brucecromer.com Blog

I was laboring at the arduous paperwork for a possible Professional Development Leave next year from the university (we cannot call them sabbaticals anymore): prepping my C.V. (Cumulative Vanities) and my proposal (to basically finish my on-going Dickens adaptation, work most of the year upon the Professional Stage, and visit and interview our alumni in NYC, L.A., and Chicago). But a short chat with my beloved Juniors before today’s acting class made me have a Supreme V-8 Moment…

I don’t want to miss out on their Senior year!!! They’re great!!!! I can direct a Shakespeare (some large cast ensemble piece, plenty of good sh-t for everyone) in the black box in the Fall, train them in Stage Combat, and delay the paperwork, to boot, for another 12 months!!! Why would I want to compete with the fabulous Maestro Hellems for those rare PDLs, anyway? I had one, seven years ago, and I don’t absolutely need the break now; he might be suffering from a bit of the inevitable Burn-Out, but not me, not with the current crop of pupils. Onward and upward! Charge!!!

Five weeks of 19 of the best students a prof. could have… And I still have so much to discuss, to share, to try and teach. But that works only if they wanna learn it. If they want to take notes, apply the thoughts, question and adapt and make knowledgeable refusals, if need be. They’re making me — inspiring me — to go through the same process. What do I know? What do I only think I know? What did I think I knew? What don’t I want to KNOW anymore?

Shakespeare is the main instructor for us all, about life and poetry and The Big Questions… I don’t see how any acting teacher cannot be humbled by this material. How can they pretend to KNOW how it should be said, acted, meant? Good god, what egos — to smear yourself over these words and say that you KNOW. I can guess, I can make some temporary, ever-phasing assumptions, but I never KNOW.

As November 4th draws nearer, I sense a truly historic moment for this nation rests upon us all. Something worthy of the Bard’s quill. I hope, pray, but do not KNOW that it will be something good, something to bring us together and not increase Bush’s polarization.

Just read Scott McClellan’s WHAT HAPPENED… How in the world did anyone vote for Dubya?! I’m certainly not the brightest bulb, but I never dreamed of checking that ape’s box. He put us in a senseless war, put our children in debt, wrecked our economy, killed people in Iraq, Afghanistan, New Orleans. How can the man sleep? Why can’t he simply say, “I was wrong. I am so sorry…” ?

We will survive to see a better day.