Episode XV: Up, Up, and Away!

Hello, all you zany friends of mine!

Thanks for subscribing to this newsletter. I know it's annoying to get impersonal letters like this, but I've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response to my Adventures of SuperMaren, so I decided to go ahead and start a mailing list. So, after many moons of wondering what I am up to, you will finally be blessed with another chapter in the exciting novel that is my life.

When we last left off, I had just returned to New York to resume my double life: Secretary by day, and singer/actress by night.Although I have spent more time being a secretary than I would like, this has definitely afforded me the kind of stability I need to support my singing/acting habit.

My time at Memory Pharmaceuticals seems now like a fairy tale; I worked for a fire-breathing dragon who chained me to my desk by making me believe that she was doing me a favor by employing me. Although there was no knight or prince to come save me, I myself broke the chains of inertia. One day when I had just had too much abuse, and I posted my resume on headhunter.net and the next day, I got four calls from different recruiters. That just goes to show you that a) I was worth a lot more than my boss had made me believe, and b) headhunter.net really works.

I spent the next two weeks interviewing first with various recruiters, then for actual jobs; boy, was that stressful. For one, I only had two suits, which I alternated each day for interviews; since I interviewed in the morning and went to work in the afternoon, I had to either bring a change of clothes or wear the same two suits day in and day out. But the interview process was most stressful in that I had to perfect my image of a corporate climber; someone who is doing singing "on the side" and would never DREAM of leaving a solid, steady job as a secretary to pursue the elusive, unreliable career of a performer. Every time I answered my interviewer's questions about singing/acting, I had to grit my teeth because I was lying through them so hard.

Finally, I got a job offer from HSBC (that stands for Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation), which is a bank that bought out Republic Bank earlier this year. I am now the 2nd Assistant to Leslie Bains, Sr. Executive V.P. of Private Banking. Which really means that Mrs. Bains' executive assistant is way overworked and needs help; I get all the overflow work. The selling point on this job was that the person who was in this position before me was also an actor, and he left to go pursue an acting career. They have no problem with my going to auditions and rehearsals every once in a while; they are actually okay with a flexible schedule, and since there's no real growth in this job, I don't have to worry about a conflict of interest between my singing career and the job that pays the rent.

One of the biggest problems I had with Memory was that the CFO and the President kept telling me that I should forget about performing because it was not a worthwhile profession and become a permanent secretary for them, because, of course, that was certainly worthwhile. Now, not only do I have a permanent, full-time job as a secretary for people who understand my need to perform, but I'm getting paid more and I am getting benefits. Yes, I'm starting to believe in myself again, and it's actually opening quite a few doors for me.

On the theater side of things, the doors are opening, albeit slowly. Adam Grosswirth suckered me into running crew on another one of his shows (Off-Broadway), but it's one of the easiest shows I've ever done, I'm getting paid, and I also get to hang out with him, so I guess it's okay. :)

I've gotten hired to sing at some Jewish services in New Jersey for the High Holy Days. I'm not sure where exactly the services are being held, but when the time comes, I'll let you know just in case those of you who are Jewish want to come worship and/or hear me sing (I've got a few solos). Just to let you know: all these services are being held for Conservative congregations.

Some of you may remember me talking about Tale of Two Cities the musical. Well, I've done a few more performances for them; backer's auditions as well as one reading for the Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Apparently, they've been booked at the Helen Hayes theater in Nyack, NY for some time in March next year, so I'll be auditioning in January. Wish me luck.

Josh Feltman and I have been collaborating together recently, writing a couple of songs. Although he has moved to Switzerland for the year, I hope to continue our partnership. We are a good songwriting team; not quite Rogers & Hammerstein, but we're getting there. :) We also performed together at the wedding of our friend Becky Brockstein (now Kennedy) in July.

In other news, I will soon be working with Karma Tiffany and Sonda Staley on their new venture. Not sure what the play is yet, but I'll be doing some singing and perhaps a little bit of songwriting (if I can convince Josh to help me) for the show. Knowing Karma and Sonda, I'm sure it will be a very wonderful production.

And, as if I haven't been busy enough, I am still very much together and very much in love with Ray (you know, the Leatherboy I always talk about). It's difficult because he lives almost 100 miles from me, but we manage to see each other almost every weekend, so it's working. It's harder now that he's working at the PA Renaissance Faire every weekend, but that just gives me an excuse to see all my friends at the faire anyway, so I don't mind at all.