Tis the Season

Performing arts groups often organize their annual schedules in seasons. Sometimes the season goes according to the academic year, beginning in September. Sometimes it lines up with the calendar, beginning in January. In our less-than-two-years of existence, Momentum Rep has been flying by the seat of our pants, doing shows when inspiration meets resources. But we're headed toward being organized by seasons, and today feels like the beginning of a new one. We have a coffeehouse fundraiser tonight, we start rehearsals for our next show tomorrow, we have a reading of a new musical the weekend after the show, and we have loose plans to do a musical in August. (with, potentially, a concert musical in July. There's a fine fine line between ambitious passion and insanity...)

Yesterday, my husband picked up one of our company members at the airport. A resident of Chicago for several years, he is now, as of yesterday, a New Yorker. I'll let him tell his own story of how he got involved in MRC, and why he has chosen this time to move to New York. The important thing here is that our house was his first stop. And as soon as he arrived he was greeted by another MRC member, my daughter who's grown so much since he saw her a month ago, our favorite pizza from down the street, and some Sam Adams. We were all so busy catching up and telling stories I had to continually remind us that we had rehearsal in the city at 7:00, and by the time we left my stomach and throat hurt from talking and laughing. Surprisingly, my husband offered to drive us to Space on White in downtown Manhattan.

Once there, we met with a few singers who have never worked with us before but will be performing at our fundraiser tonight.. I let them rehearse first. We worked on their songs. And then, one of the girls said to me, "hey, can we hang out?" 

"Sure, you can hang out," responded Jackie, my best friend/ co-founder/ producer.

Of all our accomplishments, all the insane growth we've seen and praise we've received, this was one of my proudest moments with MRC.

We do good work. That's important. Without that aspect, the rest of it is just silliness. But the reason we are who we are- the reason my husband was willing to pack up our 11-month-old daughter and drive us into Manhattan, the reason someone would move here from Chicago, the reason someone would request to stay at rehearsal even though she was finished, is because of the people. We're fun. And we're friends. And we care about each other. Genuinely. And that is what gives us our momentum.

Mindy Kay Smith
Artistic Director