if you don't have that much.
Jim and I are not even remotely rich. We fight and sweat for every last thing we own. We try to make it from month to month, and the things that we do have, we use them to help us in our careers and to promote our little show. "The Big Voice," for all the great reviews and word of mouth we're getting, is still in the beginning stages of finding and securing an audience. Our marketing team is working every angle. Even a Times review will only take you so far. You have to figure out how to take that review and turn it into more press, more coverage.
And to that end, we have been making some appearances around town. A few days ago, we went down to Wall Street to record a radio broadcast for OUT-FM RADIO here in town. Now we have the news from Scott, our publicist:
JIM BROCHU AND STEVE SCHALCHLIN, FROM THE HIT OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL, "THE BIG VOICE: GOD OR MERMAN", JOIN MARLE BECKER ON OUT-FM, CHRISTMAS MORNING, 12/25/06, 11:00 AM, ON WBAI RADIO, 99.5 FM. And, they stream to the Net. Just go to WBAI.ORG and click around. Marle was wonderful and he is a huge fan of our show.
Yesterday, we taped a TV interview for GAY USA TV with Andy Humm and Ann Northrup. It will broadcast locally, but it also broadcasts on the DISH Network and will be playing all week. There is also a podcast. So, check out the links and either catch us on the tube or listen to us on the podcast. We had a great time with Andy and Ann.
We also did an interview for Backstage magazine for the "Self Starters" column. I'll have photos and video of all these events soon. I just have to get my computer situation resituated. Losing my main computer was a blow, but there are always back-up opportunities.
And, just to be clear, I'm gettin' over this whole stolen laptop thing. I want it back SO BADLY, but I'm finally starting to just let it go. There are things in life we can control and things in life that we cannot control. Worse things have happened to much better people, as the saying goes. I cannot complain. Right now, Jimmy and I are fulfilling a dream come true. We're living an incredible fantasy that so many people would love to be living for us.
A laptop is just a "thing." It can be replaced, eventually. No one got hurt. The show went on. Steve is feeling a little bruised and a little sad over the lost video and pictures, but Steve will get over it. We have today off, so we're going to take it easy. My voice is back to full strength. My health is good. And Christmas is upon us.
Again, thank you for all the kind words and condolences.
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